How do men view sports? "It is a ritual designed to maintain the ideology and values of a competitive and hierarchical culture," says Messener in this essay (668). According to the author, men see sports as an opportunity for public success. As young boys, they played sports as a way to make friendships and hold a stronger bond with their fathers, but as they get older, domination and success take over the once low-key sport (670-671). Even if the sport can lead to injuries and other health problems that can last beyond the end of their athletic career, the player sees it as a price well paid (671). Men see sports, especially big league, as a way to express masculinity in a form that they might not be able to do in a blue-collar society. The fame and money can also blind players into wanting more than to just play; they want to win and take home the top honors. In this paper, I review the October issue of Sports Illustrated by looking at ads and articles, in order to show the attitudes perpetrated towards the male gender. I choose this magazine, because its one of the top selling sports magazines today and it is generated towards the male gender. I thought it would be a great way to show how the male gender is represented throughout the magazine along with tying in Messner's views. This magazine is a great example of are American culture in sports.
The title Sports Illustrated graces magazine racks around the United States, selling as one of the top sports reading among male gender. The title portrays that this is how sports are illustrated, and therefore male readers expect to see sports as what is shown in the magazine. Inside the magazine, ads are portrayed on every other page, using masculinity attributes to draw in male readers. The majority of the ads that are in the magazine are about cars that show rough backgrounds of jungles and deserts, showing how cars can withstand all the heat and power.