ABSTRACT
Football appears to be a manly tradition because of the emphasis on domination through bodily strength and bulk. The football player as the archetype of the hypermasculine American male in many jokes is portrayed as dumb and voracious. Humor often arises from the apparent incongruity of his persona with the sensitivity of modern society. A sign of unease with the role of manly traditions in what many regard as a feminizing society is lore that distinguishes between hypermasculine or traditional “guys” and the new, sensitive “men.”
