Eduardo Garcia
Sociology – 170
5/1/2015
“You
can’t play baseball, you’re a girl!”
Growing up as a kid, I was raised in
a sports household. Every single minute of the day involved some type of sport.
Playing t-ball, basketball and wrestling or at least any type of nationally acclaimed
sport is usually the norm for a young boy in society today. As I progressed in
all of these sports, I generally never really paid attention to gender. Girls
usually play t-ball up to a certain age then convert to softball, just as girls aren't usually encouraged to join the wrestling team. Why? Well because she’s a
girl! According to the symbolic interaction theory, gender is a part of reality
that guides social interaction in everyday lives. While this is true, it also
leaves an uneven playing field among most young girls and overall women in
general. Let’s put this theory in perspective. When I was about fourteen or
fifteen, my eighth grade year, there was a girl who, against what society
symbolizes as “normal” continued to play baseball instead of doing what most
girls are expected to do and convert to softball. This wasn't a big deal to me.
Why? Well because this girl exhilarated every aspect of baseball well. She
could play every position better than a majority of the boys on the team and
hit further than most of them too. As time progressed, I began to notice people
on opposing teams mocking her and telling her explicit phrases. Think about,
fourteen years old, playing the sport you love, and you’re getting teased for
it? Society’s aspect of women playing men’s sports is both good and bad. I know
women are separated from men because of the higher level of athleticism but who’s
to say one out of every one thousand women can beat a man in particular sport?
This is where my problem with the symbolic interaction theory slips into place.
Although it believes gender does separate us and guide us through everyday life
by identifying one another, but it also it leaves men on the upper hand, for
the girl on my team is the perfect example. She was good at what she did,
playing baseball, but was criticized because baseball is meant for a boy, like
me, not a girl like her. This type of mentality is where the symbolic interaction
theory becomes harmful. I believe if my friend was a guy, she would have been
idolized as an all-star, but because she was a girl, she was looked at
completely differently. This situation exemplifies how the symbolic interaction
theory places men in control of some social situations such as playing sports. Its view on gender is both helpful and
harmful, in which my personal story exemplifies that harmful aspect of it.
(Mo’ne Davis, a 13 year old girl with more talent than most
boys her age in various sports, especially baseball)
External links -
http://fairgamenews.com/2009/03/35-years-of-girls-in-little-league-where-are-all-the-players/
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