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Sociology 01
The film I choose is Shes the Man. This film focuses on gender inequality found in
sports. The main character in this film is Viola Hasting, a teenage girl in high school whose
soccer team got cut from the athletic program. Hastings demands to play for the mens soccer
team, but the coach refuses to let any female try on for their team. An important scene from the
film was when the coach insulted the girls soccer team by saying, Girls arent as fast as boys,
or strong, or as athletic. It's not me talking, its a scientific fact. This insult made Hastings stand
up for herself, and find a way to prove that females could be as good in sports as men can. To
prove she could be as good as the boys soccer team, Hasting poses as her twin brother in the
rival school. She finally makes it to the soccer team and goes to play against the boys soccer
team from her previous school. Due to gossip, Hasting is asked to reveal her true self in the
middle of the game. After discussions between the soccer teams, she finishes the game as her
Auguste Comete introduced the theory of positivism, which focuses on how society can
be scientifically or statistically proven. From Cometes view I could see how he would assume
that having different gender teams in sports is important in society. That it could be proven
genetically that women are built to have less muscle than men, because women in history have
been the nurtures while men have been the providers. Emily Durkheim focuses on the structural
functionalism perspective which sees society as parts working together in order to create stability
and order. Durkheim will view the problem of gender inequality in sports as something positive.
Women have a role in society and men have another, and by having different roles is what makes
society work. Throughout the movie Hastings mothers struggles to change her daughters
attitude because she is not feminine enough for her. Durkheim would say that women are
supposed to be feminine and gentle, while men are supposed to be strong and powerful. By
having these roles society works, because they each take care of a role necessary in our society.
Functionalism perspective would say that we need women to take care of the things at home,
while the men do the providing. Karl Marx focuses more on the conflict perspective of
sociology, which states that conflicts between individuals show up when resources, power, and
status are limited. Marx would see this conflict between gender and sports as something bigger
than just a high school conflict. This conflict comes to show that men will do whatever it takes to
keep their power and dominance. Everyone in our society struggles every day to became
wealthier, to have more power, and resources. Throughout history men have always had privilege
and power over women. Now that things are changing and women as standing their ground for
The paradigm that I see the most throughout the movie is the conflict perspective
paradigm. This film focuses on gender roles and inequalities. The main character Viola Hasting
struggles to break the stereotypes society has on women. Women are seen as weak, fragile, and
not smart enough. Therefore, are looked down upon when they try to compete against men. This
is seen in the workplace, the media, and in this situation sports. Since women are not seen as
athletic, they dont much attention from the media which causes them to be paid less than the
average male athletic. This relates to the conflict perspective because men have always had the
privilege and resources, while women struggle every day to get the same benefits. Femininity
and masculinity are also highly portrayed throughout the film. Hasting is looked down upon by
her mother and boyfriend because she doesnt act as feminine. She talks about sports all the time
and doesnt like wearing dresses. In a scene from the film while Hasting was speaking about
soccer her boyfriend made the comment of be a girl for 5 seconds, which shows the stereotype
of women not being good enough for sports. The gender roles throughout the movie show real
life conflicts, because when an individual doesnt show the gender norms that society wants them
to show they are discriminated. In order for society to accept them they have to follow the gender
norms that are associated to their gender. However, these gender norms come with stereotypes