In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, a jock is a

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

of an athlete, or someone who is consumed by sports and sports culture, and does not take much interest in

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

pursuits or other activities. It is generally applied mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct

youth subculture Youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, employment, work, home and school. Youth ...

. As a blanket term, ''jock'' can be considered synonymous with ''athlete''. Jocks are usually presented as male practitioners of

team sports A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a s ...

such as American football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and ice hockey.

Origin

The use of the term "jock" to refer to an athletic man is thought to have emerged around 1963. It is believed to be derived from the word " jockstrap", which is an undergarment worn to support/protect the male genitals while playing sports. In the 1960s, someone who liked sports was sometimes jokingly called an "athletic supporter", which is the actual name for a jockstrap. The term "jock" also appears in the 1953 book '' A House Is Not a Home'' by Polly Adler, in which Adler used the term "jock" as

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to Cursive, longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Gr ...

for

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

, or a professional rider of

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

s. Adler described jockeys as "handsome, cute, athletic, and well-liked by girls", but with a penchant for parties and alcohol. Jocks are often contrasted with another stereotype: nerds. This

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

is a theme in many American movies, television shows, and books.

Characteristics

Various characteristics of the jock stereotype include: * Aggressive, arrogant, judgmental, egotistical, easily offended and ill-tempered * Muscular, tall and athletic * Handsome * Does not cry or otherwise show weakness or fear * Afraid to hug or hold a friend too long, performative masculinity * Often engages in

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

of those who lack athletic ability, or in bullying anyone to gain power * Frequently given privileges, such as undeserved passing grades or immunity from school discipline, to maintain eligibility for sports. * Easy access to social and sexual environments due to charisma, status and social approval

Portrayal in the media

Jocks are often present in books, movies, and television shows involving high school, middle school, and college. The stereotype is most prevalent in movies for teenagers such as ''

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

'', '' American Pie'', and the '' Revenge of the Nerds'' movies; and the video game '' Bully''. The stereotype extends beyond the high-school and collegiate age group into media intended for younger audiences. Examples include the high school football quarterback Dash Baxter in the Nickelodeon cartoon '' Danny Phantom,'' and Kevin from the Cartoon Network series '' Ed, Edd n Eddy''. Other notable portrayals of the stereotype include the popular athlete and love interest Tommy Ross in '' Carrie'', the spoiled bullying antagonist Luke Ward in the first season of '' The O.C.'', '' Johnny Lawrence'' the ex-boyfriend of '' Ali Mills'' in '' The Karate Kid'', and Kim's wealthy and athletic boyfriend Jim in '' Edward Scissorhands''.

Mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

commonly use stereotypical characteristics of athletes to portray a character who is relatively unintelligent and unenlightened, but nonetheless socially and physically well-endowed. Usually, jocks play aggressive sports such as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

or basketball. Examples from television shows include Ryan Shay (

Parker Young Parker Young is an American actor. He portrayed Ryan Shay on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''Suburgatory'', Randy Hill on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox sitcom ''Enlisted (TV series), Enlisted'' and Richard on the Bravo (U.S. T ...

) in the sitcom '' Suburgatory'', Reggie Mantle in '' Riverdale'', and Jimmy Armstrong ( Dan Cortese) in the sitcom '' Hot in Cleveland''. The main jock character often occupies a high position, such as the

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

or captain of the football team. In many cases, the jock is shown to come from a wealthy family, driving a fancy, expensive sports car or SUV, and wearing expensive, name-brand clothing. However, this is not always the case. In this regard, there may be significant overlap with the preppie stereotype. As a

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

, the jock is often a dynamic character who has an epiphany or develops a new understanding, and changes his values. This change often leads to a cessation of athletics or some other equivalent social sacrifice, and the character is then no longer being considered a jock. Examples in movies include Randall "Pink" Floyd in '' Dazed and Confused'' and Andrew Clark in '' The Breakfast Club''. Examples in television shows include Nathan Scott in the teen drama series '' One Tree Hill'', Whitney Fordman in ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' and Luke Ward in '' The O.C.''. As

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

s, shown as lacking compassion for the

, and are generally flat and static. Often in high school comedies or dramas where the main characters are not popular, the jock is the chief

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Heathers'' "Kurt" and "Ram" roles, the ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

'' character

Flash Thompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962). Flash ...

, high school

jocks and Connie D'Amico's cronies Scott and Doug in ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', high school football captain Oliver Wilkerson in '' The Cleveland Show'',

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

's first boyfriend Duncan Matthews in '' X-Men: Evolution'', middle school bully and "Crush Ball" quarterback Rodney Glaxer from '' Lloyd in Space'', and Massimo Lenzetti ( Justin Chambers) in the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

'' The Wedding Planner'' are examples. There are also numerous jock antagonists found in teen dramas, such as the rapist Dean Walton in '' Degrassi''. On the show ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...

'', Emily Fields is the athletic one of the group. In the 1978 movie '' Grease'', Danny Zuko changed his greaser look for a jock to impress his lover Sandy. The character of Buzz McCallister in the 1990 film ''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dar ...

'' and its 1992 sequel, '' Lost in New York'', appears to be a jock due to his love for basketball and his being a fan of

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

and the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

as well as his bullying of the protagonist character, Kevin McCallister. In the 2006, hit movie '' High School Musical'', Troy Bolton was a star jock of East High School in addition to other characters Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, and also Troy's father Jack Bolton. In 2013's '' Monsters University'', Johnny Worthington is the proud leader of Roar Omega Roar (RΩR). Additionally, Kevin Thompson of ''

Daria ''Daria'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom television series created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It centers on the titular character, D ...

'', which satirized high school life, conformed to the "dumb" athlete stereotype, though was never mean towards lead character

Daria Morgendorffer Daria Morgendorffer is a fictional character and the eponymous main protagonist of the MTV adult animated series ''Daria'', which originally aired from March 1997 to January 2002. She was initially designed and created by ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' ...

and her friend Jane Lane; another jock character, Mac Mackenzie, was depicted as intelligent and cordial to the main characters, and was never shown to be a bully even though he was often disturbed by Kevin's dimness.

Other jock characters in media

Academics and athletics

The general perception that athletes are unintelligent is derived from the idea that athletic and academic success are mutually exclusive. Prior to 1990, many researchers were critical with respect to the impact of

extracurricular activities An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Although approved ...

and athletics in particular on education. According to the so-called " Zero Sum Model", education and extracurriculars compete for student's time. However, later studies present a strong evidence that athletic or cultural extracurricular activities in school would increase school attendance, self-confidence, grade (in some instance), and college attendance but would reduce performance in standardized test. Despite the fact that many schools recruit for sports, they put stipulations in place that require student athletes to maintain minimum academic grade in order to maintain their scholarships. Schools recruit students to their athletic teams, but require a student maintain a certain grade-point average (GPA) in order to have the scholarship renewed. For many young athletes, this is imperative as they could not afford higher education on their own. Therefore, they balance enough study to remain eligible with the demands of their sport. At the college level in the United States, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

does have some education requirements that must be met for high school students to play in a Division I school, and to be eligible for a scholarship. The most recent standards passed by the NCAA, which will apply to all incoming college freshmen beginning with the class of 2016, requires that 16 core high school courses be completed by the student-athlete, 7 of which must be either math, science, or English, and 10 of those 16 classes must be completed prior to their senior year of high school. As well, the students must graduate high school with a minimum 2.3 GPA (up from the 2.0 GPA requirement that was in place prior to these new standards). Such requirements have been debated for years, however.

References