Friends, Girlfriends, and Sports: The Injuries Escalate and Become Personal

Abstract

While Sennett and Cobb (The Hidden Injuries of Class. New York: Vintage Books, 1972) concentrated on educational credentials and occupational prestige as the focus for the hidden injuries of class, this chapter explores other important fields where the injuries escalate. These include friends and peers, girlfriends and boyfriends, and leisure, such as one’s prowess at various sporting activities. Here I will also discuss the debilitating effects of “rank-outs” (sometimes called “verbal sparring” or “the dozens”). Our version was nasty, vicious (aimed at the weaknesses of working-class families), and taken to heart (as recent research suggests) by working-class youth. The research on sports and leisure is also important for understanding working-class and middle-class identities. Finally, this chapter will look at another important area for the self-confidence of working-class youth (again, because they tend to take it to heart): love interests who are “out of one’s league.” Finally, I will consider the norms and values found in the neighborhood being examined, for better or worse.