Tennis A Sociological Perspective Essay Research — страница 2

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playing the sport. Recent racism controversy between Venus William and Irina Spirlea has worsened the racial problems in tennis. During the semi-final match of the 1997 US Open semi-final, Irina Spirlea purposely or unpurposely gave Venus an elbow. Aftewards, they have been verbally insulted each other in a numbers of occasions. Phases like white turkey and black idiot definitely make the racism problem in tennis even more complicated. The racism accounts for the major reason on why the blacks in the United States, who have access to public tennis court, still are not that interest in tennis anyway. The lack of black’s success in major tennis tournaments is certainly another factor for such attitude. In addition to that, black children grow up under the powerful influences of

NBA. They admire star NBA players and other athletes who shine in track and field. It is quite understandable that they will try to find their way into those sports instead of tennis. While race seems to be an important factor in determining whether a person will engage in tennis, gender may be an even a more dominant factor. Some people think that tennis is too challenging for women because of the physical demand. Therefore, girls are not supposed to engage in such rigorous sport. Besides, when people think about women tennis players, many of them have the “Hollywoood-stereotype”that some upper class girls are wearing short skirts and gathering in the tennis court regularly. Rarely do a person associate a sports figure with women tennis players. In response to the stereotype

and inequality between men and women players, Monica Seles, a nine times grand slam winner and youngest ever woman champion of French Open, told the media at a press conference that,”It’s a traditional common sense, but I think a lot of traditions should change.” (Seles, 119) There is hardly any evidence to show or suggest that tennis is too challenging for women but it is still a stereotype for a lot of people. Even though more and more young women are willing to pick up a tennis racket, Women Tennis Association (WTA) points out that more than 69% of people whom play tennis are males. Also, they have found it difficult to promote the game to women, especially black women. The President of the Women Tennis Player Association and one of the greatest tennis player of all

time, Martina Navratilova expresses her concern about promoting the positive images of tennis to women, especially to black women. People who are engage in tennis are likely to be middle class in the society. It is because the cost associated with tennis. First, the cost for tennis rackets. Second the rent for tennis court. Unlike football or basketball, in which the cost of the ball is shared by a large group of people, everyone has to have a tennis racket. Also, because of the limited tennis courts in rural areas, it discourages many rural residents from participating in tennis. Personally, I choose to participate in tennis because of three major reasons: pressure from peer group, social trend, and family’s encouragement. I picked up the tennis racket five years ago. I had no

interest in the game. I did so simply to support my friend’s tennis club. They needed enough people to get funding. Furthermore, most of my friends in high school were tennis players. If I do not play tennis, I was afraid that I might be isolated. Playing tennis was certainly a need for socialization with fellow students before I finally developed my interest in the game. To some extent, I think I am also a byproduct of “Michael Chang phenomenon” as well. Because of Chang’s success in tennis despite the disadvantage of physical statue, I wanted to try this challenging game as well. While most people around me were talking about Chang and tennis, it would be to my advantage to try this game and experience the magic. Last but not least, I started this activity because I

also wanted to satisfy by parents’ numerous requests for me to get more physical exercises. One of my best tennis partners, Joshua, has chosen to engage in tennis because he thinks tennis is a cool game. He definitely thinks tennis is a trendy activity and he particularly likes the good looking outfit, tennis rackets. More importantly, Joshua thinks playing tennis can help him to date with girls because of tennis’ high status in Asian culture. In China, tennis is regarded as a high-class sport. Unlike table tennis and basketball, which are classified as common sports, playing tennis is like a sign of good taste, which improves a person’s social status or social class. It is interesting to note that Joshua has not played any tennis lately because he has changed to soccer for