The Body

We as women have always been preoccupied with their body image and how we are viewed.  This may be due to the standards we believe men hold us up to, the standards that other women hold us up to, or our own standards.  In our class survey it seemed that most of us believed there was a clear line between looking healthy and having too much muscle.  It would make complete sense for women to embrace their bodies and their muscles just as well as men, but we have the mindset that women should be petite and fragile.  Beauty is not muscle it is being fit and thin.  In the article by Molly George, she mentions how women in sports are put in the position where they have to choose whether to be a better athlete or have an "ideal" body.  I felt the same way when I swam in high school. I was constantly worried about my body image, even though my friends and my family told me that I have nothing to worry about.  There are some individuals that cannot cope with the stress that they tend to go to extreme measures such as bulimia and anorexia.  This should not be an issue that women have to face, I wish that we could find beauty in muscles as well in our own body.  Unfortunately humanity feels the need to achieve perfection, whatever perfection is supposed to be. 

The New Epidemic

Obesity has become such an increasing concern that it was even mentioned to be an epidemic by Baker Harrell. It is an epidemic that can only be resolved by changing the mindset of people to pursue a healthier lifestyle.  Obesity mainly affected people in these past couple of decades so it is not well-known by the majority of society.  I feel like a lot of obese and overweight individuals understand that it is unhealthy but don’t recognize the side effects such as the increase risk of cancer, heart attack, and many other diseases.  Someone in class mentioned how a harsher approach may be more beneficial when trying to communicate with obese individuals so that they can be conscientious of their lifestyle.  I would have to disagree with this statement because having a negative influence on such a sensitive issue would only discourage the positive outcomes we are fighting for.  People that are overweight are constantly teased in school and other settings and would not appreciate being harassed by their doctors and trainers as well.  Body image is a very sensitive issue and I am positive that there are a lot of overweight people that have tried diets and pills to lose weight.  The lack of success must be overwhelming and some may only find comfort in food, ending their goals and making them feel devastated.  I feel like the choice to be healthy must be decided by the person that is overweight and supported by trainers and friends.  We must inform the masses of research results and somehow convince them that a change is possible and doable.

Kinesiology Majors

Kinesiology has not been a very renowned graduate program in the past couple of decades.  It was frowned upon due to the lack of research, little identification of the field, and not enough of a practical curriculum for a career.  In the next couple of years all of these issues were dealt with, and Kinesiology became one of the largest growing fields in the world today.  This is partially due to the increasing knowledge that exercising has a positive effect on society’s health.  In the past centuries exercise evolved from Posture and Physical Anthropometry, to Muscular Christianity, to Fitness centers, to the world of exercise we know today.  Since Kinesiology is such a new major and doctorate program there are several opportunities to branch out and expand on clinical care, research, and several sports area.  In spite of its growth, it is still undermined by society and many people think that Kinesiology majors become PE teachers.  It is a very common misconception because Kinesiology majors are not credited for their hard work.  Especially in the field of sports a lot of Sports Managers, Athletic Trainers, and Exercise Scientists partake in the "behind the scene" event coordination.  Some people don't understand the amount of dedication and hard work that has undergone to revolutionize this field.  I feel like we have come a very long way and will continue to grow throughout the next couple of years.

Why Play?

Play is a very commonly used word that has various meanings in our society.  We “play” tic tac toe, “play” video games, “play” instruments, “play” games, “play” sports, etc.    According to Allen Guttmann’s Ritual to Record, he states that “play is any nonutilitarian physical or intellectual activity pursued for its own sake.”  According to our reading play is divided into spontaneous and organized.  Organized play can either be competitive or noncompetitive, and competitive play can either be intellectual or physical.  I suppose that the purpose for us to define play is to be able to classify sport, which is considered a competitive contest of organized play.  I don’t believe that play is the right term for the basis of sport.   I feel like play in itself is a broad term that describes spontaneity and organization instead of defining them.  I would probably change the to categorization of play and replace it with activity due to fact that it further defines spontaneity and organization.  Organized activity would then be divided into competitive and noncompetitive, and so on as listed above.