Sociology of Sport 1 - Assignment Example

For instance, racing in Indianapolis 500 is a sport, because it in a way happens to be a physical activity that is institutionalized and competitive, and is incumbent on external and internal rewards. In that context, skiing with friends at a resort may not seem to be a sport; yet, it is a sport, as it is physical and is related to ample internal and external rewards and motivations. Similarly, playing handball at YMCA is also a sport. Bowling in a Friday night league is also a sport as it is a physical and competitive activity that is socially institutionalized and is attached to multiple social rewards and recognitions.

The Super Bowl, in the same vein is also a sport, and jogging every morning also happens to be a sport, as it is a physical activity that is institutionalized loosely in the context of fitness and is replete with fitness associated rewards. Just like jogging, doing aerobics in a P.E. course also happens to be a sport. All these activities are related to social and cultural contexts in which an individual lives, they are physically competitive, institutionalized, and rich in multiple internal and external rewards. 2. Simply speaking, ideologies are the ideas that could either be conscious or unconscious and that govern the individual actions, goals and expectations (Ben-Rafael, 2003, p. 84). An ideology tends to be a way of looking at and perceiving things.

In that sense, an ideology tends to be a vision that is comprehensive in its scope (Ben-Rafael, 2003, p. 84). An ideology may also happen to be an outcome of a social construction that may or may not have been proposed by the dominant class in a society (Ben-Rafael, 2003, p. 84). Ideologies are the systems affiliated to abstract thoughts that are applied or are applicable in social constructions. In many ways sports are tied to the ideologies in the society. For instance, gender of an individual may play a pivotal role in the choice of a sport activity and the performance expectations associated with that sport.

Traditionally speaking, men are considered to be stronger and more rugged as compared to women, and thereby the female participation tends to be negligible in contact sports like rugby and football. The ideologies pertaining to race are also intimately associated with sports. For instance, many sociologists associated with sports happen to delve on the relationship between physical prowess and race. Also many a time, the common public opinion holds the individuals associated with some races to be stronger and more agile.

In that sense, the ideologies related to social class have also to do much with sports. Often, it is the social class of a person that directly translates into access to resources, opportunities and nutrition that greatly determines which sport an individual participates in, and to what level. Money emerges to be the limiting factor that governs an individual’s participation in sports. 3. Social Conflict Theory could be a viable canvass to understand many aspects of sports. As sports is a competitive activity, it is much akin to the Social Conflict theory because it states that varied segments in the society tend to struggle over access to the limited resources.

It is this conflict between the varied segments of the society that leads to the emergence of some segments of the society as capitalists that hold the key to the coveted resources while the other segments end up being the working class or labor. In that context, Social Conflict T