Sports & Fitness

Focus on Body Image and paying college athletes

Our new book dropped the section on body image. That doesn't mean it isn't an important issue anymore. As a result, we'll need to pull sources from another book to respond to the following prompt or one you develop on this topic:

How does the sports world's and the media's idealization of the human body affect physical and mental health?

See me for resources on this topic. We can make copies from The Informed Argument. Topic clusters include:

Along with any of these clusters from The Informed Argument, there is a lot of outside material available. Just like the other prompts, you would be required to use three sources from the chosen cluster as well as to pull in sources from outside those provided.

Using the conversation section on pages 733-748 (PDF), write on the issues raised in questions 1-3 on pages 747-8 (PDF).

Come up with your own focus. Especially interesting right now may have something to do with the role and importance of sports in our society, highlighted by their absence during this pandemic. You may have other foci that intrigue you. Go for it.

Additional Sources

A note of the following sources: The sources that follow contain a variety of perspectives and issues. They are by no means exhaustive of the issue or conversation.

Psychology Today Body Image Report

Scholarly articles on paying college athletes

Uncomfortable in our skin: the body-image reportMore of us than ever hate the way that we look. It’s making us anxious, unhealthy and disempowered. Eva Wiseman presents a special report on the pressures distorting the way we think and feel

College sports can bring in big money. Should athletes get some of it?Coaches’ salaries and ticket prices make it seem unfair that players get none of the money.

Prominent NBA players weigh in on whether NCAA players should be paid"Everybody’s getting paid anyway. You might as well make it legal," Lonzo Ball said on the argument of whether NCAA players should be paid.

Body-Image Pressure Increasingly Affects BoysCultural ideals are becoming an equal opportunity anxiety-inducer, and eating disorders are increasingly common in men. But the symptoms in men and women don't look the same.

It's time to pay the tab for America's college athletes | Kareem Abdul-JabbarCollege sport is a billion-dollar enterprise built off athletes who receive no compensation. Whatever the solution is, the status quo must change