The cult of manliness, the Victorian Era, and the Play Day Era all reinforce/challenge former social constructions of gender because it allows us to see an ideology that projected male dominance over women. If a man did a sport, he was considered more masculine than those who don't. Women weren't looked at as athletes, they weren't "good enough" to play men's sports. If they did, then they would have very expensive "medical bills" because, "Medical experts and exercise specialist disagreed among themselves about the effects of athletic activity on women's reproductive cycles and organs." This was in the early 1900s. The cult of manliness was a way to toughen up boys in order to "masculinize" them so that in the future they would be involved in sports and run the male ideology. The Victorian Era allowed women more freedom within the world. It allowed them to get an education and get better work. However, in the sports world, women were still denied when it came to playing sports and even watching them. Then came the Play Day Era. This allowed women to eventually become more involved with sports, thus break the ideology that allowed only men to compete in sports. More and more women's teams were being developed, and eventually, in 1932, women were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.


Mike Messner explains that sexuality and gender are built very differently between males and females when it comes to sport. "As many people have pointed out, sport participation offers a nomalizing equation for men: athleticism = masculinity = heterosexuality." (Messner, 225) This basically means that because a man participates in sports, he is a straight man and has no chance of being a homosexual. "For women atheletes, the equation has nearly always been more paradoxical: athleticism? femininity? heterosexuality?" (225) So does this imply that is a women participates in athletics, her sexuality is in question?


In his high school story, he rejects his classmate, and thus enters into a hegemonic state of masculinity with his team. As he tried to become the head honcho of his team, he acted out towards the weakest guy on his team. In his teammates eyes, this probably said that he will pick on the weakest link, but still makes him masculine. However in my eyes, it just makes him look pathetic.