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Learning Who's Boss: Sports Television and the Cultivation of Male Aggression Against Women

NCJ Number
151047
Author(s)
D B Sullivan
Date Published
1994
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper explores the possibility that the viewing of sports on television cultivates male dominance of women and actual aggression against them.
Abstract
Men are socialized to be in control of their behavior and emotions, especially in personal relationships with women. Televised heavy contact sports encourage male viewers to associate aggression with being in control, because athletes and teams signal their control most emphatically through dominance and aggression. In addition, player aggression reveals a kind of moral reason that justifies the objectification of opponents as things to be conquered. This study argues that the symbolic aggression in television sports encourages male viewers to adopt a macho masculine identification that is partly characterized by the objectification of women, which, in turn, may translate into actual aggression against them. 64 references (Author abstract modified)