Week 3 - "When in Rome" Summary

“When in Rome” is a discussion about the popular Jim Rome Show, a radio sports talk show that has become quite controversial due to some of the action the host, Jim Rome, takes and the topics he discusses. Many people view Jim Rome as the epitome of the truly masculine man, as he is extremely knowledgeable about sports, confident, and leads an important talk show. On the show, Rome discusses topics of choice for the day and allows people to call in to make their comments on the current topic. If Rome does not like the caller’s comments, he will simply end their call, cutting them off and showing that he is dominant in the situation. From the comments he does like, on the other hand, he “racks” them and picks one to be the caller of the day at the end of each show. For the callers, being chosen as the caller of the day would be the ultimate success, for it would mean that Rome thinks highly of the caller. Conversely, getting cut off by Rome is almost a strike against the caller’s masculinity.

Jim Rome is very willing to discuss controversial topics and make questionable comments about the sports players. For instance, he discussed Patrick Ewing, Terrell Davis, and Dekembe Motumbo, who have all claimed to have visited a strip club regularly and apparently received free oral sex. In doing so, Rome indirectly “reinforces women’s subjugation as they become defined as existing solely for men’s pleasure” (Nylund 230). The caller of the day also used terms such as “skanks” and “crack whore,” both of which are offensive and sexist. By picking this as the caller of the day, Rome implies that he supports this kind of language and offensive humor. On another show, Rome had Jim Everett, an NFL player, on his show. Rome, however, wanted to jab at Everett’s masculinity, and repeatedly called him Chris Everett, the name of a female tennis player. Everett refused to take that taunting, and even attacked Rome on the show. As an NFL player, Everett wanted to maintain his masculinity, least he look feminine and weak to the other players.

On a similar, note, the author also discusses Rome’s discussions with Eric Davis about Brendan Lemon, who had recently announced that he was homosexual. Lemon as a Major League baseball player, and coming out as homosexual was very controversial at the time. Other athletes, like Eric, felt that it would be very uncomfortable to know that their fellow teammates that they share locker rooms and showers with were gay. After Eric’s comments, Rome changed the topic immediately since he didn’t agree with the opinion and wanted to maintain his relationship with Eric. Later, though, Rome denounces another commenter and takes a strong stance against homophobia. Rome recognizes the injustices against homosexuals, which shows an unusual break in the male hegemony. The author discusses this a bit further, but concludes that Rome’s show primarily designed for heterosexual men.