Anti-jock movement - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The anti-jock movement is a loosely organized cyber-movement

Social movement

Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....

consisting of similarly themed website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

s, whose goal is to challenge the perceived cultural

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

dominance of institutionalized

Institutionalized

Institutionalized may refer to:* The act of being placed in a psychiatric hospital* "Institutionalized" , a song on Suicidal Tendencies 1983 titular album* Institutionalized , a 2005 rap album by American rapper Ras Kass...

competitive sports and to raise issues of the perceived detrimental effects of such a dominance. In this regard, the term "jock" is used in its the sense of "stereotypical athlete," although websites constituent of the Anti-jock Movement often use the term to distinguish negative or excessive interest in sports, from common or positive athletic endeavor. In the decade following the year 2000, increasing recognition has been given to the existence of a movement consisting of "a group of self‐described marginalized youth [who] constructed and sustained anti‐jock websites, where they articulated 'dissatisfaction with and anger toward institutions that uncritically adulate hyper‐masculine/high contact sport culture and the athletes who are part of this culture (i.e., the ‘jocks’)'” Such has been cited as an act of resistance against the dominant media

Mass media

Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...

and cultural paradigm

Paradigm

The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...

Recognition

One of the most cited articles giving recognition to the existence of an anti-jock cyber movement is a 2002 article published by Professor Brian Wilson in the Sociology of Sport Journal titled "The 'Anti-Jock' Movement: Reconsidering Youth Resistance, Masculinity and Sport Culture in the Age of the Internet". In the course of the article, Professor Wilson described the movement as follows:

The anti-jock movement is group of self-described "marginalized youth" who, through the production and consumption of anti-jock Websites, express dissatisfaction with and anger toward institutions that uncritically adulate hyper-masculine/high-contact sport culture and the athletes who are part of this culture (i.e. the "jocks"). through these Websites, strategies of resistance against the "pro-jock" establishment are offered.

After analyzing the content of various "Anti-Jock" websites, Professor Wilson concluded that

In one sense, the anti-jock Websites can be viewed, together, as a new social movement according to Harvey and Houle's definition. That is to say, they are not linked to specific economic interests, they are working toward change in society's (pro-jock) values, and (arguably), anti-jocks are working toward a better society where males and females are nor subject to the domination of the interests of a masculinist sport culture and jocks.

Since its 2002 publication, Professor Wilson's article has been often cited with reference to the existence of the Anti-Jock Movement.

Constituent websites

Professor Brian Wilson, in his article "The 'Anti-Jock' Movement: Reconsidering Youth Resistance, Masculinity and Sport Culture in the Age of the Internet", detailed two basic types of websites which are common within the Anti-Jock cyber

Cyber

Cyber may refer to:* Cyber-, a common prefix* Cybergoth* CDC Cyber, a range of mainframe computers* Cyber Acoustics, a brand of computer hardware* Cyber Missionary* Cybersex * Cyberitis * Cyber...

movement.

First, webzines devoted to opposition of the jock culture. These sites often include suggestions for activism and action against the "jock establishment." Professor Wilson, referred specifically to two such sites: Spoilsports, and the now defunct High School Underground. There are however, other such sites, such as the International I Hate Sports Club, which have similar objectives and content.

Second, there are personal websites, consisting of personal rants criticizing the "jock establishment," "personal interest" websites which include personal concerns which include criticism about "jock culture," and third, personal sites that devote themselves exclusively to anti-jock statements.

External links

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