How To Write A Reflective Essay On Sports And Masculinity

My son Andrew started playing soccer for his school this year. This is his first time playing a sport with a team against other schools. I am so proud of his dedication to his team, but am scared for his self-esteem. Andrew is more on the “thin” side, and feels he isn’t big enough to play and is often scared of the ball hitting him, or other kids kicking his shins. He was injured in his fourth game and sat out for 10 minutes or so. The ball hit him in his face and left some redness around his eye area. I was frightened, hoping he wasn’t injured to badly. After I checked his injury, and we both agreed he was not hurt too bad, we talked about his sport ethic. I explained to him how important it was to stay committed to his team by finishing the game. He agreed, and went back into the field.

This conversation of his sport ethic happened before our class discussion on sports and …show more content…
More specifically, I wanted to explore my own understanding of masculinity and preparing young boys to fill in the shoes of men. It is exceptionally difficult to shape young boys into men when society is constantly squeezing them into a contradictive box that consequentially creates inequality and instability within the male populace. I am preparing my son to be the ideal man, but have little agility to do so. I want to instill in my son that he does not have to fit into this suffocating “man” box, but if I do this, I run the risk of marginalizing him. I actually run the risk of marginalizing him even further than he already is. I am biracial (black and white) and my sons father is black. Not only do I have to balance shaping my son into a man by society’s standards and my own, I have to prepare him for inevitable inequalities he will soon face as a black