Gender Expression Throughout My LIfe

For one of my earliest memories about being a boy when sports were introduced into my life. By the age of 5, I always had a ball in my hand whether it be a basketball, soccer, baseball, or football. Boys are pressured to join sports at an early age so they can show the physicality side. Football for instance, when I was younger playing this sport we had to be the biggest or run the fastest to be elite in this sport even at an early age. Growing up I began to think that I needed a huge physical frame if I wanted to play the game of football. If you wanted to be successful playing football, you had to be bigger than most kids. Began to learn all the competitiveness side of sports. When one of my teammates began to cry, the coaches of this team punished him for crying because it showed a weakness in him. He had to run until he learned his lesson. As a little boy this showed me that it was not okay for boys to cry and show that sign of weakness to others. When girls cry it is seen as a norm and acceptable in society because that’s socially accepted.

            When I was growing up I played mostly basketball and fell in love with sport. I played all the way through high school. I gave up volleyball because it stopped being fun when I did not fit the norm of a typical shooting guard. I was tall and lanky freshman that they wanted in the post. I wanted to use my physical attributes to an advantage. I stopped playing basketball because I saw how much better I was at volleyball. I do identify as a male, but to some people the sport of volleyball is seen more as feminine in our society. I mostly wear athletic clothing, for instance I wear shorts with a Nike t-shirt. People do not give the sport a chance on the men’s side because the social norm is that only girls really play volleyball. Most guys are scared to play volleyball because they do not want to be seen as weird to their other peers. Volleyball has helped me advance my education and get know great people in this world. I was able to travel state to state with the events that were going on for high advance volleyball. Volleyball gave me great experiences that I will never forget. Playing the sport of volleyball did make me feel self-conscious that people were judging me for playing “a girls sport”.

            Looking back, gender with sports played a big role on how I presented myself. Football brought the aggressive side because you had to have a mentality that you will be the best and not let anyone stop you. When women cannot play football because there are not enough women that are 6 foot 5 that weigh almost 300 pounds. There’s an ideal body size that comes with a certain sport in our society today.