American Culture Essay -- Sports Baseball Cultural Essays

Ameri pot CultureIts game six-spot of the American League Championship Series. Im sitting in front of a bunch of baseball-crazed fanatics wetting their pants, because the Red Sox have and pulled ahead nine to six in the ninth inning. Go Sox Yankees kowtow Dude, toss me another brewskie. Americans argon fans at heart. We root for the home team, clothing their colors, jump up and down following a great play, and threaten the television after an absurd call. Sports have proven to be an constituent(a) part in the creation of community identity without the travel half of the century. Further more(prenominal), American sports both reflect and shape our cultural ideas. They be r atomic number 18ly considered just a game. Sports are packed with several meanings they are displays of patriotism, consumer spectacles and even morality lessons. By observing sports and their impact on American society, we can learn much about consumerism, political developments (both national and internat ional), racial relations, social classes, equality for women, and of course, community identity, including the condition of our cities. Since the 1950s, American sports are iodine of the most important institutions for us to raise and work through questions of race, gender, and class. The corporations who check into the media coverage of sports tailor their coverage to Joe Six-Pack and thus on that point is a lack of coverage of elitist sports such as water polo, tennis and sailing. Because of the medias target population, we are besieged with commercials for beer, automobiles, athletic shoes and deodorant. Our hard-earned dollars are seldom tempted to go towards healthy food items or prudent savings (light beer is not a healthy food). Gas-guzzling SUVs, beer, chips and dip are the consumables t... ... in your backyard or in the street, you can play hoops at any public domesticate yard, you can bat a ball in any sandlot, still where do young people get experience in a pool or on a tennis court? Who can afford a round of golf? Tiger Woods is an whodunit in a world of wealthy country clubs and green jackets. Indeed, American sports are a metaphor for American culture. When viewed through the lens of peanuts and beer, one gets a gooey, nostalgic, take me out to the ball game sensation. But you only(prenominal) need look below the surface to get a more disturbing view of some of our cultures most serious ills. Corporate control and gender, race and economic bias run rampant in our making love sports arenas. And the latest barometer that measures the health of our sports culture is the fact that our heroes hit the front rogue not for their abilities, but for their sexual indiscretions.