Have you ever thought why does the NBA get paid so much more than the WNBA? It is the same sport, with the same concepts but with a different gender. Why is it that gender affects the revenue brought in so significantly that the difference is counted in millions. In the article Comets Flame Out by Joe Lemire it mentions a few facts and statistics about women’s national basketball that are unforgettable when it comes to money. The WNBA remains a tough business to bring in revenue. Only 10 of 14 teams saw an increase in revenue from 2007 to 2008, and only a few have turned a profit. Another surprising fact was that “to cash-flow the team” in ’09 Koch (the owner) needed to sell 3,000 season tickets and get $2 million in corporate sponsorships, but the Comets reached only about two thirds of each benchmark. Something that continually bothers me is why is it that the WNBA game barely have any attendance at all when almost every single NBA team has many fans every game. The same sport should have the same supporters and not loose them just because of gender. The fans are so important because if they dont buy tickets and support the WNBA teams then the difference between the profits is going to keep increasing. Another factor to why the NBA gets paid much more than the WNBA is all the airtime and advertising the NBA players and teams get. This article has a targeted audience of women’s basketball players or any athletes wanting to know about professional women’s sports. The article I read was effective for what it was going for but a little short and could have included much more information about the subject.

Britney Spears is one of the most influential people of our time, but if you think about it, how did she influence our culture? This reading really shows how much pop artists like Madonna and Britney and celebrities like Jane Fonda had a huge influence on body type and changed the popular skin and bones body type to an athletic and muscular looking body. Earlier I asked the question what kind of influence did Britney Spears have on our society? Well it is believed by Forbes (2002) that her influence is to blame for increases in body image disturbances among young girls all over. Many themes emerge from Britney’s videos when analyzed. Power and control, identity development and gender stereotypes and sexuality. Also all throughout many of Britney’s music video is promotion of the female body. Another aspect that is promoted in many of her videos is development from “schoolgirl” to “diva”. Many things are prominent in her videos including power. In the video “Oops I Did It Again” she shows her power by being dressed in a red space suit with a boy following around and in the beginning of the video coming from up above. This academic writing can be targeted at teenagers and young adults around the world. Britney Spears has influenced girls from ages 8-28 and this article could be interesting to many teenagers. Britney Spears being one of the most important singers in my youth I really enjoyed this article. The form it was wrote in was very organized and it showed its reliability by using many facts and even a case study. One thing I did not like was the length of it and at points it got kind of boring to me. Other than this critique I believe this reading was effective and is good information to have.

The reading “Nascar’s Boy Wonder”, is extremely surprising and has so many different purposes to offer. I think a main purpose is to show how our society has a tendency to not accept different and hate the unfamiliar. When Jeff Gordon joined the race world and became a NASCAR champion he was not looked at like other champions like him. He was ridiculed for his bright-colored car or his young looking face and body. Credentials were also something that was not accepted in NASCAR. NASCAR heros are usually always classified as rough and intimidating. The men are also characterized as extremely manly and do not have educations. All of this was completely opposite of Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon came into NASCAR with MANY astonishing credentials. Something that really created a division within NASCAR fans was the youthful profile. Jeff Gordon was either hugely excepted or roundly rejected. After a while Jeff Gordon got unearned speculations that he was gay. Even though there was no evidence to support these speculations there became fan groups against Gordon where rude t-shirts and websites were made to show hate for the racer. Even after Jeff Gordon married his wife and also a model he was not done being accused for being gay. A divorce set a new spark to the fire and gave people even more momentum to accuse Jeff. Some studies have shown that Gordon’s image is projected for advertisements and other photo shoots. I think that this reading is very true and has a very good point and message. Our society does jump to conclusions when we encounter something different than the normal. I really loved the message because of this message and all of the informative things in it. This reading was very effective due to all the different statistics, quotes, studies and stories told. This article should be read by everyone because of the message it sends out to America.

“Every game in which you take part requires skill, dexterity, coolness, and courage with presence of mind. Cultivate and play all the sports you can open air, and they will make you a fitter type of perfect womanhood” (p.3) This could be one of the most important readings in the book because of the huge impact all the events in the writing had on our society. I believe that the main purpose of this article is to tell about women and there past dealing with sports and also sports fashion. One thing I was so surprised to learn in this academic reading is that women used magazines, books and instruction manuals such as “Ladies’ Home Journal” to learn techniques of different sports and also the appropriate dress for each activity. These manuals and books led women to have confidence and competence in the new activities they would be participating in. All of the physical training in this period challenged past expectations for women because of all the acquired skills and strength. The ability to compete really started the change of gender roles and really challenged the past ways. The reading also shows how huge it was for women to be able to form a comfortable and appropriate dress while participating in athletics. Women were able to change uncomfortable clothing to a loser dress so that moving around was easy to do during sports. This reading really has so much information targeted at many different people. Women’s athletes are a main intended audience and should know a lot of this information. I liked this reading for many different reasons, it had quotes that were interesting and made the article more personal. The reading also had some journal references that really showed that it was reliable. One thing that could have made the article even more effective is more statistics. Overall this reading was effective but not perfect!