Underdog (competition)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports, and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. If the underdog wins, the event is known as an upset. These terms are commonly used in sports betting.

Contents

[edit] "Sympathy for the Underdog"

In a more broad sense, the term is used in reference to a social or ethnic group which suffers from discrimination, persecution and/or economic disability and which on that base gains the sympathy of public opinion in its own or other countries.

Such sympathy had often proved of crucial importance in the struggles of national liberation, civil rights and social justice movements, and such movements spend considerable efforts and sometimes significantly modify their tactics and strategy with the conscious aim of gaining this kind of sympathy.

The definition of a particular group as an "Underdog" or an "Overdog" might change considerably with time and circumstances. During the Boer War, the Afrikaners were widely perceived as the "Underdogs", a small people bravely defying the might of the British Empire (see Opposition to the Second Boer War). In the time of Apartheid, they came to be regarded as cruel racist oppressors, with the South African Blacks being the Underdogs.

Similarly, in its earlier stages the Zionist movement was widely regarded in the West as representing an Underdog, i.e. Jews who were the target of persecution, and later Nazi genocide - the creation of Israel in 1948 was widely regarded as a victory for this Underdog. However, Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, along with the increasing visibility of the displaced Palestinians through the activities of Palestinian nationalist groups such as the PLO (including the use of violence), has increased awareness and sympathy for the Palestinians. The governments of both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have sought to portray themselves to the rest of the world as victims, and thus underdogs, the former by emphasising attacks on Israel launched by groups such as Hamas and other allied Arab groups such as Hizbollah, the later by highlighting the actions taken against military and civilian targets in the occupied territories by the Israel Defense Forces.

The depiction of a conflict in the mass media, especially on TV, greatly influences who would be seen as its "Underdog" and "Overdog". Consequently, participants in various conflicts often accuse the international media of "ignoring" or "undeplaying" the sufferings of their own side and "inflating" those of their opponents.

[edit] Victorious underdogs

Globe icon
 The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

[edit] History

[edit] Politics

[edit] Sports

[edit] See also

Look up underdog in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.