As it says in my byline above, I write about sports. And to do so well, to know what the hell I’m talking about, I watch a lot of sports. Maybe too much. I care about sports. If everyone has a “thing,” sports are mine. I think we can all agree that that’s a normal thing for a guy to be into, especially one in his early 20’s.
Ballet, however, is not. I would know; I was a ballet dancer for a large portion of my life, and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t pretty good at it. That’s no secret — there are pictures on Facebook of me during my time with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet — but it’s hardly something I broadcast. Not because I’m embarrassed, but because it’s such a big deal to so many people.
A girl I dated wouldn’t let me bring it up because it wasn’t manly enough. An editor from The Peak from a few generations ago couldn’t believe I was a ballet dancer because I “write about football and stuff,” as if the two were mutually exclusive. As if one was “less straight” than the other.
You can think of me and other male dancers how you will; I’ve been called a “faggot,” enough to not care anymore. But keep your gender roles out of my sports, please and thank you.
Sports, especially team sports, have been defined by their masculinity for so long. How often do you hear “it’s a man’s game” being thrown around during a football broadcast? And then, when one of those football players comes out as gay, there are questions of his masculinity, despite his talent.
University of Missouri star Michael Sam announced to the world that he is gay three months before he was scheduled to enter the NFL Draft. CBS Sports had Sam, fresh off being named a first-team All-American and his conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year, ranked as a third-round prospect prior to his announcement. Now, there are questions of how far he’ll fall in the draft, if picked at all.
Women in football have it worse: you’re a sex symbol, whether you’re cheering on the sideline or playing in the Lingerie Bowl. There’s nothing even close to equality in football, and when you break away from the alpha-male stereotype, as Sam did, you don’t belong.
When a woman breaks through to a man’s world, she must either be lesbian or willing to bare skin. It’s too easy to call female hockey players “butch” or “dykes,” and I’m sure those stereotypes are as accurate as those surrounding male dancers. Then there are the Danica Patricks of the world, who I’m sure you all know more for kinda-sorta taking her clothes off for GoDaddy than anything she’s done on the race track.
Too often gender roles define athletes off the court, field, track, or ice. They shouldn’t, because none of it matters. I don’t want to hear about Michael Sam, Gay Football Player’s draft journey. I just want to watch Michael Sam, All-American, play football in the NFL.
Then I’ll go see Romeo + Juliet with my mom.
