The story I choose was the Sports Taboo by Malcom Gladwell. The word sports in the title caught my eye while I was flipping through the pages. I found the story very interesting and controversial. The essay begins with the subject why blacks are better than whites in sports. An example he gives is the track field. Before the sprinting and fast races belonged to the blacks and the long distance belonged to the whites but now both short and distancing running belong to the blacks. Gladwell tries to explain this reason. He goes as far as body structure. Blacks have more an advantage because they have stronger calves and better bone structure he says. The reason for there dominant in sports is because they lack opportunities elsewhere. Gladwell explains how blacks may dominate the sports field but when they are matched next to the whites in academic ability they fail miserably. His reasons are that blacks grow up in a worst environment then the whites. He does give examples such as S.A.T. scores.
I do come in agreement with Gladwell and statements about how blacks are better athletes than whites. When I was in high school and I was on the track team. I saw that all our sprinters were black and we had a few black long distance runners and that went the same for the other schools. In my school though whites were not smarter than blacks. That's because our neighborhoods are not that bad and most people live in a good environment whether you were poor or black. If you took statistics from larger cities you would find the whites to be smarter because the blacks grow in a worst environment and are largely poorer than the whites. .
Gladwell did pick a controversial topic to discuss. Some people might consider him racist for saying this kind of stuff. But the reality it is true and nobody wants to discuss it because it is a hot topic.
In every society, there is a concept known as "taboo." ... However, many taboos are not illegal. Many actions and words are only taboo because of custom. ... Masturbation is a perfect example of taboo. ... Sure, groups of boys discuss masturbation when they are together, but as soon as someone else walks in the room, the conversation quickly changes to sports. ...
Another place where stereotyping is apparent is in the world of sports. ... In an article, "The Sports Taboo", Gladwell states "It's alright to say that blacks dominate sports because they lack opportunities elsewhere" (Gladwell 302). ... Many young black athletes focus so hard on sports that sometimes they lose interest for their education. ...
Cars, clothes, sports, not these physical things but the use of them will enhance anothers sexual attractiveness. ... The second cultural universal is the incest taboo. A taboo being a negative rule that a person cannot have sex with or marry a person to which one is related. ... Another reason for one such taboo is to prevent sexual conflicts between members of one particular nuclear family, which would be disruptive emotionally and economically. Many non-humans have a "biological incest taboo" which automatically prevents them from mating with mother and brothers and siblings. ...
Both the homosexual male and the heterosexual male enjoy sports. It is a common myth that the homosexual man does not know anything about or would be interested in sports, but in light of recent events flooding the news rooms of this country regarding professional athletes "coming out" that myth should go away. ... Up until recently it was seemed to be very taboo to be a gay man and homosexuality was frowned upon. ...
I saw it in the window of this sports store when we got out of the subway, just after I noticed I'd lost all the goddam foils. " (pg 17) It exemplifies how Holden is rebellious and doesn't conform to social rules. ... During that time it was very casual to smoke and it wasn't that big of a taboo to smoke in public places. ... (pg 76) Granted it might not have been as much of a taboo back then, it is still pretty original that a book would talk about this so freely. ...
The growth and use of performance enhancing drugs make them no longer a taboo subject among professional athletes and is starting to become in fact rampant among athletes. ... Steroids in sports is an epidemic among players trying to gain an edge, which leads to increased usage of steroids. ... Sports like baseball have had a long history of rampant steroid use and have taken effective action since they first discovered the problem. However, because of their ineffective testing NCAA football unlike most sports, has not yet discovered the full extent of their steroid problem. ... I believe tha...
In FOX's network history "American Idol" posted the highest ratings of any show besides sports according to Business Week Online (America's Reality-TV Addiction, 1/30/2003). ... Those things that are/were "taboo" now are portrayed as socially acceptable and right. ...
The boys are outdoors with their father getting their hands dirty in the yard or doing maintenance on the home, or playing sports. ... I was just a young woman out of high school when I decided to join the U.S. military, and to my family this was taboo. ...
Dance clubs, new music styles, glamour girls, movies and sports were all popular forms of entertainment in the 1930s. ... The most popular forms of entertainment during the 30s were radio, cinema, sports and dancing. ... They strictly enforced a long line of taboos for filmmakers including the use of words such as "damn" and "hell", long kissing, adultery, and the notion that "the good and just must always triumph over the evil and corrupt". ...
