Do you think males are peer pressured to like sports?

Question

Remember when you were young and you got your first football for christmas or how you were prodded along to be like a man and like sports especially when you went to school and how you were kind of pressured to play a sport and anyways how you always grew up hearing your classmates talk about the latest team players and who is going to win the championship and do you remember that coach type teacher how they treated you like you were a wuss if you did not fit in witht the rest of the sports loving males and how that made you try harder to like sports and keep up with the games and you know "be one of the guys."
I think this is all a bunch of B.S. I think if everybody was REALLY honest with themselves , truthfully, even those coach-like man's man type of figures back in grade school would admit that it is more based on an insecure image than it is really caring for the sport in substance. Would you not agree or does that conflict with your programming?

Answer 1

Nuh uh. Nuh uh uh uh UH.

You don't play a sport to fit in. You play a sport to exert yourself and have fun. Some sports like tennis and golf and softball are associated with making business and other sports like football, basketball, and baseball are associated with proving yourself as a man.

Peer pressure doesn't explain why kids enjoy playing sports in community centers, a YMCA club, or on their own though. When you're a little kid and you gather up the neighborhood to shoot hoops or play wiffle ball, you aren't thinking about being cool, you're thinking about having a good time (that's why your parents tell you to get outside)!

And what about all the crazy games you make up outside and all the nutty games you play at birthday parties? Laser tag, capture the flag, dodge ball, red rover...

I'm sorry, but just hearing this question makes me laugh. I was one of the kids in middle school that got picked last, yet still performed because I wanted to have fun. So what did I do? I kept at it in high school and opened my mouth, had some pride, and earned a reputation. As much as I appreciated being able to take AP Calc, Stats, Chem, Physics, Music Theory and others, I can't say that gym was NOT my favorite class.

Just as much, although I did FBLA, jazz band, pep band, wind ensemble, played soccer, and did tons of other things, I enjoyed playing sports with my friends on my spare time more than any of these activities. Getting together and watching March Madness or the Bowl Games or even the olympics is better than watching the best sitcom or prime time drama.

Like I said - Nuh uh. Nuh uh uh uh uh UH UH. Guys play sports because we want to. Just that plain and simple.