Conclusion

            Sport and gender was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be, I credit Dr. Spencer for this. Whether it be her biased tennis opinions or her lack of knowledge on new trends she always knew how to get the class to laugh, which we did quite often. We talked about many things throughout the semester and a few of them stick out to be the most interesting to me.

I really enjoyed talking about Michael Jordan because I had no idea there was so many things that surrounded him. I knew he was the greatest basketball player to play the game but all the other small things that he had to constantly deal with like the media, sponsors and endorsers. I really had not known much about Jordan coming into the class so it was really interesting to see how well he was able to cope and grow as person as well as an athlete. I probably would have never went and watched the 30 for 30 without discussing it in the class.

Another topic that I enjoyed learning about was the transgender athletes. I really had no idea that there were athletes that actually were transgendered, I just figured there were only a few who were. It was good for me to learn that it is more common than I realized and that way I will be educated on the subject if I ever come across it in life. With cases like Renee and Kye I was able to understand their mindset and see how I could act to make them feel more comfortable wherever they may be.

The argument that I enjoyed debating was the discussion of women athletes with higher level of testosterone. Since it is a tough topic to decide what is ethically and morally the right decision, it made for good opinions from the rest of the classmates. It is incredible to see the body shapes and muscle tone affiliated with the higher testosterone levels and the tolls that it takes on the women athletes. Even though they may be able to dominate the competition, their social lives are a cost for that success.

This is also the first class that I have had to do a blog for and I have to say I liked it. Not only does it help the class further learn and research about the topics that are mentioned in class it helps remember them as well. It is fun to debate with the classmates and see how strongly they feel on subjects. I like the point system where you are able to comment or blog that way the blogs actually get some discussion on them. The class itself was one of the most talkative ones I have been in which made it really fun. There was always at least one topic each class that would get the class talking. Also I would like to mention it was nice having Kara that actually talked and gave input to class, none of the previous TA’s I’ve had did that. This was one of the best classes I have taken at BGSU because it taught me things that I won’t forget once we get back from break.

By: RJ Hefflinger