The League A STUDY OF LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR AMONG

The League A STUDY OF LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR AMONG PARTICIPANTS IN A FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

The Question? Initially – On a show targeted at male audiences, what % of insults exchanged between characters are related to feminine-like qualities? (i. e. You run like a girl, etc. ) New Question – Are the pervading stereotypes about masculine discourse and the concept of masculinity accurately reflected in the linguistic features of The League, a show targeted at male audiences?

Why the Question Change? I thought there was a greater % of insults related to feminine-like qualities than in actuality My original question lacked strength Theories that characterize masculine discourse have helped shape our understanding of it Stereotypes surrounding the concept of masculinity can be observed almost universally (although ideas of what constitutes masculinity vary by culture) I love television and I am more fascinated by the linguistic features of the show as a whole, rather than one small component of them

What I Observed & Measured I chose 3 episodes to watch through and tallied by hand: The # of scenes per episode (~length of scene had to be > 30 seconds) The language type used – Insults and Sexual References Imagery – Specifically, scenes containing one or more characters consuming alcohol

Type of Language Insults – I hypothesized that a tv show targeted at male audiences would have a high number of insults I further divided the type of insults into what I believed would be the most common: homosexual references, references to feminine-like qualities, and other (insults relating to appearance, taste, demeanor, etc. ) Sexual References – I also hypothesized that a show like The League would have a disproportionately high # of sexual references “All men think about is sex!” (sound familiar? )

The Characters Rodney “Ruxin” Pete Kevin Andre Taco (Kevin’s brother) Jenny (Kevin’s wife) Rafi (Ruxin’s brother-in-law, only appears in S 2 Episode 4)

The Episodes Season 2 Episode: 4 “The Kluneberg” Andre buys a $25, 000 painting that his friends find hilarious Some sexual references and insults: “You guys called me dick cream for 2 years!” –Andre “There’s no such thing as a sex addict, there’s just guys. ” –Jenny “Eat that slutty strawberry. ” –Russel (guest appearance) “I’m not gonna let that dirty sex addict do to Jenny what this penis bird is doing to butt-mountain!” -Rafi

The Episodes cont. Season 2 Episode: 9 “The Expert Witness” Ruxin is defending against a woman that is suing for additional $ for pain and suffering after being in a horrendous car crash This episode grossly objectifies women and talks about them in a very degrading manner Some sexual references and insults: “That became that, because of that” –Ruxin “Andre you shave shaft…” –Kevin “But you are, technically, a shaft shaver. ” –Ruxin “What are you gonna do? Lure him into bed and fondle the trade out of him? ” – Kevin “If that’s what it takes. ” –Andre “We [the court] just paid for you to get super hot, why would we give you more money on top of that? ” -Ruxin

Episodes cont. Season 3 Episode: 3 “The Au Pair” Ruxin hires a young, beautiful Au Pair to care for his baby son Jeffrey This episode revolves around the group of guys drooling over Ruxin’s young Au Pair (reminiscent of men’s stereotypical infatuation with younger women) Some sexual references and insults: “No, no, not judging on the concept, just mortified by the execution. ” –Kevin “You’re not gonna have sex with her at the jazz place” –Taco her at the jazz place!” –Andre “No I’m not gonna have sex with “Why? Does the jazz place not have a bathroom? ” –Taco “Because she has those really fat, meaty earlobes, meatlobes!” –Kevin “Someone who can cook, must be good with kids, must know how to read? ” –Pete “I actually have the same requirements, but I don’t care so much about the reading. ” –Andre “I don’t want my kid going to the park, getting his dong cleaned by some uggo with a stash!” -Ruxin

Similar Studies? Kiesling’s article on the case of fraternity men – in his second section he references an earlier article written by Deborah Tannen in 1990 in which she “…suggests that men tend to see conversation as a contest. Because the display of powerful relationships and dominance is an important component of men’s identities, men’s language should be intimately involved in this display. ” Judith Baxter’s 2005 study of 14 -15 year olds that were separated into groups, male and female, and told to identify items that were necessary for survival after a plane crash – this study was examining cooperative speech practices (typically associated with women) and competitive speech practices (typically associated with men)

The Results Insults & Sexual References 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Total # of Insults Homosexual Ref S 2 -Episode 4 S 2 -Episode 9 Feminine-Qual Ref S 3 -Episode 3 Sexual References

The Results Men & Alcohol 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 # of scenes w/Alcohol Total # of Scenes S 2 -Episode 4 S 2 -Episode 9 S 3 -Episode 3

Possible reasons for these results? Stereotypes about men and theories about masculine discourse tell us that men, by their very nature, are competitive In an effort to assert their dominance, men will often times insult or demean their “opponent” to gain superiority Verbal-sparring is a way to demonstrate intelligence and wit, attributes prized by some members of the group Competition in the fantasy football league extends to other aspects of the character’s lives, including their language Bud Light (clearly a major sponsor) recognizes that product placement is tremendously lucrative – who wouldn’t want a beer after watching a show about a group of guys drinking beer all the time?

Conclusions The League draws on several key male stereotypes about masculinity and gendered discourse Competition – the guys are always competing, let the insults and verbal sparring commence Sex – this show is rife with sexual references Alcohol – men love beer, therefore make a show that shows the main characters drinking beer a majority of the time Football – the show is about a fantasy football league; the only female character in most episodes is the wife of one of the main characters who must behave like ‘one of the boys’ to be accepted (she has a dirtier mouth than most of the guys!)

Conclusions I feel that The League does a relatively good job in portraying men and the way they behave amongst themselves in a competitive setting Obviously, because it’s a television show, some elements are exaggerated (The female judge in S 2 -Episode 9 taking Ruxin to her chambers and spanking him like a dog on his hands and knees) The definition of “Au Pair” is a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with housework or child care in exchange for room and board – the third episode of season 3 has all of the men drooling over Ruxin’s Au Pair and at the very end of the episode Ruxin finds out Pete is having sex with her in his house The linguistic features of competition, demonstrated through insults and verbal sparring, are abundant in The League and I believe this to be a relatively accurate portrayal of men in fantasy football leagues

Room for Improvement? Could study the series in its entirety to better gauge the linguistic trends Could ask a better question pertaining to one specific area of linguistic study More standardized methods for keeping track of insults and instances of sexual referencing

A few clips https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=q. Ncx. FUHcgqk (Ruxin trash talk) https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=XHhh. Nme 8 t_w (play from : 21)