I am going to be honest; it took me a few pages of reading this article before I realized that Daly and Davies were not trim and fit. I had never heard of these athletes, let alone seen pictures of them. Let’s just say that I have been known to have blonde moments now and then.
“You can be pint-sized, ponsified, or, like Laura Davies, resemble a linebacker in drag” (Harris, 2004, para 3).
“Some exceptions exist—Tim Herron and John Daly seem intent on landing Twinkie endorsements” (Sheeley, 1999, para 2).
I have a bone to pick with the two authors of these quotes. I understand they were trying to make a point that it does not matter what your body shape is, that you can still be an athlete. That is all just fine and dandy, but did they really need to go to that extent of talking so grotesquely about their physique? No, there really was no need for that. I can only imagine how Davies and Daly might feel after reading something like that about themselves.
I have people in my family that are considered overweight. I know they would be appalled knowing that someone said that about their weight and body image. With the plastering of skinny models everywhere with the media, who wouldn’t be somewhat self-conscious of what they look like?
If there are athletes that do not fit the norm of a certain physique, but yet are good at what they do, all the more power to them!! Daly said it best the article by Marshallsea: “I’m made to be fat, so there’s no sense worrying about it” (1998, para 17).
Accept the bodies you were given, and instead, use your talents to the best of your ability.
I definitely agree with you Kal! So much is placed on having the perfect physique nowadays that people tend to look past an individuals talents. My favorite position to evaluate on the football field are the offensive tackles because I marvel at how someone so big (usually 300lbs+) can be so fleet footed and nimble. I feel like the bigger athletes should be given much more credit than they get today, but unfortunately that's the world we live in.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know about John Daly, my guess is that he would not be offended by whatever comments are made about him. More likely he just would not care. On one hand, I believe that many athletes deal with negative press, such as the comments that you cited, by just ignoring them. However, like you said, journalists do not just speak about these athletes, they are also writing to an audience--many of whom can relate to statements such as the above. For that reason, I agree with you that such statements are totally insensitive. That may be one reason why shaming works so well to discipline many people when it comes to their weight.
ReplyDeleteKallie, I like your comments about accepting the body you wre given and using it to the best of its ability. A question that I have though, is whether you think "fatness" is exploited the same in women vs. men. From the things I have read about Daly and Davies, there are far more comments about Davies' weight. It is almost as if Daly's body is accepted at "fat" and that it is not as big of a problem as Davies has. Why is it that women being overweight is so much worse that men? Personally I think that both should be addressed equally. That being said, I also agree that a person's physique should not be commented on in reguard to their performance. Babe Ruth was one of the best baseball players of all time and its not surprise to say he was not the tiniest man. But he was still able to perfor to the best of his ability. Some critics might say, "yeah, but he would have been even better if he were skinnier." I don't think that is true. There are sports such as baseball and golf where being a little bigger is an advantage and smart to do. The more mass you have equals the more force you can put on the ball when striking it. Personally I feel the media should get off everyone about how they look and should focus more on the performance aspects.
ReplyDeleteKallie, I thought the same thing when I was reading the article- I understand that the media is going to acknowledge the athletes aren't the "ideal athletic body" but to analyze Daly and Davies in the way they did, along with relating their body shape to personality traits, I thought was extremely harsh. After our class discussion, I would probably agree with Dr. Spencer that John Daly could care less, but I have a hard time thinking any woman wouldn't feel offended and hurt but what they said about Laura Davies.
ReplyDeleteKallie- Body image is a personal opinion. People who have a positive body image or even a positive image of themselves probably don't let the comments effect them as much as someone who has a bad body image of themselves. People who get criticized about being heavy in the athletic world are probably laughing all the way to the bank. I do agree there seems to be a biased against women more than men, but maybe it is because men like John Daly don't let it get to them like many women would.
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