ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers to why people value sport so much, and why society particularly values masculinized sports that require aggression. Jeff's story is particularly interesting because he used to bully male cheerleaders. Competitive cheerleading in the US has morphed from simply supporting other athletic teams to a competitive sport in its own right. Social constructionism refers to the development of phenomena relative to social contexts. But the idea of constructionism was greatly expanded in the twentieth century, where it became prominent with the influential work of Berger and Luckmann. Sigmund Freud explained homosexuality's origins in his "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality". Sport maintained little cultural value prior to the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, fathers left for work early, often returning home once their sons had gone to bed. Without women's presence in sport, men's greater sporting prowess became uncontested proof of their superiority and right to masculine domination.
