Societies Influence: Music Vs. Athletics

     Ask anyone on the street, and they will tell you that musical people and athletic people are about as opposite as they come. Personally, I have had the privilege of experiencing both sides. I always understood the differences were there, but upon applying my sociological imagination, I saw them in a brand new light.
     Society, in general, tends to glorify sports above other things because of its masculine connotation and the qualities it represents: competitiveness, aggression, and hard work. None of these qualities are considered "feminine"; however, musical pastimes are, with those people being considered emotional and receptive. Because society rewards and endorses masculine qualities, athletics are praised above music.
     While athletics are considered a male undertaking, music is undermined as feminine. These societal stereotypes pressure both children and adults to conform, punishing them if they do not. Athletic females are regarded as "butch" and musical males often called "gay" and "feminine". These names are strictly societies way of pressuring individuals back into "normal" male and female roles. Society has controlled our thinking about these two enterprises for so long that we, as a whole, barely notice the inequality even as its happening; it appears to us as "just how things are".
    In these two pictures, the top portrays uniformity and dominance while the bottom represents creativity and individuality, both viewed as weaker traits; American society backs the characteristics of the top picture. We, as a people, are expected to be dominant, assertive, and ambitious if we want to achieve anything in life. That is why society drives sports and athletics forward, to push its people to strive for those traits they deem fit and just. Society doesn't want the emotional and weak characteristics of music, but rather, the strong, competitive qualities that athletics and sports can provide.