Hyper Masculinity in sports

Today, hyper masculinity is present in all contact based sports.  Soccer, hockey , football, basketball, and even baseball has hyper-masculinity influencing the sport. Masculinity is part of everyday life far a man, it is advised by stereotypes.  Hyper masculinity influences men and how they live their life, caring more about their muscles than their life.  Recent events in the news has shown the public what type of damage it can do.  

The public needs to understand and hear what type of damages it can have on the mind.  Being focused on how your body looks and how you perform in sports shouldn't be more important than life itself. In the news recently, there has been many cases of physical abuse by current NFL players. Ray Rice punched his now wife in an elevator, causing her to become unconscious, many people believe hyper masculinity is to blame.  Also Adrian Peterson is facing jail time because of beating his kids, also bringing attention to hyper masculinity.  It is most important at the current moment because of the recent cases and the more to come.  If the public doesn't understand now, it never will and it will continue to happen. The violence needs to be stopped and masculinity needs to be moderated so it never controls how a person lives outside of their sport.

I am a sports player and seeing it happen first hand has had a direct impact on my life.  Being focused on my physical capabilities and trying to get stronger, most teenage men are focused on it to some degree.  Sports are violent, especially football.  The most important aspect of the game is based of trying to hurt other players.  Violence, all fans are drawn to it, whether they watch boxing or UFC, or they enjoy big football hits, hockey fights and physical basketball plays.  It is like a train crash, terrible to see yet it is hard to look away.  Violence is encouraged and it hurts those who did it the most.   It leads to abuse at their household which is the last place a family man would want it.  After years having to express yourself with violence it is easy to do it by mistake when aggravation occurs.  
Hyper masculinity is bound to happened in the current sport system we have in America, If it doesn’t change we will continue to see cases of physical  abuse away from sports because the mind set for a physical sport is based on violence and once someone is so involved in the sport, it is nearly impossible for your mind to leave the game.  It is almost as if the mind is stuck and once it enters there is no return.  Hyper masculinity starts at a young age and if it is wished to be stopped that is where the solution will start.  Getting kids to be less focused on sports and more on school and a good education will help stop the rapid growth of masculinity that is present in sports today.