Sports and Ethnicities

In many ways sport means much more in the african american community than in other racial communities. Many african americans grow up in inner cities where they have limited opportunities. One way for many african americans to make it out of poverty is to become a professional athlete so sports tend to be more important for their community. Arthur from hoop dreams is a prime example of a young child who uses basketball as a way to succeed growing up in poverty. Although the story of Michael Oher in the movie "Blindside" is different than the lives of the two kids from hoops dreams, it is similar in many ways. Michael was adopted by a wealthy white family giving him a chance to have more opportunities to succeed. For Michael, football was his way of succeeding in life. Michael is given much more opportunities than the children from hoop dreams. I don't believe that sport is damaging Black American and preserving the myth of race, I feel it does the opposite. Sport helps bring together different communities to work as a team to succeed.

Sports, Women & the Gender Order

The female athlete advertisement that I decided to do was Nike's commercial "voices". This commercial presented a very positive message toward female athletes and females in general. Unlike most female advertisements that focus on looks and beauty, this commercial promoted the idea of independent, driven women. It involved multiple female athletes who overcame the negative views associated with female athletes. Our society generally views certain sports, such as football and boxing, as male sports but this commercial emphasized the fact that women can participate in any sport that men can. All the women explained how they did not let other people bring them down with negative female statements. One young girl described how she is not influenced to wear a skirt and act like a women that society expects her to be. This commercial hopefully influences young women that they do not have to conform to society, and they can be anyone and do anything they want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ighxU1vYw