“There’s no crying in baseball” (A League of Their Own). These are the famous words from Tom Hanks when he screams at one of his female major league baseball players for crying. Tom Hanks continues yelling at the baseball player by saying, “Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?” (A League of Their Own). That line of the movie shows a perfect example of just one of the masculine identities males construct in organized sports. By portraying what a “real” man should be like, males put on a “mask” (‘Tough Guise’) to hide their humanity. According to the ideal male they should be,”… powerful, physical, strong, independent, tough, and respected” (‘Tough Guise’). In sports a “real man” would never cry if their manager yelled at him or if an injury was to occur. Men are taught to keep those “feminine” emotions inside and only show that sturdy masculine side. Two of Robert Brannon’s themes say the norms for men and the way they should behave is defined as, “No sissy stuff,” and “Sturdy oak/Male machine.” No male wants to be called womanly, bitch, wimp, soft, or a wussy. Giving off that “anti-femininity” makes it so males do not have to open up to their emotions, weaknesses, or sensitive side. With no emotions to show, men can become “inexpressive and independent,” making them sturdy due to their emotional composure and self-control. And when it comes to sports it is important to have that self-control of emotion and that lack of femininity brought into the game, otherwise that masculinity mask falls into the cracks and as men say, “You are acting like a woman.”…
