Anti-jock movement

The anti-jock movement is a loosely organized cyber-movement consisting of similarly themed websites, whose goal is to challenge the perceived cultural dominance of institutionalized competitive sports and to raise issues of the perceived detrimental effects of such a dominance. In this regard, the term "jock" is used in its sense of "stereotypical athlete," although websites constituent of the Anti-jock Movement often use the term to distinguish negative or excessive interest in sports, from common or positive athletic endeavor. The "stereotypical athlete" can be defined as an individual who uses their athletic ability in an effort to gain social capital. Their identity is intertwined with their athletic endeavor and as a result they are unable to connect with individuals who do not participate in athletics. In the decade following the year 2000, increasing recognition has been given to the existence of a movement consisting of "a group of self-described marginalized youth [who] constructed and sustained anti-jock websites, where they articulated 'dissatisfaction with and anger toward institutions that uncritically adulate hyper-masculine/high contact sport culture and the athletes who are part of this culture (i.e., the ‘jocks’)'”. This "group of self-described marginalized youth" identify with the individuals who feel as though they have been marginalized by "stereotypical athlete". As a whole, the group of young people who created the anti-jock cyber movement were not students who participated in athletics. The anti-jock cyber-movement was created as support to those who feel as though they have been tormented by the 'jocks' and was initially created as a support group. As the anti-jock movement gained support, it was took on a more negative perspective against the "stereotypical athlete". Such has been cited as an act of resistance against the dominant media and cultural paradigm.

One of the most cited articles giving recognition to the existence of an anti-jock cyber movement is a 2002 article published by Brian Wilson (an assistant professor of Cultural Studies and Sociology, University of British Columbia) in the Sociology of Sport Journal, titled "The 'Anti-Jock' Movement: Reconsidering Youth Resistance, Masculinity and Sport Culture in the Age of the Internet". In the course of the article, Wilson described the movement as follows:

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