Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Vilolence in Sports
In class we recently discussed the violence in a women’s college soccer game. The main person of discussion was Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico who was playing BYU at the time. Lambert was caught on video, but not by the refs of rough play and even at one point yanking an opposing player down by her hair. Rough play by any standards, but she has been suspended and has received nation wide criticism, having her parents phone number displayed on the internet for anyone to see and people wishing many negative things to happen to her via e-mail, blog, and phone messages. I mean what she did was wrong and she should be suspended for a period of time, but again with most things we discuss in class the double standard is being used. In a game not to long ago Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes was caught on film trying to gouge the opposing players eye! Brandon’s punishment by well known and respected coach Urban Meyer was one half of a game (later changed to a full game)! I don’t know about you but I think I would much rather have my hair pulled than my eye scratched at. These are two very different sports, but at the same time physicality that neither soccer nor football condones, but much harsher penalties were handed out to Elizabeth Lambert than that of Brandon Spikes. This to me all ties in to the masculinity and femininity associated with men and women. Seeing a women being physical and violent is very un-feministic and more masculine than anything, so it is looked at in a very negative way. I agree she should be suspended for her actions but all the negative attention she has received I feel is unjust and she should be reinstated onto the team as she has apologized, is speaking to youth soccer teams, and seeing a psychologist to better understand her actions on the field. You can get more information if you click on the players names as they are linked to some informal articles about the situations on both players and the physical play in question.
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When we were talking about this in class the only think that I could think of was Brandon Spikes. The only reason that his suspenion was one games was because he suspended himself for the second half of the game. I am glad that Brandon did suspend himself for the second half. I believe that Florida should have suspended him for more than one half. Going after someone elses eye is a lot worse than what the soccer play did.
ReplyDeletePeople might try to make it seem as if Elizabeth Lambert's actions casted a bad light on women's sports, but her actions would have casted a bad light on men's sports as well if she, were a he. Female athletes are no different from male athletes; they constantly try to control their frustration and aggression in hopes that they can use those emotions productively. In this situation, she let her emotions compromise her integrity and she completely lost it (lost it is an understatement). People always try to promote this idea that female athletes should be more classy or passive than male athletes, but we should take them for what they are, Athletes and expect that they will act the same way during competition.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that such actions as those by Elizabeth Lambert would have cast a bad light on men's sports, the difference is that for every negative story on men's sports, there are thousands of stories that convey males in a positive light. When there are already so few stories on females and the only ones that are shown are those that convey females as deviants or sexualized, this to me is problematic!
ReplyDeleteI do think that what Elizabeth Lambert did was wrong. I know that she is being critized more than men would be but it is just the way society is. I do think it is terrible that people pay no mind to men being too aggressive in sport and then look down upon women who are aggressive. Since it's always been a norm for women to be lady like and not so aggresive the media will always look down on people like Elizabeth..Unfortunetly, I don't see it changing anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a few good points. The differences in punishment is insane. Yeah Spikes gouging an opponents eyes out is a lot worse then Lambert pulling on hair. However, the only thing I can think of is Spikes tried gouging that players eyes out once, whereas Elizabeth Lambert was overly aggressive and abusive throughout the entire game. I was in favor of both punishments and can't believe Elizabeth Lambert was on the field so long.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone has had an interesting take on this issue. I for one agree that the punishments seem a little unfair. Lambert received a lot of bad publicity, although she does deserve it, but the Spikes incident seems to have disappeared. I thought it was interesting that Spikes suspended himself for the 2nd half of the game, in order to make himself less of a distraction. I thought what Dr. Spencer said was very interesting. I think that women do receive a limited amount of positive media exposure, and when one incident like this occurs it tips the balance in negative direction. Whereas, mens sports receive so much attention, both positive and negative, that the Spikes incident was just another drop in the sand. And to Kevin, yes Spikes only tried to gouge out a players eyes one time....that we know of! And if he succeeded in gouging that players eyes would it have changed your opinion? Growing up with an uncle as an Optometrist I know how sensitive the eyes can be, it wouldn't have taken much for Spikes to damage that players vision permanently.
ReplyDeleteI think athletes take the competition a bit too far, sometimes. Athletes have to realize that there are other great players in their sport.
ReplyDeleteEveryone wants to win, but cheaters never prosper. Those two athletes have experienced the latter phrase in those two situations.
Until we did our group presentations in class I had not heard about Brandon Spikes, however I did hear about Lambert case previous to class. It shows that because male althletes already get so much more coverage the media did not make the attack of Spikes a big deal, although Lambert was all over the media because it is a rare case of women and violence in sports.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a double standard for women and men being violent in sports. What the girl did during the soccer game was wrong, but men have done a lot more violent things while playing and it has not been looked down upon as much. It is like women cannot be aggressive without getting something for it.
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