Travel in Germany: Killing two birds with one stone Pt III
June 18th 2006 04:00
For aeons sport has had this loosening effect on men. While the Sapphists were lolling about on the Island of Lesbos, the men of Ancient Greece were wrestling each other at the base of Mount Olympus. Sport has always sanctioned male behaviour which is otherwise taboo. Outside of sport, the concept of eros remains firmly demarcated from masculinity. Today we have merely replaced wrestling with various codes of football. We use these 'codes' to keep a lid on a desire to connect with other men emotionally; to express affection for them; to love them. Journalist Rob McFarland recently wrote that "Anger, disappointment and excitement are all appropriate emotions for public consumption, but sorrow, heartache and misery for some reason, aren't."
The experience of thousands of men at Olympic Park confirms that description. But with Australian triumphs of that calibre so infrequent, it can't be healthy to wait until the next big win to have a good cry. At least in Columbia, if they lose, they get it out of their system right away with a riot or they pop off a few rounds into the air, and oops, we need a new forward line. (Everyone take a step forward. You! In the back! Yes, compadre, I'm talking to you - now you play midfield.)
So far, we haven't allowed eros to challenge our lines of emotional commerce. Instead, barracking for your team is a one-size fits all mode of catharsis. You might be having relationship problems, while your best mate might be under the pump at work; but both of you are experiencing the same release. The only caveat is you must back a winner. If you're an AFL fan, and you follow Carlton, you might consider switching clubs?
Whether these emotions are less valid for being dressed in team garb, is unsettled. It might even be salutary for men to watch weekly sport and get downright visceral. That form of release is no less valid than those who cry when listening to Claude Debussy’s ‘Clare de Lune’. The vibrational buzz of 80 000 people singing and dancing might even be a manifestation of large-scale musical therapy. Rather than reproach ourselves then, perhaps we can encourage this feeling until it expands into all our human relations. Maybe then men will hug openly without first stopping to don the green and gold.
The experience of thousands of men at Olympic Park confirms that description. But with Australian triumphs of that calibre so infrequent, it can't be healthy to wait until the next big win to have a good cry. At least in Columbia, if they lose, they get it out of their system right away with a riot or they pop off a few rounds into the air, and oops, we need a new forward line. (Everyone take a step forward. You! In the back! Yes, compadre, I'm talking to you - now you play midfield.)
So far, we haven't allowed eros to challenge our lines of emotional commerce. Instead, barracking for your team is a one-size fits all mode of catharsis. You might be having relationship problems, while your best mate might be under the pump at work; but both of you are experiencing the same release. The only caveat is you must back a winner. If you're an AFL fan, and you follow Carlton, you might consider switching clubs?
Whether these emotions are less valid for being dressed in team garb, is unsettled. It might even be salutary for men to watch weekly sport and get downright visceral. That form of release is no less valid than those who cry when listening to Claude Debussy’s ‘Clare de Lune’. The vibrational buzz of 80 000 people singing and dancing might even be a manifestation of large-scale musical therapy. Rather than reproach ourselves then, perhaps we can encourage this feeling until it expands into all our human relations. Maybe then men will hug openly without first stopping to don the green and gold.
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