I really enjoying the refresher on Foucault that the end of Chapter 6 gave me. His rejection of the ‘repressive hypothesis’ is an extremely interesting topic to me, and I think it certainly has a lot of place in the culture and society in which we inhabit today. Considering how sports-minded I am, I can’t help but think about Foucault’s critique of the repressive hypothesis in terms of how it applies to todays sports world.
This past February, Michael Sam, an All-American co-SEC defensive player of the year who recently graduated from the University of Missouri, admitted to the world that he was gay. This quickly became a big deal for a few reasons. The NFL had yet to welcome it’s first openly gay athlete, and Sam, who was projected to be a relatively high-draft pick, voiced his desire to break down this barrier just a few days before his scheduled NFL tryout. After Michael Sam’s admission of his sexuality, much of the sports analysis that followed consisted mainly of discussing whether or not the decision to admit his sexuality would hurt his draft projection. To reiterate, the first gay player is about to join the NFL and one of the main points discussed is whether or not he will be drafted as high as he would have been without admitting his sexuality.
The way the media has covered Michael Sam since learning he was a homosexual football player provides us with a great example of how our ability to interpret and adequately speak on sexuality is radically insufficient – and it interestingly enough somewhat aligns with the people living at the time Foucault was writing.
Very interesting and pertinent response. How can you tie the Sam situation directly to the repressive hypothesis or utilise and example from Foucault to explicate your argument about Sam?
A good example in my opinion would be the awful response from the public to Michael Sam being drafted on social media outlets as well as major news outlets. As usual, when a player is drafted they are shown celebrating in whatever setting they are in (physically at the draft itself or at home with family). As Sam heard his name announced in the comfort of his own home he jumped for joy and proceeded to kiss his boyfriend celebrating with him and his family. It became a trending topic quickly on social media outlets, and many current/former players expressed their rejection of homosexuality and continued to repress the fact that other forms of sexuality could/should exist even in the arena of sports. I feel that this view was largely held by the society which Foucault critiques in the Repressive Hypothesis. Here’s a tweet from a former NFL player. I saw a lot more opinions be made on the issue by players around the time this occurred, so the sound bites are definitely out there.
“”I’m sorry but that Michael Sam is no bueno for doing that on national tv,” former Super Bowl champion Derrick Ward tweeted.
“Man U got little kids lookin at the draft. I can’t believe ESPN even allowed that to happen,” he added.”
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/12/us/michael-sam-nfl-kiss-reaction/