Gender and the Body - Week 7

This week's lecture was by far my favorite. The main reason being that we were able to see how gender is viewed in sport by taking a class poll. We discussed the muscle problem among women's bodies by asking what is and is not acceptable in today's society. Modern media continues to play a role in criticizing strength in women. Over time, myths began to stir regarding women and strength. Some of these include: that women are physiologically different and inferior; that women should do different types of exercises than men do; and finally, that strength is both "unfeminine" and symbolic of "lower class" women.

It is amazing to me how athletes care so much about their performance that they will do anything it takes, even if this means distorting their body to become the best. In my opinion, I wouldn't want to live my life looking like this, no matter how much money I made doing it:

I'd prefer something like this:

By taking a quick survey, we were able to reason through these myths. We were shown pictures of four different women. This first, Lenda Murray, was a professional body builder. The second, Brandi Chastain, is a professional soccer player. The third, Serena Williams, is a professional tennis player. And the fourth, Katie Stam, is the current Ms. America. After polling the class, there were some similarities and differences. As a gender, the males collectively agreed that Katie Stam had the most attractive body out of the group of four women. The females on the other hand found Brandi Chastain to have the most attractive body. As for the least attractive, both men and women agreed that Lenda Murray was the least feminine. Words such as manly and masculine were used to describe her, whereas Katie Stam had adjectives like beautiful and perfect. 

Ethics and Obesity - Week 6

During week 6, we welcomed a guest speaker to come and talk about the youth obesity epidemic. Baker Harrell, who is Founder/CEO of ACTIVE Life Movement, explains that, in order "to build strength, to enhance muscle size, to improve endurance and cardiovascular fitness, and to live a long, full life, it is important - if not essential - to remain healthy." Here's the link to the ACTIVE Life website:

http://www.activelifemovement.org/

This Austin based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is dedicated to organizing the movement for healthy change in America. Their mission is to make healthy the norm by generating a persistent demand for healthy living among all sectors of society. After visiting this website and learning more about the organization, it became very clear as to why Harrell came and spoke to us about obesity. Our overall quest as a society is to better understand the root causes of the US youth obesity epidemic.

In the book "Why We Hate Fat People," the author explains how we are trying to understand our own attitudes about fatness. It is important to recognize that fatness has always had political connotations. Many years ago, historically speaking, fatness has always been associated with power, health, and well-being. The wealthy were typically fatter than the general population. Today, however, the reason that so many people think the rise of obesity is a cause for alarm is because of our own chronic feelings of helplessness.

Because children and adolescents mature along a spectrum of chronological age, assessments of youth overweight and obesity are more difficult than evaluations of adults. The many disparate and interrelated factors associated with the US youth obesity epidemic make comprehensive research on the issue a daunting task. We're looking for a balance, to make healthy the norm and to create a demand for healthy. It is important for all of us to commit to end this problem in order to save the future generations.

Kinesiology in Historical Perspective - Week 5

As we move into week five of the class, we begin to delve deeper into the historical aspects of sport. This particular lecture, we discussed how the topic of kinesiology evolved. During the late 19th century, physical anthropology was considered to be the first scientific area of study in order to test strength. Then going into the 20th century, there was a rise of sport as physical education. As mentioned in the Exercise and Sport Science article, "it was no longer the exception to find physical education courses included in the curricula of liberal arts colleges and universities." The popularity of of interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics was a huge factor in creating demand for physical education teachers.

The inventions of basketball and volleyball promoted the idea that team sports taught moral qualities that were of benefit to society and therefore educational. This era was called the Muscular Christianity Movement in the United States. With mind, body, and spirit being recognized symmetrically balanced, no aspect is held in greater regard. Once again, the article explains that "the drive to identify and organize the body of knowledge led to the ascendency of research, the administrative and curricular reorganization of departments in colleges and universities, and the creation of sub-disciplines and specialties."

Of course, kinesiology programs will be different wherever you look. But at UT, our PE program underwent a paradigm shift in the 1970's. The physical activity programs, health program, and PE department are now combined into one department where movement competence courses are no longer required. The UT Kinesiology program asks that their students should be knowledgeable of: physical activity in health, wellness, and quality of life; scientific foundations of physical activity; cultural, historical, and philosophical dimensions of physical activity; and the practice of physical activity. Below is the link of a degree plan for an undergraduate student at UT majoring in Kinesiology:

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/education/assets/files/KHE/KHE%20UG%20Degree%20Plans/10-12/10-12%20HP%2005-24-10.pdf

As you can see, a Health Promotion major at UT must take at least 3 physical activity classes, one historical class, etc. This type of program is a great example of what young adults should be learning about in the kinesiology world today. So in conclusion, over the past 100 years, we can look at kinesiology in a historical perspective and see how much it has changed. As a matter of fact, it will always be changing on so many different levels. It will be interesting to see, in 50 years or so, what types of classes will be required for UT kines undergrads.