It has been called the birth of a new era in tennis. A birth or, if you prefer, a baptism that lasted four hours and 42 minutes. That was all it took for the flawless Carlos Alcarath to win the first truly grand final of his career and lift his second major trophy. Victory at the US OPEN last year wasn’t enough to overload his identity with cosmetic adjectives.

He had to be baptized in the pool of the most popular tournament, Wimbledon, beating the old, the great, the godfather of “23 Karat”. Novak Djokovic – devastated by his defeat but chivalrous – opened the door to the elite family. It is certain that at that moment she was expected by the Serb who, in his own way, gave his approval to Carlitos earlier this year.

As Nole capped his return to the Australian Open by winning the title, he faithfully emulated Alcarath and scored what he calls a hat-trick of wins. The 3 Cs of the 20-year-old. That is to say (you minors close your eyes): “Cabeza, Corazón y Cojones”, whatever mind, heart and… whatever, let the flow take it: “Balls”, but not tennis.

Novak Djokovic started showing the Melbourne crowd everything, starting with his sanity. Arithmetic is very relevant in this case. One up, two down, we won’t break our hearts with the two gentlemen. We probably won’t spoil them for the heart of the matter either, as it’s pretty clear they haven’t thought as much as they should before acting and talking like teenage Halloween gunslingers.

Women are excluded from great victories and great achievements

Let’s admit, however, that Alkarath, who made the 3 Cs his flag, and Nole, who adopted them, even unwittingly perpetuate gender inequality and fuel age-old stereotypes. How; Because quite simply: They cultivate the belief that for the great victory, the barbaric (not coincidentally the aggressive definition) performance, the impressive match not only the willingness to compete, the mind and the mental endurance are sufficient, but pharaoh-sized stores full of testosterone. In short, women are barred from big wins and great performances because they don’t have the full gear, while the losers are unlikely to be…so men in their eyes.

Somewhere in the corner of the planet, Serena Williams laughed out loud, Nadia Comaneci smiles, while the phenomenon Marta – who never tires of talking about equality – currently has no time to deal with her palimpsest. The Women’s World Cup has started.

Luckily for Nole and Carlitos, and more importantly to fully and immediately deconstruct the argument in question – in literal terms – (because it’s proven that we always have to explain the self-evident as well), to land the budding and naïve “Halloween pistoleros” a little hard, we assure you that both have normal testosterone levels. Otherwise we would learn from some failed doping controls. As you know, it is controlled.

The long list of “barbarians” in sports

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcarath are not isolated cases of men who think like this. This reasoning has deep roots in time and has many adherents around the world and of course in sport, which is a field of direct and obvious comparisons.

Emiliano Martins getting his glove dirty after the World Cup final is a relatively recent example. Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Simeone “competed” in a similar performance, celebrating as Sergio Yul did a few months ago in the Euroleague final with Olympiacos and Kylian Mbappé in a game against Auxerre last November. Same as Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Los Angeles FC fans, Dimitris Pelkas in 2017, after a goal he scored in added time against Panionios (Styliaras showed him a red card for the way he celebrated) and in the endless list of “barbarian boys” there are also: Kasami, Leto, Pablo Garcia et al.

It is certain that more names will be added, as it is a well-established concept that serves to demonstrate masculinity, but also reinforces gender stereotypes that ascribe certain behavioral patterns to the two sexes. Broken down into small pieces by two very well-known phrases: “act like a man”, “don’t act like a woman”.

When Carlos Alcarat defeated Djokovic in Madrid in 2022, he referred to “Cabeza, Corazón y Cojones” in his on-pitch remarks, stressing that he learned it from his grandfather and he’s sticking to it. This is legacy advice he inherited from his 87-year-old grandfather of the same name, and he waved it like a flag, spreading cheer in the stands. And that’s the problem: the happy reaction from men, but also from women, suggests that this stereotypical hook is difficult to get out of your skin.

“The worst weakness in a man is a lack of personality and personality. Are you afraid of big games?”

Unfortunately, this perception is associated with boldness, willingness to fight, bravery, determination and personality size. In February 2022, Inter defeated Roma 2-0 in a cup game and Corrierre dello Sport wrote that Jose Mourinho told his players in the dressing room: “A man’s worst weakness is lack of @@ and personality.” Are you afraid of big games? Then you compete in Serie C, without pressure, champions and big stadiums. You’re without @@ and that’s the worst thing for a man.”

Both Alcarat’s “Cabeza, Corazón y Cojones” and the speed with which his conviction is recalled by the Spanish media after his victories, as well as Jose Mourinho’s speech in the Roma dressing room, were the subject of comments from the doctor, professor of forensics, toxicology and physical anthropology of the Department of Granada, but also a representative of the socialist government Tapatero (period 2008-2011) to questions Gender Violence, Miguel Lorente Acosta.

The professor explained that Alkarath and the triptych – as he claims – of his success is in fact the “speaker” of every man represented today by a sporting voice of tennis. “With the reference ‘Cabeza, Corazón y Cojones’, women are excluded from the realization of such a feat that leads to the exclusivity of men. A woman could win difficult games and tournaments and she will succeed if she plays with intelligence, passion and courage. But he will never achieve it on the same level and in the sense of what a man who combines all three qualities expresses.

Anyone can achieve victory with their mind and heart. On the other hand, “Cojones” suggest that when the mind and heart are not enough, we must resort to the design available only to men, and not to all, but to “real men”. Because you don’t recognize the “real man” by his rationality, his feeling and his intelligence, but by the confidence of his testicles, which in this case are used.”

“Everything “male” will eventually become a model of society”

The professor pointed out that allowing a man to act according to the 3-C pattern highlights a key element of masculinity: the competition between men that is not limited to winning, but primarily to “becoming more of a man” by beating another man. Kutamaras, that is. “So a man is not ‘less man’ because he is less intelligent or has a smaller heart, but because he doesn’t have or show more cojones than another man.” Jose Mourinho’s quote to his players reflects this approach. And like everything “masculine” it becomes a model of society in the end and the boys want to be like Alcarath and behave like “Cabeza, Corazón y Cojones”.

Miguel Llorente emphasizes that girls are realizing that these gender approach tactics are more predictable than society, and that they are therefore “acting the same way and acting with ‘mind, heart and … ovaries'”. So they think this model has been modified to suit them.”

The doctor analyzes that with this behavior the androcentric reference is actually confirmed and strengthened and the sense of reality is not strengthened but expanded. That is why the belief that prevails in societies is that one must assert oneself in one’s field in order to show one’s masculinity, which makes space for women “who” – he adds – “are not entrusted with positions of responsibility because if they have to resort to the third C, they have no other choice.” Because women have heart, mind, perseverance, dedication, commitment, but that is not enough when they have to face another company, another party, where a man with brain, soul and “balls” calls the shots.”

Sport can not only cultivate and expand gender stereotypes, but also narrow the gap to its role models. It is an illusion that conditions and ingrained – but wrong – mentalities can be wiped out overnight, or that brutal behavior and bad thinking will stop. A good place to start would be for athletes to think a few seconds longer and more maturely before speaking or acting.