Examples Of Stigma In Sports

Overweight athletes participate in exercise and sports for similar reason as other athletes, such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, enjoyment purposes, and achieving their goals. However, the difference is that overweight athletes are being criticised for participating due to the stigma that is associated to their body shape. As social scientist, Erving Goffman (1963) stated, stigma is “the phenomenon whereby an individual with an attribute which is deeply discredited by his/her society is rejected as a result of the attribute. Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.” It is evident that the athlete’s heavy shape is the attribute that caused them to be rejected from society and due to this, people perceive these athletes by their body and not for whom they really are. As a result, social stigma hinders …show more content…
Overweight athletes are aware of the stigma that exists regarding their involvement in sports, in fact many overweight athletes have experienced stigma throughout their physical activity career. Stigma is commonly present in public areas and has the power to discourage athletes in their training settings such as the gym, studio and the outdoor environment. This prevents them from progressing with their training since it caused athletes to steer away from public locations due to the fear of being judged and stigmatized. The alternatives includes training at home, training