The discussion of masculinity encounters a paradox: some behaviors are clearly aimed at dominance showing off, physical aggression, etc but no man is only dominant, some men are not dominant at all, yet somehow on the whole a systematic dominance of men over any person deemed as feminine seems to get reaffirmed. It helps to remember that dominance, just like any identity is a practice. Therefore only some of an individual man's identity practices can be relations of dominance; not all men in a society view themselves in this way, but through the repeated reconstruction of gender as a fundamental difference the effect of dominance is achieved, or male gender as dominance is achieved. It's the notion of identity as dominance that most male roles express, whether in concepts of physical strength, power, or even competence. "Masculinity is the articulation of dominance and male gender" (Peterson 1998: 121), yet gender is nothing but the construction of difference. In my paper I want to look at how masculinity and sport function as the root of male violence as well as physical dominance, and how the media further portrays male violence as a part of our society. .
American sport is an institution of enormous significance, particularly in relation to the construction and maintenance of gender patterns. The culture of American sport perpetuates ideologies, which systematically oppress women and certain groups of men. Horrock says that "this split has encouraged feelings of superiority amongst men no women could "take it" like a man can take it on the rugby field or the football field" (Horrock 1995: 151). This process is not always immediately obvious. For instance, the mass media 'naturalizes' domination as an inevitable consequence of the male athlete's superiority, skill and strength. The mass media's treatment of sport has contributed to idealizing and institutionalizing competition, domination, toughness and aggression as unquestionable and sacred masculine values.
