Professional Sports - Essay Example

The analysis of the advertising campaign made it evident that NHL’s “Inside the Warrior” campaign is an example of exploring the crisis masculinity in the field of sports. The articles made it evident that without the presence of a masculine character in sports, the success of that is a cause of concern. In the similar milieu, the NHL’s success will be in doubt for public consumption, without the presence of a masculine figure. A number of scholars have argued that the presence of masculine character is vital in every field so as to fulfill the objectives and serve the purpose.

In the words of Connell, 2005; Edwards, 2006; Messner, 1992, “MacInnes and other scholars within sociological and cultural studies suggest that men, both individually and collectively, are experiencing a displacement of male power/privilege regarding their customary roles in institutions such as politics, employment, education, and family.” Despite several literature debates pertaining to the veracity, scenery, and potential effects of a crisis of masculinity remain unresolved. Whannel (1999) suggests, “Whether or not there is a crisis, there certainly is a lot of talk of one” (p. 254). In the next half of the study, a critique of the article that describes the impact of masculinity crisis in the field of sports will be done.

CRITIQUE At the outset, I would like to throw light on the fact that sport is medium that provides man to prove his masculinity. I would not compare the levels to which different sports offer different levels of masculinity, but what I would like to shed light upon is the role played by hockey in showcasing one’s masculinity or the other way where an individual gets the opportunity to reflect upon his masculine ability. I agree with the thoughts put forward in the article that the visual representation in the form of looks and appearance are extremely important.

As mentioned in the article that “The visual representations of men circulated by the media, including those available through advertising and marketing campaigns, provide benchmarks of masculinity against which some men measure themselves” clearly exemplifies the statement made above is true. However, the role of the promotional media is important as they are the one who are responsible for creating the image of the sports person. On the contrary a good image always does not resemble a masculine image and the question of masculine image is also a subject of debate among the scholars and practitioners around the world.

Arguably, the various forms of masculinity portrayed through advertising can contribute to social constructions of the crisis of masculinity. According to my opinion masculinity can be conceptualized in a number of forms and one of forms which I believe is the sportsperson’s ability to appeal to the audience. Hence I agree to the articles where it mentions masculinity “involves persuasion of the greater part of the population, particularly through the media, and the organization of social institutions in ways that appear ‘