MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Scholars often study apologies from two perspectives: as a strategy of apologia, used to defend and repair ethos; or as a ritual to initiate a process of reconciliation to restore the dignity of those who have been harmed and repair social relationships. Public apologies can also be studied as part of the discursive framework used to negotiate membership in a changing community. A discursive frame is a set of cultural viewpoints that inform the practices of a community, shaping, motivating and giving meaning to the actions of the community. In other words, the ideas, symbols, and words we use to describe something affect how we view it and how others view us. Discursive frames are constructed, contested and transformed through rhetorical practices that include public apologies. By examining both the anti-LGBTQ+ language used by athletes and the role of apologies in negotiating the contested ideas, symbols and words of competing discursive frames, this presentation will show how organizations and individuals may adapt to or resist change. To better understand the role of public apology in transforming the discursive frame of professional sports, this presentation will analyze three examples: first, NBA player, Roy Hibbert’s use of the term “no homo;” second, NHL player Andrew Shaw’s calling a referee “faggot;” and third, Martina Navratilova’s comments about transgender athletes. Their language and subsequent public apologies represent the struggle to negotiate the changing discursive framework of professional sports. While their apologies did not repair their ethos or restore the dignity of those who were harmed, their apologies did generate public debate. Because of the influential role of professional sports in popular culture, examining the struggle over language represented in athletes’ apologetic rhetoric also sheds light on the larger culture’s struggle to respect, accept, and include LGBTQ+ people.