While watching the documentary, there are two things that shocked me.For example, the documentary explored the relationship between masculinity and athletics. Excelling at and having an interest in sports is often assumed to be the default position of being a man in America. Many men, from the day they are born, are given baseballs and basketballs and the expectation of athleticism. I liked when Joe talks about the commonly accepted myth that sports builds character. He says that, “In a win-at-all-costs culture, it’s strictly about winning at the expense of character development.” Ehrmann made it clear that sports cannot teach character unless the coach is intentionally teaching and implementing it every day. Ehrmann teaches his boys empathy and integrity. He wants them to become men who will be responsible and change the world. I think that that’s what coaching should be about, but today, many coaches police their teams in unhealthy ways. Another example in the documentary is when Steven and his son, Jackson. Steven really stepped up when he told Jackson’s mother that he would raise him on his own if she didn’t want to. Steven showed how he had to struggle with letting down his guard in order to express compassion and intimacy. These were things he was never shown by his own father. He had to break down his own barriers after Jackson said, “Daddy, I’m sensitive.” Steven then went on to research how to be “sensitive” in order to have a better relationship with his son.
In the Carlos Andres Gomez text, Carlos said that in the US, if you see two guys holding hands, it is considered gay. When he went to Zambia, holding hands is completly normal and is not considered to be gay. In two different countries, the same action could mean two different things. I think a lot of guys don’t open up on their sexuality because most of them get bullied as seen in the documentary.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 