Hegemonic masculinity on the mound: Media representations of Nolan Ryan and American sports culture

Abstract

This article analyzes print and television representations of baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan to reveal how hegemonic masculinity is reproduced in mediated sport. The analysis concerns how the media have covered and commodified Ryan throughout his career. Five distinguishing features are analyzed: Ryan as the embodiment of male athletic power, as an ideal image of the capitalist worker, as a family patriarch, as a white rural cowboy, and as a phallic symbol.