Breaking The Stereotype
A stereotype is defined by media Scholar Glenn Sparks as “A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” The media often portray our thoughts about what certain people, cultures, figures, etc should look like. For example, If I asked you to picture a NFL Defensive lineman what characteristics would you list?
I imagine things like tall, strong, athletic, African American or Caucasian, etc would be some of the first things that come to mind, and I bet you didn’t even mention straight because that just seems like it’s a given, but in some cases it isn’t.
Carl Nassib, a 28 year old defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders came out as gay over an Instagram video. He stated “What’s up people?” “I just wanted to take a quick moment to say I’m gay. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest (ESPN Gutierrez).”
He followed up his statement by letting the viewers know he was donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project which provides crisis and suicide prevention for the LGBTQ+ community.
This was very groundbreaking, because Nassib is the only active NFL member to come out as gay. This isn’t something that is easy, and as expected the media reacted in both positive and negative ways.
On Twitter there was bash and jokes about Nassib being a homosexual NFL player, but a large portion of the sports community like the Raiders organization, NFL Defensive end JJ Watt, Running back Saquon Barkley, the NFL organization, all praised the toughness and respect they have for Carl Nassib.
Part of being a famous athlete in my eyes is using your platform to promote topics that are important to you, your community, and the world. I believe that what Nassib did was super powerful and ground breaking. I believe he will impact other young or even current athletes that struggle with the comfort of coming out whether they are male, female, cacausiom, African American etc.
The world is changing and so are the ways we live and interact with others. I don’t think Carl Nassib will be the only professional athlete to come out, but I do believe regardless if anyone else does he has helped create this comfort feeling that you’re not alone and it’s okay to feel the way you do.
The media is the number one reason we have the stereotypes we do about public figures/celebrities, and more often than not when we are faced with something that doesn’t match the image we tend to feel confused. I think that people like Carl Nassib are the people that can change the world and overall help eliminate the overall stigma about what things “should” look like. The world is changing and so are people’s interests, it’s time to start believing that what we see online isn’t the only way people should look, act, and feel.
His ability to push that post button was probably the hardest but most rewarding push of his career. So remember, be different, express your emotions, and push yourself because in the end it will all pay off.
