Jock (athlete)

In Canada and the United States, a jock is a stereotype of an athlete, or more to the point, someone who mainly accesses sports and sports culture, and does not much access or have access to intellectual culture . It is generally attributed mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct youth subculture. As a blanket term, jock can be considered synonymous with athlete.

Similar words that may mean the same as jock include meathead, musclebrain, and musclehead. These terms are based on the stereotype that a jock is muscular, but not very smart, and cannot carry a conversation on any topic other than one relating to sports, exercise, or sex.

Note that jocks usually are presented as practitioners of team sports, such as football, basketball or ice hockey. Practitioners of individual sports, such as track and field or swimming, are seldom presented as jocks.

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.

Jocks are often contrasted with another negative stereotype, nerds. This dichotomy is a theme in many American movies, television shows, and books.

The following list includes the various characteristics of the jock stereotype the media often borrowed:

As such, a common belief is that jocks are given preferential treatment (such as little or no punishment for misbehavior, and/or receiving unearned passing grades) solely to maintain the jocks' athletic eligibility (treatment that, by implication, would not be given to non-jocks)..

Stereotypical jocks are often present in books, movies, and television shows involving high school or college. The stereotype is most prevalent in movies for teenagers such as College, American Pie, and Revenge of the Nerds movies. The stereotype extends beyond the high-school and collegiate age group, trickling down into media intended for younger audiences. Examples of this include the high school football quarterback Dash Baxter in the Nickelodeon cartoon Danny Phantom and Kevin from Ed, Edd n Eddy. Other notable portrayals of the stereotype include the popular athlete love interest "Tommy Ross" in Carrie, the spoiled bullying antagonist Luke Ward in the first season of The O.C., and Kim's wealthy athlete boyfriend Jim in Edward Scissorhands.

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