In theUnited States andCanada, ajock is astereotype of an athlete, or someone who is consumed by sports and sports culture, and does not take much interest inintellectual pursuits or other activities.[1][2] It is generally applied mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinctyouth subculture. As ablanket term,jock can be considered synonymous withathlete.[3] Jocks are usually presented as male practitioners ofteam sports such as American football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and ice hockey.
The use of the term "jock" to refer to an athletic man is thought to have emerged around 1963.[2] It is believed to be derived from the word "jockstrap", which is an undergarment worn to support/protect the male genitals while playing sports.[4] In the 1960s, someone who liked sports was sometimes jokingly called an "athletic supporter", which is the actual name for a jockstrap.[citation needed]
The term "jock" also appears in the 1953 bookA House Is Not a Home byPolly Adler, in which Adler used the term "jock" asshorthand forjockey, or a professional rider ofracehorses. Adler described jockeys as "handsome, cute, athletic, and well-liked by girls", but with a penchant for parties and alcohol.[5]
Jocks are often contrasted with another stereotype:nerds. Thisdichotomy is a theme in many American movies, television shows, and books.[citation needed]
Various characteristics of the jock stereotype include:
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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 asCollege,American Pie, and theRevenge of the Nerds movies; and the video gameBully. The stereotype extends beyond the high-school and collegiate age group into media intended for younger audiences. Examples include the high school football quarterbackDash Baxter in the Nickelodeon cartoonDanny Phantom, and Kevin from the Cartoon Network seriesEd, Edd n Eddy. Other notable portrayals of the stereotype include the popular athlete and love interest Tommy Ross inCarrie, the spoiled bullying antagonistLuke Ward in the first season ofThe O.C.,Johnny Lawrence the ex-boyfriend ofAli Mills inThe Karate Kid, and Kim's wealthy and athletic boyfriend Jim inEdward Scissorhands.
Mass media 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 asfootball or basketball. Examples from television shows include Ryan Shay (Parker Young) in the sitcomSuburgatory,Reggie Mantle inRiverdale, and Jimmy Armstrong (Dan Cortese) in the sitcomHot in Cleveland. The main jock character often occupies a high position, such as thequarterback 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 orSUV, and wearing expensive, name-brand clothing. However, this is not always the case. In this regard, there may be significant overlap with thepreppie stereotype.
As aprotagonist, the jock is often a dynamic character who has anepiphany or develops a new understanding, and changes hisvalues. 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 inDazed and Confused and Andrew Clark inThe Breakfast Club. Examples in television shows includeNathan Scott in the teen drama seriesOne Tree Hill,Whitney Fordman inSmallville andLuke Ward inThe O.C..
Asantagonists, jocks can bestock characters, shown as lacking compassion for theprotagonist, and are generallyflat andstatic. Often in high school comedies or dramas where the main characters are not popular, the jock is the chiefantagonist and cruel to the main characters. He is disliked by the nerds and other people who are considered unpopular, and usually comes to an unfortunate (and in some cases, violent or fatal) end.Heathers' "Kurt" and "Ram" roles, theSpider-Man characterFlash Thompson, high schoolfootball jocks andConnie D'Amico's cronies Scott and Doug inFamily Guy, high school football captain Oliver Wilkerson inThe Cleveland Show,Jean Grey's first boyfriendDuncan Matthews inX-Men: Evolution, middle school bully and "Crush Ball" quarterback Rodney Glaxer fromLloyd in Space, and Massimo Lenzetti (Justin Chambers) in thefilmThe Wedding Planner are examples. There are also numerous jock antagonists found in teen dramas, such as the rapist Dean Walton inDegrassi.
On the showPretty Little Liars,Emily Fields is theathletic one of the group. In the 1978 movieGrease,Danny Zuko changed hisgreaser look for a jock to impress his lover Sandy. The character of Buzz McCallister in the 1990 filmHome Alone and its 1992 sequel,Lost in New York, appears to be a jock due to his love for basketball and his being a fan ofMichael Jordan and theChicago Bulls as well as his bullying of the protagonist character, Kevin McCallister. In the 2006, hit movieHigh School Musical,Troy Bolton was a star jock ofEast High School in addition to other charactersChad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, and also Troy's fatherJack Bolton. In 2013'sMonsters University, Johnny Worthington is the proud leader of Roar Omega Roar (RΩR). Additionally, Kevin Thompson ofDaria, which satirized high school life, conformed to the "dumb" athlete stereotype, though was never mean towards lead characterDaria Morgendorffer and her friendJane 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.
| Title | Character | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Reasons Why | Montgomery de la Cruz | Timothy Granaderos |
| Back to School | Chas Osborne | William Zabka |
| Back to the Future | Biff Tannen | Thomas F. Wilson |
| Cobra Kai | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Jacob Bertrand |
| Euphoria | Nate Jacobs | Jacob Elordi |
| Ghostbusters | Kevin Beckman | Chris Hemsworth |
| Glee | Noah Puckerman | Mark Salling |
| I Am Not Okay With This | Brad Lewis | Richard Ellis |
| John Tucker Must Die | John Tucker | Jesse Metcalfe |
| Love, Victor | Andrew Spencer | Mason Gooding |
| ParaNorman | Mitch Downe | Casey Affleck |
| School Spirits | Wally Clark | Milo Manheim |
| She's the Man | Duke Orsino | Channing Tatum |
| Stranger Things | Jason Carver | Mason Dye |
| Teen Wolf | Jackson Whittemore | Colton Haynes |
| The DUFF | Wesley Rush | Robbie Amell |
| Trinkets | Brady Finch | Brandon Butler |
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 ofextracurricular activities 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.[8][9]
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 certaingrade-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.[10]
At the college level in the United States, theNCAA does have some education requirements that must be met for high school students to play in aDivision 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).[11] Such requirements have been debated for years, however.[12]
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