ports that males are drawn to? And does it really effect masculinity that much, or are other forces such as family or peer group the initiating factors that lead a child to play sports and become more masculine? Or could it be that sports have become a primary masculinity-validating activity (Dubbert 1979)? From personal experience I can remember as a child playing for the shear enjoyment of the game and spending time with my friends. But as males age and continue to participate in sports the sports tends to change from a form of relaxation and enjoyment with friends to more of a career or business associated activity (Connell 2000). And with this comes the added pressure to perform and if the male is a talented athlete it can become and identity defining. But there are also other elements of sports that many young males could be attracted to. For example, in Masculinities Connell (1995) gave the example of a young man by the name of Rios who came to the United States from Mexico after he had lost both his mother and father. Rios was only nine years of age and had no other family other than a grandmother that lived here in the United States, so while at school he attempted to make new friends and find a sort of close-nit group to fit into, he found this in the schools athletic program. And it helped to Rios to generate to some strong relationships that guided him through his adolescence and high school years. But what about the young male that does not choose to play sports, does he become more feminine or does his decision to not participate in sports influence him to seek relationships with other males. In Connells book The Men and the Boys (2000) he interviewed a young man by the name of Adam (not last name given) who is works in the business industry, from the United States, and lived in a home in which he felt physically inferior to his older brother and father, and he also interviewed Steve Donoghue, who is a tri-athlete fr...
