Recently, professional football players Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita spoke out to support marriage equality. Their advocacy brings to the surface a discussion that has been going on for a long time about homophobia in professional sports. It raises questions about homophobia and gender stereotyping in school sports, too. This lesson asks students to identify and discuss homophobia and gender stereotyping in athletics, and think about how to combat these attitudes and behavior at their own schools.
Professional Development
You can read some general guidelines about how to teach about gender stereotyping and homophobia at:
Objectives
Activities for the lower grades (K-4) will help students:
- identify qualities that they associate with male and female athletes;
- identify the attitudes they have about gender, sexual orientation, and athletics;
- understand what stereotypes are and how they harm and limit people;
- find positive images that show men and women that have qualities that they did not see as “positive” for each gender, and
- make a collage using the images and descriptive words.
Activities for the middle grades (5-8) and high school (9-12) will help students:
- identify qualities that they associate with male and female athletes;
- identify the attitudes they have about gender, sexual orientation, and athletics;
- understand what stereotypes are and how they harm and limit people;
- explore what stereotypes they may believe about gender and sexual orientation;
- discuss how those stereotypes show up at their school, and
- make a plan for how to debunk stereotypes about gender and sexual orientation at school.
Materials
Article: "Can the NFL Tackle Homophobia?"
Handout 1: Stereotypes of Male and Female Athletes and Artists (Middle and Upper Grades)
Essential Questions
- What characteristics do you associate with athletes? Which are positive and which are negative for male athletes? Which are positive and which are negative for female athletes?
- How do gender stereotypes and homophobia affect students?
- What can you do at your school to change homophobic attitudes?
GLOSSARY
homophobia |ˌhōməˈfōbēə|
(noun) The irrational fear or antipathy toward LGBT people and homosexuality.
stereotypes |ˈsterēəˌtīp; ˈsti(ə)r-|
(noun) A set of preconceived ideas or beliefs, usually negative, over-generalized to all or most members of a group based on their membership in that group. Stereotypes can be based on race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, physical appearance, class or socioeconomic status, occupation, etc.
Additional Resources
“Young gay athletes find a place out on the field”
“Come out of the dark ages”
“Homophobia Rampant in Women’s Sports”
LOWER GRADES (K-5)
Social Studies/Arts/Reading and Language Arts/ELL
1. Your teacher will show you some pictures of athletes. (Note: As an alternative to digital pictures, consider using old magazines to assemble pictures.)
What words do you think of when you see the pictures? What words would you use to describe the athletes? Raise your hand and share the words with your class. Your teacher will write the words down on a chart that looks like this:
Words to describe athletes | Girls/Women | Boys/Men |
|
2. Look at the first word on the list. Do you think it is a good quality for a boy or man to have? If so, have a volunteer put a check mark in the column that’s called “Boys/Men.” Do you think it is a good quality for a girl or woman to have? If so, have a volunteer put a check mark in the column that’s called “Girls/Women.”
3. Have a volunteer read aloud the words that your class thinks are good qualities for men. Have another volunteer read aloud the words that your class thinks are good qualities for women. Are any of the “positive” words the same for both men and women? Which ones? Which words are different? Why do you think that they are different?
4. A stereotype is an assumption made about an individual based on group membership. Look at the chart again. Which of the words on the chart are stereotypes about men and women, and about athletes? How can you tell that they’re stereotypes? As a class, talk about how stereotypes can devalue and hurt people.
5. Try rethinking the stereotypes you identified on the chart. In old magazines and/or on the Internet, find pictures of male and female athletes who have the all or most of the traits your class identified. Make a collage with the pictures. Write the words from your class’s list on cards or pieces of paper. Include them in the collage.
6. Share your collage. As a class, discuss what you learned about stereotypes of men and women athletes.
MIDDLE GRADES AND HIGH SCHOOL
Social Studies/Reading and Language Arts/ELL
1. What is a stereotype? What is homophobia? In small groups, define the terms. Use books or web sites to help you. Write a one- or two-sentence definition of each word. Compare your group’s definitions with other groups’ definitions to make sure you understand the terms.
2. With your group, complete the handout, Stereotypes of Male and Female Athletes and Artists.
3. Read “Can the NFL Tackle Homophobia?”. When you think back to stereotypes about male athletes, what, if anything, in the article surprises you? Why do you think no professional football players self-identified as gay while they were playing pro ball?
4. Write a journal entry about gender stereotypes and homophobia in professional sports and at your school. You don’t need to share it with anyone. But bring your ideas to a group discussion about what you can do at your school to help combat homophobia and gender stereotyping. Make a plan. Identify the steps involved in carrying out the plan, and take on the task as an ongoing class project. Keep records of your progress in your journal.
APPLYING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED (All Grades)
Effective learners connect what they learn to their own lives. Think about what you have learned in this lesson. Answer these questions in a journal.
STANDARDS
Civics
Standard 14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life
English/Language Arts
Standard 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts
Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
Health
Standard 10. Understands the fundamental concepts of growth and development
Benchmark 2. Understands how physical, mental, social, and cultural factors influence attitudes and behaviors regarding sexuality (9-12)
U.S. History
Standard 29. Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties
Standard 31. Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States
Visual Arts
Standard 1. Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts (K-4)
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