“So You Can See How the Other Half Lives”1 - CiteSeerX

103

Journal of Sport& Social Issues

Volume 31 Number 2May 2007 103-127

© 2007 Sage Publications10.1177/0193723507300483

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Focus: Commodification

“So You Can See How the Other Half Lives”1

MTV “Cribs”’ Use of “the Other” in Framing Successful Athletic MasculinitiesMaureen Margaret SmithSacramento State University, California

Becky BealUniversity of the Pacific, Stockton, California

MTV’s popular television series “Cribs” displays the homes of famous athletes and enter-tainers. “Cribs” presents these male athletes and their households as exemplars of “mak-ing it.” This article examines the representation of male athletes and how various types of“successful” masculinity are conflated with race and class. We found two dominant mod-els of successful masculinity, James Bond and Cool Pose. “Cribs” clearly demarcatesbetween Black and White athletes, which essentializes race. Simultaneously, “Cribs” pre-sents race as performative styles providing the audience with opportunities to consume“the other.” We argue that this paradoxical dynamic is utilized to sell the cool lifestyle andhas multiple implications, including depoliticizing race, class, and gender.

Keywords: masculinity; athletics; entertainment; television; racial relations

MTV’s series “Cribs” is a television show that displays the homes of famous ath-letes and entertainers. “Cribs” presents these celebrities and their households as

exemplars of “making it.” This article examines the Music Television channel’s(MTV’s) strategies to sell a fantasy commodity of successful manhood. Specifically,we explore the representations of male athletes in the context of their homes, and howvariations of “successful” masculinity are conflated with race and class. Success islinked not only to extravagant displays of material goods but to the ways in whichthose goods are “played out.” We examine the social codes “Cribs” employs to pro-mote the “cool” ways of performing success. We argue that MTV engages the viewerin a balancing act where masculine success is displayed through competing discoursesof race and meritocracy. Furthermore, we argue that MTV’s framing is based on itsinterests in selling its product, young adult entertainment and styles of coolness, as theprimary form of “the good life.”

Garry Trudeau satirized “Cribs” in a February 2004 comic strip when characterZonker Harris, who had once lived on a commune, sat in front of the television

Authors’ Note: The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments.

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watching an episode of “Cribs.” Though Zonker’s character says little in the strip,the voiceover of the celebrity showing his home speaks volumes; the “bling-bling”room is described as a place to put all his “shiny expensive stuff” for his “boys toenvy”; in another “cavernous soulless room” the celebrity flaunts and says “I hopeyou admire it and envy me”; in the next room, the celebrity says “And, yo, check thisout—another display of sickening excess! Deplore it to make you feel better aboutyourselves!” (Trudeau, 2004). It was in this vein, the contradictory nature of findingboth pleasure and disgust in viewing “Cribs,” that we undertook this analysis of therepresentations of successful athletic masculinities in popular culture, specifically asthey were performed on MTV’s “Cribs.” In viewing dozens of episodes, we foundourselves entertained at times by the excessive displays of material wealth and thevarious ways the athletes had found to spend their fortunes and simultaneously feltrepulsed at the basic message to the viewer that equated material wealth with thedefinition of successful living. As academicians, we found that “Cribs” provided anexus of race, masculinity, consumerism, and sport for us to interrogate. Moreover,“Cribs” provided us with a unique and playful means of connecting with ourstudents, who are the target audience of MTV.

In a post-Fordist economy, marketing lifestyles and desires is central to sellingproducts, which has opened new and multiple masculinity markets (Beynon, 2002;Crewe, 2003; Whannel, 2002; Wheaton, 2005). These new opportunities for men toexpress their manhood through consumer practices are not rigid but rather fluid, allow-ing for a variety of acceptable “hybrid” expressions of various masculinities. Althoughmen can express agency through their consumerism, the products and marketing mes-sages are often confined to racist, sexist, and classist conventions. Sport has been usedas a site to sell specific consumer products to men as well as to create restricted idealsfor masculinity. For the past three decades, sport has been used by advertisers to sell avariety of traditional masculine products beyond sporting equipment and the gamesthemselves. Sport is now used to sell trucks, beer, fast food, financial advice, and anumber of other products and lifestyles, including fashion and skin care (Beynon,2002; Crewe, 2003; Whannel, 2002). Burstyn (1999; also see Messner, 2002) docu-mented the varied interconnections of sport, media, and the masculinity market result-ing in the selling of and consumption of “heroic manhood mythologies” (Burstyn,1999, p. 103). Sport has been emblematic of the American “rags to riches” successstory and is an ideal site to sell desire because of its iconic status as embodying theAmerican dream. Kellner (2004, p. 306) commented, “Sport heroes are among thebest-paid and wealthiest denizens of the consumer society and thus serve as embodi-ments of fantasy aspirations for the good life.” Boyd (1997) identified sport as a “siteof struggle relative to the racial and class dilemmas that define much contemporarydiscourse in this country” (p. 106). Sport provides a compelling arena from which toexamine the production and consumption of masculinity, race, and meritocracy.

Marketing lifestyles is central to the entertainment industry and the success ofMTV. MTV skillfully uses signifiers of race and class to sell an independent lifestyle

104 Journal of Sport & Social Issues



that embodies coolness. In this way, MTV presents masculinity, race, and class asperformative and consumptive choices. Images of manhood being marketed to menencourage them to desire a lifestyle of manhood that emphasizes freedom and power.This form of identity and style consumerism occurs at one level of engagement, thatof fashion and style rather than any historical and political engagement with the soci-etal and structural implications of the inhabited styles and identities. Despite the surface-level consumption, these styles have social and cultural meanings linked todesires. Whiteness, as well as Blackness, can be consumed as styles, with codedbehaviors for each based on stereotypes of both groups. Clothes, music, cars, phys-icality, and language all act as signifiers. The use of the slang term “Cribs” to depictthe domestic space is one example of MTV’s strategies to appeal to a youth cultureby incorporating an urban culture that includes Blackness.2

MTV and Lifestyle Marketing

The entertainment industry has structurally enhanced its lifestyle marketing by horizontal and vertical corporate integration. This interconnectedness allows for seam-less marketing, one in which there is cross-referencing of products throughout the dif-ferent markets (e.g., Benwell, 2003; Law, Harvey, & Kemp, 2002; Rinehart, 1998,2003). The entertainment industry has diversified its holdings to include sport fran-chises, sport apparel, and media outlets devoted to sport. Viacom, as a major entertain-ment corporation, has used MTV to reach the youth market worldwide. More recently,MTV has utilized sport as part of its campaign to depict and promote a youth culture,as well as consumerism of a cool lifestyle. One can buy Cribs Home Furnishings fromJC Penney Department Store, certainly not a luxury lifestyle store, but one that providesthe means to purchase a more affordable version of the “Cribs” fantasy.

MTV was created in 1981. Its primary audience has been teenagers and youngadults. MTV is powerful both economically and symbolically in youth culture. Ownedby Viacom, which after its merger with CBS in 2000 is the second-largest media con-glomerate in the world (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 2001), MTV is also a globalphenomenon; it has more than 100 channels in continents such as Europe, Asia, andAfrica. Accordingly, only 20% of its total viewership is from within the United States(Bauder, 2004). Media scholar Robert Thompson commented that although youth cul-ture is diversified, “MTV simply becomes the place where all of youth at one point oranother meet” (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 2001).

To maintain the youth market, MTV’s programming, which originally was solelyvideo representations of songs, has evolved to include innovating the genre of real-ity TV (e.g., “Real World”) and packaging of teen lifestyle (e.g., “MTV’s SpringBreak” and “Jackass”) and more recently has ventured into the home/car genre with“Pimp my Ride” and “Cribs.” In “Pimp my Ride,” an individual’s car is “pimped”out by extensively accessorizing it with such components as speakers, rims, and so

Smith, Beal / “So You Can See How the Other Half Lives” 105



on. “Cribs” is a retooling of the 1980s program “Lifestyles of the Rich andFamous.”3 Each episode is 30 minutes long with three 8-minute segments featuringthe homes of celebrity singers, actors, and athletes. Each segment showcases acelebrity’s home and follows a common format. First, each athlete’s sportingprowess is highlighted, followed by a realtor’s description of the house, and finally,the athlete provides a tour of his house in which the bedrooms, kitchens (includingthe contents of the refrigerator), bathrooms, and living rooms are always shown.Often the outdoor areas and cars are also shown.

MTV’s selection of athletes to represent success is driven by its audience, 12 to24-year-old males. The episodes are almost entirely dedicated to men (three womenhave been featured: a retired WWE professional wrestler, a WWE diva, and a snow-boarder) and the majority of the sports chosen (football, basketball, skateboarding,snowboarding, BMX biking, Supercross, and NASCAR) are the most popular amongthis demographic (Messner, Dunbar, & Hunt, 2000; Sporting Goods ManufacturingAssociation, 2005). MTV’s use of male athletes, both White and Black, fuses the rela-tionship between multiple industries, sport, music, and television.

MTV is selling a lifestyle that appeals to teenage ideals of independence and dif-ference from “adult” worlds. “Cribs” selects athletes who are socially and econom-ically successful and who appeal specifically to independence with a teenage flair ofstyle—being hip or cool. “Cribs” sells this type of lifestyle through its use of mark-ers of masculinity, race, and class—but it also directly sells it through a variety ofproducts that provide the trappings of the leisure class, especially cars and mediaentertainment. Therefore, even if one can’t be the all-star linebacker, one can playNFL video games and watch sports on a flat-screen TV while wearing one’s favoriteplayer’s jersey.

One of the main goals for these conglomerates is to shape consumer practices asan “active” construction of identity. MTV informs viewers that a “crib is a placewhere you should want to go” (Nathan, 2002, p. 3). Using the language of meritoc-racy, Nathan’s (2002) MTV’s Cribs: A Guided Tour Inside the Homes of YourFavorite Stars states that “taste is driven by experience. It’s not something you’reborn with” (p. 3), encouraging its viewers to believe that they can create themselvesor their identities through consumption. Nathan quotes contemporary interiordesigners on the meaning of home, asserting that “You learn it. You see it on theroad. You see it at your friends’ houses” and “The crib is a perfect laboratory to studyhow we live” (p. 3). Finally, Nathan provides a historical reference that prescribeshow viewers should consume the homes of these individuals:

The subject of house furnishing is more important than is often realized. It has a moraland social as well as an economic side. The relation is very close between the charac-ter, or at least the reputation, of men and their surroundings. Everyone is free to changehis surroundings. Hence the furniture and the decorations of a house, and the conditionof the house and grounds, are properly considered as index to the character of its occu-pants. (Nathan, 2002, p. 3)




MTV is selling both the contents of the “crib” and the athlete as part of its larger pro-motion of a youthful consumer lifestyle that embodies coolness. The athletes, in turn,use their appearances to sell their image, and their related products, to the audience.One could argue that Nathan’s (2002) guide itself is part of the web of consumption.

Cultural Markers of Masculinity

MTV’s “Cribs” creates discourses of successful masculinity by employing vari-ous cultural markers of masculinity (Mort, 1996). Marketers draw from these cul-tural markers to fuel desires for achieving “successful manhood” (and insecuritiesabout not being able to achieve such status) in an attempt to increase consumer needto buy features of that ideal. Being able to provide for one’s family, including own-ing a home, is integrally tied to being a successful man. Despite these hybrid andfluid discourses about manhood and masculinity, status is still the primary com-modity being produced and consumed. Therefore, hierarchies among these dis-courses are necessary to promote consumption.

Hegemonic masculinity is a useful tool to analyze the social implications of thecultural markers of successful masculinity. Connell (1995) developed this concept todescribe how masculinities are always relational and, thus, one’s identity is contin-ually constructed in relation to “otherness.” Crucially, Connell sees masculinity asintegrally connected with power and constantly negotiated. Hegemonic masculinityis the type that is given the most social power in a particular historical context, andthis is created in relation to subordinated masculinities. In the recent historical timeperiod sport has been a central means of establishing and demonstrating hegemonicmasculinity (Burstyn, 1999; Connell, 1995; Messner, 2002).

In its current configuration, dominant masculinity can be indicated by aggres-siveness, competitiveness, and toughness, and simultaneously it is indicated throughits negative counterpart: not being feminine or gay. Although these characteristicsprovide a general framework, they are filtered by other social positions such as one’srace and class. The most powerful form (upper-class, White, heterosexual) has beendescribed as “high culture,” which is a conspicuous display of wealth, but in a stylethat highlights refinement and restraint. “High culture” is also marked by certainleisure activities such as reading, traveling, opera, and ballet. The definitive type ofpower is expressed through traditional political forms (Burstyn, 1999). However,high culture has also been expressed as invisibility; it is no longer about simply dis-playing the products you purchase, but the experiences you can pay for and the ser-vices that can be rendered to you, oftentimes in your own home (Steinhauer, 2005).Representations of high culture individuals are often the educationally elite andWhite, which have historically been translated into cultural assumptions that white-ness is biologically linked to intelligence (Dunbar, 2000; Dyer, 1997).

If high culture is the epitome of the American Dream, middle-class narratives rep-resent the means to achieve that life. Although most Americans see money and wealth




as the ultimate goal and sign of success, they are reluctant to consider class privilegeas the key for upward social mobility, which is fundamental to the acceptance of mer-itocracy. Therefore, characteristics associated with a middle-class ethos, especially thebelief that success is made by the individual’s hard work, constitute the acceptedmeans of success. Middle-class masculinity is identified by the values of earnestness,effort, delayed gratification, and domesticity (Wald, 1997). Accordingly, middle-classpower is marked by intelligence and technical competence (Burstyn, 1999).

On the other hand, masculinities of the lower classes have been associated with manual labor where power is derived from muscularity and physical bravery,which are often contrasted to intelligence (Burstyn, 1999; Lott, 1997). “Low culture”pursuits have more democratic access and the aesthetic expressions tend to bemore “extravagant,” such as professional wrestling or comic books (Lott, 1997).Historically, these leisure activities have been deridingly called “popular culture.” Inaddition, cultural markers of Blackness get conflated with those of this class. Forexample, Blackness has been associated with a natural physicality, including hyper-sexuality (Dunbar, 2000; hooks, 2004). Majors and Billson (1992) described “CoolPose” as a Black male response to systematic discrimination. This style is a radicalindividualized notion of power, one that connotes a disdain for the dominant group’sstandards. It is an embodied toughness, one that exudes emotional control anddetachment and incorporates a flamboyant style.

One contemporary example of the tension between high culture and popular cultureis the way hip-hop culture has appropriated items from high culture, such as Cristal,Timberland, and Tommy Hilfiger, into expressions of the hip-hop culture. Rapper andentrepreneur Jay-Z spoke out against Cristal after Frederic Rouzaud, the company’smanaging director, expressed his reluctance to have the beverage connected with hip-hop culture because of the street thug image. Cristal has been freely promoted by hip-hop culture through rap lyrics as well as in tours of various refrigerators on “Cribs.”Watkins (KQED, 2006; also see Watkins, 2006) identified the tension between hip-hopand high culture as a battle for the soul of hip-hop and wonders if hip-hop will ulti-mately emerge as a consumer product or maintain its subversive qualities.

Many researchers have documented White fascination with the stereotypicalimage of Black masculinity as sexually and expressively free (e.g., Dunbar, 2000;hooks, 2004; Wald, 1997). In particular, their perceived image of Black masculinityis seen as a form of emancipation from domesticated middle-class masculinity, whathooks (2004, p.14) referred to as the “rebel” and “outsider” image. Today the worldof sport and music are the prime spheres where physicality and expressiveness are celebrated. MTV is able to play with these discourses that represent desirablemasculinity—Black hipness, muscularity, active heterosexuality—and pair themwith economic success gained through hard work. Bourdieu (1984) points to the newhybridity occurring within the cultural industry. According to Bourdieu, the newemerging middle classes distinguish themselves as different from old wealth bydrawing on popular culture (“low culture”) and high-culture symbols.




The research on cultural markers of masculinity provided guidance in interpret-ing the symbols and social relations presented on MTV’s “Cribs.” What is apparentlydifferent from the old version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” is that the ath-letes on “Cribs” are not portrayed as coming from a privileged background and cer-tainly not from “old wealth.” Thus, the male athletes featured on “Cribs” can beassociated with Bourdieu’s emerging middle class, who draw from popular culturefields and physical competence to gain wealth and pursue hedonistic pleasures,while living with the resources of the most economically elite.

Method

Critical accounts of media do not assume that media representations merelyreflect social norms, nor do they assume that consumers passively accept these rep-resentations as legitimate. What critical accounts of media focus on is the power ofthe media industry to frame discourses about social relations and practices (Crewe,2003; Whannel, 2002). Media scholars incorporate qualitative interpretive analysesof both visual and oral representations to provide contextual and critical readings ofmediated images of athletes (Birrell & McDonald, 2000; Davis, 1997; Denham,Billings, & Halone, 2002; Jamieson, 2000; Messner, 2002). Specifically, we exam-ined MTV’s “Cribs”’ construction of a variety of fantasy masculinities in its featuresusing male athletes.

To determine patterns among the athletes, we videotaped several episodes of“Cribs” and initially selected only eight segments. Our criteria in making the selec-tion were to get representations of mainstream and alternative sports, AfricanAmerican and Anglo-American athletes, and single and married athletes. Our initialgrouping included four episodes that represented football and basketball players, allof whom were African American, and two of whom were married. The other fourepisodes included skateboarding and BMX athletes, all of whom were White andtwo of whom were married. At this point in the production of the show, MTV hadsolely utilized African Americans to represent mainstream sports and Anglo-Americans to represent alternative sports. Subsequent seasons reveal that MTV hasnot significantly altered this pattern.4

Each of us watched these videos separately. We described the language, materialobjects, and social interactions of each episode. We coded those by drawing on theprevious research about the indicators of masculinity. We then compared our notes,in which we had very similar readings. Differences in readings were primarilybecause of omissions, and not different interpretations of the same thing. After deter-mining several patterns and trends that existed according to marital status, race, andtype of sport, we expanded our viewing to include all episodes of athletes, whichresulted in viewing 48 additional segments.5




Findings and Discussion

The significance of the athletes who were represented cannot be understated; thedepiction left no doubt that according to “Cribs,” sport is a man’s world where racialsegregation is the norm. Of the 54 athletes featured, 3 were women. Of the 51 maleathletes, 21 were White, with all but 1 representing “action” sports. The exception wasJohnny Damon, a baseball player, who is White and Thai. Thirty Black men were fea-tured, with 1 boxer and 1 baseball player, and with the remainder of the athletes rep-resenting the NBA or NFL (see Table 1 for a complete listing of “Cribs” episodes).There were no representations of White athletes as basketball or football players, norwas there any representation of Blacks in action sports, despite their presence in both.These choices made by the producers of “Cribs” reinforce stereotypes by clearly mark-ing sport as masculine and essentializing racial categories. In tandem with these stereo-types, “Cribs” presents race and class as styles to be performed, as one of the personalchoices needed to achieve a successful masculinity.

MTV consistently used cultural markers to create fantasy masculinities. Althoughthese were not the sole patterns, we did notice two models of masculinity being per-petuated. The first one is the James Bond: someone who is muscular and athleticallycompetent, with extensive knowledge and ability to use upper-class knowledge andtastes. The second is the Cool Pose: one who is muscular and athletically competent,with the ability to define oneself outside of upper-class knowledge and tastes, andcelebrates success with extravagant living. Importantly, both these fantasy modelsare physically strong, actively heterosexual, and independent from women andchildren. What complicates these two models is the inclusion of men who were mar-ried. Examining how the markers of social independence were negotiated with aspousal and parental commitment became an important question for us, whichresulted in the emergence of a third image that we had not initially expected.“Attentive Dad” revealed a man who was explicit in his concern for the welfare,comfort, and happiness of his children, as well as the stability of a good strongfamily life. Attentive Dad acted as the “provider,” a modern and cooler version ofFather Knows Best, irrespective of the female partner’s role in the athlete’s life.

The three models are not mutually exclusive—some athletes displayed parts of allthree. Moreover, the models are not always specific to race, even though the initial mod-els are rooted in racial stereotypes, revealing the ability of both White and Black malesto cross over into patterns previously assumed to be race specific. An example of this isKendall Gill, an African American basketball player, who discussed art, music, andhome décor, all things associated with high culture, and who explicitly stated that oneof his cars, a Ferrari, made him feel like “James Bond.” Not surprisingly, we found thatmaterialism was extensive in the discussion of all types of successful masculinity. Anoverview of trends related to all athletes will be provided before we discuss the specifictrends with regard to race, type of sport, and marital status.


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Trends With Respect to All Athletes

The overall trends demonstrate how athletes gender their use of domestic space,consumption practices, and consumer products (Massey, 1994; van Ingen, 2003). Classidentity was indicated through their discussion of meanings of various objects in theirhomes, such as art, appliances, televisions, and cars, as well as the food in their refrig-erators. Although the houses varied in size, each was designed to provide all of one’sentertainment desires, including home theaters, swimming pools, arcades, gamerooms, and recreational outdoor space.

The athletes constructed gendered spaces in their homes regardless of whether thehouse was shared with a woman. Spaces were gendered by the type of activity, andmasculine spaces were given primary value. For example, game rooms and athleticfacilities were identified by the athletes as male-only spaces. Kitchens and livingrooms, usually decorated by females and serving as a shared space for both genders,were considered secondary by the athletes. Bedrooms and swimming pools wereexceptions to the value given to shared space. Whereas the swimming pools serveda variety of social purposes, the male athletes used the bedroom as the primary spaceto display their heterosexual identity.

Besides space to eat, bathe, and sleep, most of the houses had elaborate electronicentertainment centers and many had space dedicated to the owner’s sport. Forexample, Kendall Gill (NBA) had a basement dedicated to entertainment: movies,computer games, and pool tables. He called this “Kendall’s Boys’ Club,” or “KBC.”Gill also had an extensive weight room. Tony Hawk (skateboarder) had a massiveskateboard ramp in his backyard. Gary Payton, Rasheed Wallace, Carmelo Anthony,and Shaquille O’Neal, all NBA basketball players, had full basketball courts on theirproperties. Other athletes also had basketball courts, weight rooms, a batting cage,BMX tracks, and bike ramps. These spaces were discussed in terms of male interac-tion. The only exception was Bob Burnquist, whose partner, Jen O’Brien, is also aprofessional skateboarder, and they both used their backyard skate ramp.

A common trend among all athletes was to refer to inanimate objects in genderedterms. Most of their material objects were discussed as “trophies.” This includedtheir cars, which were usually either SUVs or sports cars, ones that emphasize sizeor speed. Rasheed Wallace (NBA) called his Hummer “the intimidator.” Kendall Gill(NBA) referred to his corvette as “American Muscle.” Curtis Martin (NFL) referredto one car as his boy and another as his girl, his baby. Such love for vehicles was notuncommon. Ryan Nyquist (BMX) kissed his bike, to which he owed all of his suc-cess. Another form of the ways athletes valued their objects as “trophies” involvedthe mutual admiration athletes held for other male athletes by having photos on theirwalls or signed jerseys, or wearing another athlete’s jersey. A majority of athletesreferred to other athletes and discussed their own feelings as fans. Terrell Owens(NFL) was a huge Michael Jordan fan and had an indoor basketball court withJordan’s Jumpman logo at center court attached to his house (as well as wearingJordan’s jersey as he gave the tour of his home and having a book about Jordan on





his coffee table). Jordan’s jersey hung on the wall of skater Tony Hawk’s office, andBob Burnquist (skateboarder) gushed when he talked about receiving an award fromJordan at the ESPYs award ceremony. Boxer Roy Jones Jr. wore a Jordan Jumpmansweat outfit as he gave his tour. Jordan was the athlete most frequently cited by theathletes, with Muhammad Ali coming in a distant second. Ray Lewis (NFL) had anentire room set aside for baseball bats, signed footballs, jerseys, and other sportsmemorabilia he had collected. BMXer TJ Lavin had a wall that was covered withautographs, an idea he got from Snoop Dogg’s studio. Shaquille O’Neal (NBA) hada similar space set aside for the signatures of celebrities. Such spaces were presentedas shrines, where hegemonic masculinity was admired and celebrated. Athletes alsohad plenty of space devoted to their own athletic exploits, including trophies, pho-tos, jerseys, enlarged paychecks, and other items from their own significant sportingvictories. Shaq’s (NBA) house merited a full-hour episode and featured theSuperman “S” logo, which O’Neal has appropriated as his own, throughout thehouse (on his bed, shower, and car—and his body).

When the athletes gave the house tours, they often commented on the meaning ofvarious objects in their houses. The discussion of the decor, artwork, and furnishingsdisplayed different forms of cultural capital. All the athletes displayed art, and manytalked about its significance. For example, Eric Koston (skateboarder) pointed to apainting; he explained that instead of having a Bentley in his driveway he had thispiece of art hanging on his wall (by Gottfried Helnwein). Rasheed Wallace (NBA)described the significance of an art piece he gave to his wife on their anniversary.Jamie McMurray (NASCAR) admitted to not knowing much about art but selecteda piece because the colors matched his dining room and he liked sushi (it was anabstract painting of sushi). Tony Hawk (skateboarder) mentioned having a ThomasCampbell painting as a centerpiece in one room. Curtis Martin (NFL) had a paintingof a bridge that he felt symbolized his struggles early in life that he had overcome.He also had journals (that he had written over the years) framed in his bedroom,showing a more sensitive and thoughtful side to himself.

Despite these overall trends, the expression of masculinity varied according to one’smarital status and ascribed race, as well as type of sport. Traditional sports were con-sidered to be football, basketball, and baseball—all team sports. Alternative/actionsports included skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX, and Supercross—all individualsports. NASCAR is not considered an alternative sport in the same ways as skate-boarding, nor is it a traditional American team sport. Although it is not a traditionalteam sport, it is more like an alternative sport in that it is dominated by White malesand involves a high level of risk central to the activity.

MTV is strategically and skillfully utilizing male athletes and their “Peter Pan”lifestyles to attract a teenage male audience who engages in similar activities, suchas playing video games, watching movies, and hanging out with buddies. Two ath-letes featured, snowboarder Shaun White and skateboarder Ryan Scheckler, are bothteenage athletes still living at home, and their homes emphasize how they enjoy thegood life while still living under the supervision of their parents. Scheckler even had



a car (BMW 750 ILV12) waiting for him in the driveway for when he turned 16. Theshow glorifies an extended teenage lifestyle even as lived by adult males and insin-uates the ideas that work is play and professional sport affords the ability to not haveto “work,” downplaying the athletes’ reliance on their physicality and hard work intheir pursuit of success.

Trends With Respect to Traditional Sport Athletes—African American Athletes

Both White and Black athletes invoked a middle-class ethos, though in markedlydifferent ways. The Black athletes had a tendency to make a significant number of ref-erences to their families and lessons they had learned from family members. They dis-cussed hard work and success in different terms than did their White counterparts, whowere more likely to attribute their accomplishments to their own individual effortsrather than the support of their families. Cool Pose was exemplified by a number of theBlack athletes. Though not all Black athletes did so, they were much more likely todisplay their wealth through excessive materialism, almost as if to emphasize they hadmade it—they were a success (Andrews, 1996, 1997; Majors & Billson, 1992; Simons,2003). This is not to suggest that White athletes did not engage in excessive material-ism, but there were notable differences in the consumption of certain products—suchas the size of home theaters, pieces of art, types and sizes of cars, even the squarefootage of the homes. This might be framed as a celebration of Black athletes’ suc-cesses and ability to purchase a lifestyle as a result of their success, rather than theProtestant notions of hiding one’s wealth and showing restraint in success. It is accept-able and expected for one to celebrate a touchdown and a big paycheck. The produc-ers of MTV highlight these excessive displays by Black athletes reinforcing the“bling” stereotype.

With regard to the presentation of houses of the African American athletes, therewere more verbal and visual references to extended family members as providingsome of the important lessons they had learned to help them succeed. Along with thisthere was explicit discussion about the work it took to achieve success and a more opencelebration of that success. For example, Ray Lewis (NFL) had a picture of his motherin his entryway and he referred to her as “his right hand man.” In his basement was atrophy case display where he pointed out his favorite: a plaque that his mother madefor him celebrating his accomplishments. Carmelo Anthony (NBA) had a similarplaque from his mother that he claimed was his most important. Clinton Portis (NFL)had a room especially designed for his mother for her visits; she accompanied Portison the tour of her room, proudly wearing her son’s jersey. Kendall Gill (NBA)explained, “Every well dressed man has suits. . . . My mom always told me, every welldressed man has a nice watch and a nice pair of shoes.” Gill’s closet was full of allthree—all of high quality and cost. Lewis attributed a lesson to his uncle, as he stoodin his closet full of clothes, including mink coats, remembering his uncle always used





to tell him, “Son, if you stay clean and smelling good, somebody going to like you.”Both messages, from Gill’s mother and Lewis’s uncle, reinforce heterosexual norms.

Besides the connections these athletes had with their families, many of themreferred to being Black. Both Ty Law (NFL) and Sam Madison (NFL) talked aboutKool-aid being a staple in their households as youth and stated that this was somethingabout being Black. Madison contended that still having Kool-aid in his refrigerator wasproof that he had not changed, modeling the Cool Pose desire to stay connected toone’s background (“keeping it real”) while enjoying success. Both their refrigeratorswere stocked with the drink. Law also called his hot tub the chocolate factory. TerrellOwens (NFL) had a room he called his chocolate parlor that was actually decoratedusing chocolate browns throughout the room. Their art was Afrocentric and sometimesdepicted famous African Americans. Gary Payton (NBA) had paintings of BillieHoliday and Louis Armstrong and talked about his love for jazz. Kendall Gill (NBA)had Andy Warhol paintings of Muhammad Ali in his entryway. Rasheed Wallace(NBA) had Ernie Barnes’s “Sugarshack” hanging prominently in his game room.Besides the Afrocentric nature of some of the art, in general the art displayed was moreprominent, colorful, and vibrant. Gill explained that he liked colors to make him feelwarm and tropical. In comparison, none of the White athletes ever discussed beingWhite, although MTV did code some of the White athletes by presenting them as“white trash” through the use of banjo background music and featuring certain aspectsof their homes, such as excess acreage, messy quarters, and backyard activities (ridinga mechanical bull, riding ATVs, tailgating, boating in ponds, etc.). The language of theWhite athletes was also racially coded, such as when TJ Lavin (BMX) called his homeoffice an “office slash home ghetto studio” and later challenged “any of you rapperswho want to lose your bling bling” to “bring it” to his pool table.

Another interesting trend was that the contents of Black athletes’ refrigeratorstended to have healthier foods than their White counterparts. The Black athleteswould explicitly state that good nutrition was a vital part of being an athlete, whereasthe White athletes would often make fun of their refrigerator contents or lackthereof. For example, Kendall Gill (NBA) refers to the all-natural foods as “therefrigerator of an athlete,” whereas Eric Koston’s (White/skateboarder) refrigeratorhad condiments, a beer, and leftover Chinese takeout, along with a George Foremangrill on his counter. This trend appears partly to be associated with marital status, asmay be conjured by the bachelor stereotype. Steve Francis (NBA) had a personalchef, and Curtis Martin (NFL) had a housekeeper who every morning made him astrawberry banana drink (he also called chocolate éclairs the best food on earth).Clinton Portis (NFL) explained that he had been a chef before playing football andthat he ate rice with every meal. Skateboarder Bob Burnquist is an exception amongthe White athletes, as his refrigerator was stocked with organic vegetables and fruitdrinks, largely from his own organic produce business. WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan(White) claimed to eat 24 eggs a day for protein.




With respect to the use of rooms, the trend for African American athletes was tohave a formal living room that was rarely used. In fact, it was openly mocked as anempty gesture of eliteness. For example, Rasheed Wallace (NBA) referred to that roomas the “plastic furniture room” and the place where they served “tea and crumpets.”Gary Payton (NBA) claimed, “Mama told you always need a room that no one can gointo, can’t touch nothing.” This was a popular lesson that many of the Black athleteshad learned and incorporated into their own homes, including Jason Kidd (NBA), RayBuchanan (NFL), Sam Madison (NFL), Ty Law (NFL), Jamal Anderson (NFL), andSteve Francis (NBA). The lesson was so prominent that MTV highlighted it in anepisode of “Cribs Finest III”, revealing the powerful ways that perceptions of wealthare enacted and reproduced even after one has achieved socioeconomic success. Theliving room explicitly identified as a room for display was contrasted to the entertain-ment rooms. Entertainment rooms were the spaces where the males played together.These rooms were elaborate and highly valued spaces in the homes. Many of the enter-tainment rooms had special movie theater–type chairs, framed movie posters (Scarfacewas a popular choice), popcorn machines, and other displays that signified them asspecial spaces to be enjoyed by many, family and friends included.

Trends With Respect to Action Sports and NASCAR—White Athletes

Unlike with the African American athletes, the trends with White athletes empha-sized the middle-class sentiment of independence where success is individuallyearned. Not once did an athlete mention his family as the source of his success and,in general, there was little discussion of extended family. When they did mention thewomen in their lives it often was interlaced with sarcasm that seemed to trivializethem, such as when Bob Burnquist (skateboarder) crashed his skateboard into JenO’Brien’s to make her fall or when Jamie McMurray (NASCAR) pretended that hedid not know whose high-heeled boots were lying next to his bed. Occasionally anathlete, such as Mat Hoffman (BMX) or Chad Reed (Supercross), would acknowl-edge that his wife was a supportive force, although Reed also noted that his wife wasbanned from driving his Escalade after crashing a previous one. In addition, the elec-tronic entertainment areas were generally designed for consumption by one or just afew people. Dave Mirra (BMX) had only a few seats in his home theater room,which was simply three chairs in a room upstairs. Bob Burnquist (skateboarder) hada “small” house (2,200 square feet), which had a small living room, a small musicroom for himself, and no entertainment space designated or even large enough for agroup exceeding four or five people. Although small in comparison to other homeson “Cribs,” Burnquist’s home was located on his organic farm of several acres.

Although art was prominent throughout each house, there was a claim by theWhite/action athletes to be more minimalist or simple in their decorating choices.Eric Koston (skateboarder) noted that he liked to keep it simple when he justified hiscar choice, a Cadillac. Koston’s art was also simple, with framed photographs on his



wall and one piece of art that was a painting that was meant to look like a photograph(which he insisted was the financial equivalent of having a Bentley in his driveway).Dave Mirra (BMX) claimed that his master bedroom was “really clean and under-decorated as usual.” Similarly, Jamie McMurray (NASCAR) explained that he likedclean lines and hardwood floors.

Although fashion was definitely important, there was a clear affinity for a dressed-down look. Eric Koston commented that he had a “couple of monkey suits in case Ihave to get dolled up,” while his closet was full of T-shirts and sneakers. Rick Thorne’s(BMX) closet was full of all-black clothing, mostly T-shirts and jeans, which was theoutfit of choice for most of these athletes. Many of the athletes downplayed their cloth-ing by not showing their closets. The closets that were shown were full of baggyclothes that are often worn in the performance of their sports but are also part of theirlifestyle. This was read as a rejection of the upper-class lifestyle and as an embrace ofa manual labor, working-class ethos, as well as being consistent with the extreme sportethos of rebelling against the middle-class norms of society. By enacting working-classand Black masculinities and embracing these images, White middle-class men are ableto cloak their race and class privileges (Kusz, 2001). Brayton (2005) goes further andargues that White skateboarders intentionally reject White middle-class suburban nor-mativity because they desire the embodied power and social independence that isstereotyped by working-class and Black masculinities.

It was apparent that the White athletes were blatantly endorsing products and selling their personas. We contend that this is primarily because these athletes earn asignificant amount of their income from endorsements, unlike their team sport coun-terparts who not only have endorsements but also earn significant income throughannual multimillion-dollar contracts. For example, when opening his freezer, TonyHawk (skateboarder) pointed out Bagel Bites, which he endorses. He also highlightedhis popular video game. Bob Burnquist (skateboarder) talked about analyzing TonyHawk’s pro skater game. Dave Mirra (BMX) identified whenever possible the brandname of his Bose stereo equipment. Hulk Hogan (WWE) indirectly promoted hisdaughter’s singing and acting career. Warrick Stevenson (BMX) talked about hisOakley Phillips (sunglasses) that were fitted with an MP3 player so he could listen tomusic while riding his BMX bike. As opposed to wearing another athlete’s jersey,which many of the team sport athletes did, several action athletes wore T-shirts andhats that identified their sponsors, such as Fox and Vans. The sport industry is depen-dent on the public consumption of their product(s), especially alternative sports, whichhave evolved to become more mainstream as a result of the consumption.

Trends With Marital Status

In regards to trends related to the marital status of the athletes, both single andmarried athletes were primarily identified by their relationships with women andtheir performance of heterosexuality. There were some notable differences. Although




heterosexuality is assumed in sport, there were blatant efforts to make the hyper-heterosexuality of single athletes abundantly clear. Burtsyn (1999, p. 126) providesinsight into this phenomenon when she comments that “As the identity-anchor of theprovider role was weakened in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the importance of sexualperformance per se—as much of it and with as many women as possible—grew in sig-nificance in masculine self-definition. . . . It was no longer good enough to be a suc-cess in financial terms; now a man had to be a tireless sexual achiever.” This wasevident in the ways the single athletes gave significance to their bedrooms as perfor-mance spaces as well as their clothing as means of attractiveness.

Those athletes who were not married represented themselves as fashion savvy.They showed off the clothes in their closets and often discussed their bathing accou-trements. In addition, they were very articulate about the staging of their houses andthe art displayed, often taking credit for the design or knowledge of the art. Wedeemed their outward concern with art and their physical beauty as being an upper-class and urban orientation, similar to what is now referred to as “metrosexual.” Anotable exception was with some of the White athletes, who made clear attempts todistance themselves from being even slightly fashion conscious, such as NASCAR’sJamie McMurray. This was also seen in the clothes they wore during the episode,with several White athletes wearing jeans and a T-shirt. None of the alternative sportathletes could be characterized as metrosexuals; instead they rejected traditionalWhite upper-class styles and adapted a White appropriation of Cool Pose, wherethey symbolically connected themselves to lower-class backgrounds and behaviorswith less extravagance (Kusz, 2001).

Single athletes tended to separate male and female space. Male space includedtheir game rooms and sporting areas. Women were mentioned usually when the ath-lete was showing off his bedroom or Jacuzzi, which were spaces designed as a meansto attract women sexually. The bedrooms and the athletes’ clothing were framed asmeans of “hooking up” (or “where the action/magic happens,” “getting freaky”) with“the ladies.” Hyperheterosexual discourse was prevalent.

The men who were married seemed to integrate women more into their space andtheir daily lives. For example, all the wives were part of the tours, though some weremore central in leading them. In addition, females in the family were more integratedinto living spaces. In representing married life, none of the men stressed the use ofclothes to attract women. In fact, none of the married men actually showed off hiswardrobe. The majority of those who were married had children, though not allfathers were in defined relationships with the child’s mother. The athletes’ discussionof and interaction with their children varied greatly. Some fathers were interactingwith their children and talking about them to the audience, such as Gary Payton(NBA), Sam Madison (NFL), Marcellus Wiley (NFL), and Tony Hawk (skate-boarder). Mat Hoffman (BMX) was especially interactive with his young daughter,who was climbing all over him. Bucky Lasek (skateboarder) talked about cooking forhis kids, and his episode included his daughters riding go-carts in their driveway.




Some fathers liked to show off their children’s bedrooms and the decorations, perhapsas evidence of being a good provider such as Rasheed Wallace (NBA), Tony Hawk(skateboarder), Cuttino Mobley (NBA), Ty Law (NFL), Jermaine Dye (MLB), andRoy Jones Jr. (boxer). Jones also had a mini–WBA championship belt made for hisyoung son. Hawk had his oldest son show off his bedroom, having him pretend hewas the athlete being showcased on “Cribs”. The young Hawk showed off his ownskateboarding trophies and his pinball machine. Other athletes simply mentioned orpointed out their children, or pictures of their children, as did Johnny Damon (MLB)and Bob Burnquist (skateboarder), whose daughter was in Brazil visiting his parents.

The portrayal of married Black men and their discussions of being fathers andproviders, as well as their relationships with their wives, serve as a potential coun-ternarrative to other media depictions of Black men in America. Sam Madison(NFL) discussed the important role his wife played in managing the home and theirfinances. Shaq (NBA) similarly praised his wife for keeping things running. RasheedWallace (NBA) was equally vocal in discussing how important his wife was to himand noted her efforts to find a bathtub big enough for his 6-foot-plus frame. He alsopointed out her decorating with marble, and other materials, throughout the house.

MTV is consistent in its packaging of successful masculinity as a commodity. Itframes this image as a combination of characteristics of James Bond (muscular andathletically competent with upper-class knowledge and tastes) and Cool Pose (mus-cular and athletically competent with the ability to define oneself outside of upper-class knowledge and tastes, strongly connected to one’s roots, but clearly having“made it”). Within these two models we identified a noticeable trend: When Blacksappropriated whiteness it was in the form of material wealth, not style; when Whitesappropriated blackness, it was in bodily practices such as style, dress, and language.Thus, they play off stereotypes of both African Americans and Whites. This mergingof muscularity with independence from, but access to, upper-class ways is com-pelling. It provides the ideal that a strong and independent man will go far. A third,less prominent image was also represented that we had not initially expected, whichwe eventually labeled “Attentive Dad,” which revealed a man who was explicit in hisconcern for the welfare, comfort, and happiness of his children, as well as the sta-bility of a good, strong family life.

The show reinforces racial stereotypes, especially by the athletes featured andtheir racially coded behaviors. Not only did MTV create racially segregated cate-gories for the types of sport represented, but within each category MTV leaves outthe athletes who don’t fit the stereotypes of American ideals of successful masculin-ity. For example, within the culture of skateboarders, there is a subset who resistdefining themselves through sponsorship. Instead, MTV chose the most “All-American” ones: for example, Tony Hawk (skateboarder), who is clean-cut, straight,and married (by the second episode featuring Hawk’s new home, he was divorcedand engaged to another woman) with children. Similarly, Bob Burnquist (skate-boarder) is an articulate, well-read, and multifaceted man who is partnered with a




child. The choice of Black athletes too represents those who are committed to defin-ing their success through consumerist and masculinist tropes.

Further Discussion: “Buying Into Race”

For us, watching MTV’s “Cribs” is an overstatement about American consumerculture, with loaded racial messages. Dave Chappelle, in his Lost Episodes (Brennanet al., 2006), satirizes the excessiveness of the television series, as well as consumerculture. Chappelle, playing the character of “baller,” begins his tour in the foyer wear-ing a reversible mink made of white panda and bald eagle, noting the exclusivity of hisone-of-a-kind jacket. As he continues the tour, the baller walks by African art, dis-missing it because there is too much death happening there and he does not want to beconcerned with it. Instead of showing off his closet full of sneakers, which everyoneelse does, he opens a door to reveal his own sweatshop. In the kitchen, he opens the refrigerator, revealing an entire shelf of the famed Cristal and promptly removesone of two existing Tyrannosaurus rex eggs, which he proceeds to crack into a fryingpan. When the first egg isn’t enough, he decides to crack open the second and last T-rex egg in existence only for it to hatch before his eyes, causing great excitement andprompting him to proclaim “this is so baller.” He sprinkles diamonds on the frying pan,explaining that he sprinkles diamonds on his food because it’s the ballest thing one cando and it also makes his “dookie twinkle” (Brennan et al., 2006). Chappelle ended hisown popular Comedy Central series after struggling with the tensions of his role inracial representations in popular culture. He questioned whether his comedy was rein-forcing racial stereotypes rather than challenging them. His spoof of “Cribs” purpose-fully addresses race and racial representations of the African Americans who haveappeared on the series and highlights both the absurdities of wealth and racial stereo-types. We argue that the actual MTV “Cribs” reveals the same issues in a more covertmanner, one that serves to depoliticize issues of race, class, and manhood.

We identified two major findings: First, there are two dominant models of suc-cessful masculinity (James Bond and Cool Pose); and second, the demographics ofthe athletes featured on “Cribs” present segregated images of the athletes, with Blackathletes only coming from team sports, with the exception of boxer Roy Jones Jr.,and White athletes, with the exception of Johnny Damon, only representingaction/alternative sports. The relationship of the two major findings merits furtherdiscussion. Although the findings appear to be in opposition to each other, we con-tend that the two findings work together to allow the audience to “buy race,” whetherin actual consumption practices (buying an actual product) or belief in racial differ-ences as innate (buying into certain ideas). To sell race as a consumptive style, theremust be clear demarcations between Black and White. On one hand, “Cribs” is sell-ing blackness and whiteness as styles to be performed; on the other hand, the ath-letes it selects to represent each sport serve as powerful reinforcements of racialessentialism. This dynamic is utilized to sell the cool lifestyle, and it has multiple




implications. Primarily, through the promotion of meritocracy, the reality of struc-tural racial discrimination is ignored.

The production of consumer lifestyles is central to post-Fordist economy. MTV isproducing a lifestyle of successful masculinity that is framed as cool to reach its tar-get audience. Critical to this framing is the myth of meritocracy. Additionally, thisframing of cool implicates gender and race in particular ways. Examined within thebroader context of post-Fordism and neoliberalism, MTV’s “Cribs” is skillfully andstrategically selling the myth of meritocracy. Individual success stories of the athletesreinforce the myth by highlighting the success of each athlete as a result of his indi-vidual behaviors, actions, and choices, rather than being bound by ascribed charac-teristics and racial or class privileges. Giroux (2005) contends that when freedom andpower are viewed as a consumptive practice, it depoliticizes the choices made. Girouxstates, “Power is disconnected from social obligations and it becomes more difficultfor isolated individuals living in consumption-oriented spaces to construct an ethi-cally engaged and power-sensitive language capable of accommodating the principlesof ethics and racial justice as a common good rather than as a private affair” (p. 62).MTV has adeptly framed athletes to exemplify blackness and whiteness, essentializ-ing each as a style. The choice is about which style to inhabit, not how the selectionhas implications related to structural racism. In turn, the audience can view race as astyle and not have to consider the structural inequalities of racism, sexism, and clas-sism. MTV reinforces these neoliberal ideas through its coded racial messages.

hooks (2004) asserts that the media sell viewer desire masked as respect but thatdesire is neither love nor respect. In fact, hooks suggests such practices serve toobscure racism. Similarly, the consumption of “the other” works to reduce feelingsof racism, providing the guise that the individual is not racist (Farred, 2000). Thus,viewers can feel as if their consumption and appropriation of “the other” is a sign ofrespect for “the other” rather than a sign of disrespect or exploitation. The activeconsumption of “otherness” serves as a reinforcement of the individual’s belief inmeritocracy and the American dream. Namely, when an athlete works hard and playshard, he or she is appropriately rewarded by being consumed as a symbol of success.The color of the athlete’s skin, along this line of thinking, is irrelevant. Respect isearned through hard work and one’s physicality. This is not color-blindness, becauseat some level, skin color factors into style and coolness, making possible the imita-tion and embracing of “the other” by the viewer. Identity becomes a performanceand race becomes a style.

Kraszewski (2004) asserts that White liberalism routinely views racism as a problemexperienced by individuals, rather than as a result of economic and social practices. Asa result, Jhally and Lewis suggest that such thinking supports the popular belief thatAfrican Americans are disadvantaged “by their own actions, not an unfair class system”(as cited in Kraszewski, 2004, p. 183). For Black athletes, their success exemplifies thatracism no longer exists, as evidenced by the athletes’ successes. In these dialogues ofsuccess, race is simplified as a style that can be performed, concealing historical and




structural conditions of inequality. In her analysis of MTV’s The Real World,Kraszewski found that race was mediated on the reality show through “discourses ofruralness and conservatism, masking the racism of liberals, propounding that racism is a matter of personal belief, and failing to address the systemic nature of racism”(p. 184). By providing and celebrating images of Black success, “Cribs” helps to maskthe racism that exists in sport and society.

MTV utilizes sport as integral to the creation of a consumer lifestyle that embod-ies coolness, and ultimately the consumption of these products provides vicariousattainment of the good life. Coolness becomes an intangible commodity that is partially constructed through racial discourse and is inextricably linked to consump-tion practices as well as manhood. The athletes, regardless of color, are bonded bytheir masculinity and physicality; ultimately, “Cribs” represents a celebration ofmasculinity. This celebration of masculinity and meritocracy, at least according to“Cribs,” suggests that race doesn’t matter when dealing with earning respect throughhard work and one’s body. The consumption of “Cribs” is an extension of this sitefor male bonding. MTV positions the athletes as “one(s) of the guys” by focusing ontheir normal consumption practices, such as the clothes they wear and the food intheir refrigerator, and behaviors, such as playing video games and watching movies,all of which are readily accessible to the masses. Such positioning helps reduce anyclass and/or race resentment by the audience and allows the audience to identifymore with their desire to imitate the leisure time and lifestyles of the athletes, evenif their paychecks are millions of dollars apart.

We believe MTV’s “Cribs” is intentionally framing a type of successful masculin-ity that plays into the ideals of their target teenage male audience yet to enter the workworld. This ideal of American meritocracy, that one doesn’t have to come from wealthor be White (or have an elite education) to earn and live the American dream, is a pow-erful fantasy narrative. In fact, all one needs is to work hard and develop one’s innatetalents. If so, one can buy a beautiful house, have lots of male friends to play compet-itive games with, and be actively heterosexual. And even if one is unable to reach theprofessional success of the athletes, the audience can still purchase similar productsand participate in similar leisure activities, albeit at a lower financial cost (at JC Penneyon layaway). The audience can still buy the good life, or little bits of it, both literallyand metaphorically.

Watching MTV’s “Cribs”, the intersections of consumerism, race, and masculinitybecome apparent. Kaplan (1987) asserts that “MTV, more than other television, maybe said to be about consumption. It evokes a kind of hypnotic trance in which the spec-tator is suspended in a state of unsatisfied desires but forever under the illusion ofimminent satisfaction through some kind of purchase” (p. 12). Almost 20 years later,MTV continues to reinforce and reproduce the production and consumption of desire,style, and coolness through racial images.




Notes

1. Narrator at the conclusion of Episode 1005.2. MTV also does this with “Pimp my Ride”—both show titles reveal an appropriation of urban street

language that is used to familiarize the unfamiliar viewer with the language of “coolness.” “Pimp myRide” is slang for excessively accessorizing your car—fixing the car up by making it nicer, rather thanrepairing the car.

3. There has been a trend in television shows that fall into the home/garden genre, as well as a numberof makeover shows, such as “Trading Spaces,” along with the growing popularity of HGTV. ESPN aireda new show called “It’s the Shoes,” which focused solely on a celebrity’s sporting footwear. Recently,other companies have begun to connect their products with advertisements that show professional athletesin their homes. For example, in the June 12, 2006, issue of Sports Illustrated, “THISOLDHOUSE.COM”bought seven pages of advertising, which was fashioned to look like an article, that took the reader intoCarmelo Anthony’s “Mile High house” and then advertised several products in the remaining pages.AT&T created webisodes that show how featured athletes use various AT&T products in their homes. Goto Seehowtheylive.com. Also see Wolfe (2006).

4. There is a distinct pattern related to the inclusion of athletes in episodes of “Cribs”, both related tothe type of spot represented and the race of the athlete. Episode 405 was the first episode to include threefeatures of athletes and only athletes (all three were African American and played in the NBA).Subsequent episodes would include one athlete and sometimes two, but by the 11th set of episodes, begin-ning with Episode 1101, there was a greater emphasis on White alternative sport athletes. In the summerof 2005, five episodes were aired that featured only alternative sport athletes (all White athletes). Thesewere not new episodes but features from other episodes put together into a five-part series on ExtremeSport. The only African American athlete represented that did not represent a traditional team sport wasboxer Roy Jones Jr. in Episode 606. Jermaine Dye is the only African American to represent the sport ofbaseball, along with Johnny Damon, who is biracial, who was the second baseball player featured and theonly biracial/White athlete to not represent an individual sport. Generally, in press accounts of Damon,he is not referred to as biracial, though his ethnicity is Thai and Caucasian.

5. According to MTV’s “Cribs” Web site, the first episode was Number 301 and the short first sea-son consisted of 301 and 302. The next series began with Episode 401 and ended with 409. The mostrecent series began with Episode 1101 and ended at 1113. Beginning with Episode 301 and ending withEpisode 1113, a total of 61 episodes have aired. There have been 56 athletes featured. Table 1 indicatesthe featured entertainers/athletes.

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Maureen Margaret Smith is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science atSacramento State University.

Becky Beal is a professor in the Department of Sport Sciences at the University of the Pacific in Stockton,California.




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