Our society has designed us to embrace, believe and fulfill certain gender roles and stereotypes that are conventional and have been around for years. Women in the past were not expected nor encouraged to participate in sports. However, the times have changed and with more women breaking stereotypes and playing a huge role in sports, they are receiving greater support than ever.
Yet, there is a major issue at stake that seems impossible to change, people still confuse gender non-conformity with sexual orientation. Gender non-conformity basically means appearing and acting in ways that are considered unusual to that particular gender. For example, women in the past were expected to dress in a certain way that emphasizes their femininity whereas now, women are comfortable wearing pants, blazers, ties and flat shoes.
In men’s case, it’s completely different. Men are expected to be masculine at all times. In fact, most men will be harassed and called names for not being or looking masculine enough. This is the reason behind men preferring masculine sports while women have more freedom when it comes to picking their desired sport. When I say freedom, I don’t mean family’s encouragement and approval, I’m talking about how the society looks at them hence masculine females are more tolerated than “feminine men”. I repeat, feminine and NOT gay men. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. I wanted to show how the opinion of two different men who play masculine sports could be interrelated yet so contradictory. I interviewed the first man, Ali, who does boxing for fun who was against women being a part of masculine sports. The second interviewee was Hamad, who does horseback riding for fun too. Hamad believed that horseback riding is a masculine sport due to family morals and beliefs yet he sees absolutely no reason why women should not go for masculine sports.
I made two videos for each interviewee, and Ali was kind enough to invite us to his regular workout
Hamad was also kind enough to work on such short notice as you can tell; he was wearing his thobe (traditional white garment for men)
Yet, there is a major issue at stake that seems impossible to change, people still confuse gender non-conformity with sexual orientation. Gender non-conformity basically means appearing and acting in ways that are considered unusual to that particular gender. For example, women in the past were expected to dress in a certain way that emphasizes their femininity whereas now, women are comfortable wearing pants, blazers, ties and flat shoes.
In men’s case, it’s completely different. Men are expected to be masculine at all times. In fact, most men will be harassed and called names for not being or looking masculine enough. This is the reason behind men preferring masculine sports while women have more freedom when it comes to picking their desired sport. When I say freedom, I don’t mean family’s encouragement and approval, I’m talking about how the society looks at them hence masculine females are more tolerated than “feminine men”. I repeat, feminine and NOT gay men. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. I wanted to show how the opinion of two different men who play masculine sports could be interrelated yet so contradictory. I interviewed the first man, Ali, who does boxing for fun who was against women being a part of masculine sports. The second interviewee was Hamad, who does horseback riding for fun too. Hamad believed that horseback riding is a masculine sport due to family morals and beliefs yet he sees absolutely no reason why women should not go for masculine sports.
I made two videos for each interviewee, and Ali was kind enough to invite us to his regular workout
Hamad was also kind enough to work on such short notice as you can tell; he was wearing his thobe (traditional white garment for men)
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