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LOOKing at Sport

Tall, thin, slender but toned, spring-like legs.

A High Jumper.

Thick broad shoulders, a block solid shadow.

A Rugby player

Thin wee legs with larger than normal calves.

A distance runner.

We make appearance-based predictions on a daily basis. Some good, some bad. And while we don’t think much of these split-second identifications. The subconscious process of boxing and labeling people based on single aspects of identity creates assumptions that plague and restrict what we can and can’t do based on only our gender and looks.

"dumb" athlete sporting stereotype meme Photo credit: Google

In the sporting world were physiques and physicality play a leading role in performance outcomes how we navigate the issue of body-centric stereotypes becomes an important question to unpack.