Hockey is a “badass” sport full muscular, competitive, aggressive, tough and hard men. It is a prime example of a sport that shapes men to suit the stereotype of what it means to be a “man”. They are encouraged to be ruthless and brutal on the ice, increasing unnecessary use of violence to satisfy their ego. This unhealthy and arguably a morally wrong way to approach the sport. Several good hardworking men’s career ended because of permanent physical or psychological injuries preventing them from either enjoying the game or playing again.

I understand how men are influenced to inherit these bad behaviors. Growing up my parents signed me up for many sports but were more serious about my involvement in hockey. Being in that sport there are certain expectations from the coaches and parents. I was not a very aggressive person when I was younger and had a hard time adopting violent characteristics but it was crucial for dominating the game.  Channeling these characteristics into winning the game without using excessive force or aggression is fine but there’s a certain line that is easy to cross and players often due. Because I didn’t have a lot to lose or a lot to win it was rare for my peers and me to have games that got out of hand or were harmful. However at a certain age and a certain level of skill the game becomes meaner for a lack of better words. Players stop wearing face grills that protect the entire face and are allowed to fight. I can personally say that those grills have saved my beauty and teeth to many times to count. Removing the grill is an unnecessary risk that doesn’t even improve a players performance yet almost every player does it at a certain level or age in order boost or protect their ego. When I was playing it was strictly forbidden to fight to the point where the coaches were disappointed in the players that did. For some reason it is encouraged at a professional level and the consequences were scarring for a lot of people.

A lot of the violence in hockey is televised because that is what most viewers find entertaining and gets hockey more popularity. There are documentaries and videos about how cool many hockey players are because of how tough they are. Up until recently there hasn’t been controversy towards the way the game is played and so for a long time you just had these big guys kicking each other’s asses getting hurt and hurting others on the ice. A good majority of hockey viewers are young and thus being programmed to think that this is an acceptable way to play hockey or that this is how it should be played. Younger men are already exposed to a society that encourages them to behave this way and the more involved an individual is in hockey the more likely they are to behave this way and are now encouraging other young boys, who aren’t necessarily acquainted with hockey, to be the same. This a big conflict because now you have kids who are getting into fights at school, bully or are bullied and feeling self-conscious about themselves. A survey conducted by academics, have statistics showing that 41% of boys are physically assaulted.

Lastly, it is important for us to properly shape future generations. Promoting healthy behaviors and life choices reduces the amount of damage being done to children’s mental health and alters how they will turn out when they’re older and influence each other to make better decisions. Everyone involved in hockey need to set a good example for the youth and those with a false conception of what it means to be a man. Using different language of motivating people is an example of a change that can be made; instead of saying “you play like a sissy” you could say “try not to be so afraid” or “sometimes it’s better to take the risk then to cower” encouraging to improve rather them feel bad about it. Fighting on the ice should have been forbidden long ago. Fighting is unnecessary in this sport except for extremely rare circumstances. It’s the only team sport that is ok with fighting despite the weak justifications. The safety of the players is just as important if not more important than winning the game.

In conclusion, there needs to be better control over the amount of violence that happens in hockey. Changes should be made so that the players are safer and can enjoy the sport for what it truly is. You can still have a very fun and competitive game without all the violence and male stereotypes. Changing the rules and perspective of the game will also influence a healthy view for young boys making the game safer for them and less shameful. This is effective to them on the ice and off it.

For this blog I interviewed a close buddy of mine whom I’ve known for 18 years. He has most masculine stereotypes which is why I thought he would be and appropriate interviewee.

The first question I asked was “why are you close with your friend?” to which he replied;”Because we have a lot in common, we trust one another, we got each others backs and we do a lot of fun stuff together.”

The second question was “What kinds of things do you like to do together?”; “We often smoke together, workout, go partying, play sports, play video games, hangout wherever we may be, go out to eat and chill at each others crib.”

Lastly I asked my friend “Have you ever told your friend how much he means to you? If so, what did you say and how did he react? If you have never told him how much he means to you, why not?” and he said “Yes of course. I just told him how important he was to me and that he helps me better myself and that I’m very grateful to have known him. He just said thanks man I feel that same about you.”

From what i understood from Micheal Kimmel’s quote in “Masculinity”, is that since we were little, we are constantly exposed to an identity of what it means to be masculin. Meaning society has been programmed, from several different interactions and experiences, to identify specific characteristics to each gender. If these characteristics are not respected then the individual will not be respected. Expressing opposite behaviours puts men in a position to feel belittled and ashamed, once again programming us to not to behave that way. An example of this that Micheal provides is at school. Kids are taught, by their peers, parents and media, that they have to behave a certain way and not behave a certain way because if they don’t live up to society’s expectations of their gender norms they get mocked and humiliated by other kids. The sense of being different from everybody else and receiving their disapproval naturally provokes kids to act like they are encouraged to because they know that’s what’ll get people to like them. By institutions he means several different social groups we are a part of or want to be a part of. They cover this in one of the episodes of man enough. In the video they covered the same example of kids in school going into a more specific detailed scenario. The scenario being two kids arguing over which one is a sissy and the consequences of these arguments. A possible outcome is that one of the boys goes home crying shamefully because his classmates all ganged up on him to make him feel feminine or not a “man”. One gentleman expresses that in high school he would be very involved in sports and “disrespecting” women because he wanted to fit in with the other boys at his school. It was his attempt at being accepted by that social group and possibly being popular at school. 

What Kimmel means by masculinity in his quote, is that society has its own definition of masculinity and what it means to be “manly”. For example, to suppress emotion, to be tough, to be strong, getting a lot of girls are all characteristics we define as masculinity. He chooses the term “masculinitie”, because it represents these definitions of being masculin while at the same time implying that those aren’t what defines a man. Saying something like “Understanding how to be a man” or “ understanding what it means to be masculin” would imply to the reader that these characteristics are in fact what it means to be a man. The clear societal understanding of masculinity is obvious and known to everyone but clearly not true and shouldn’t be taught to youths. The video emphasizes this misconception of masculinity among kids because that’s what shapes how the child will grow up to behave. This is exactly what the quote means. Men and society turn out a certain way because we believe that that is the right way to turn out. It is taught to us at such a young age that it alters the outcome of events in our life and how we behave publicly. As i mentioned before the video shows how kids are taught at a young age of masculinity and it covers the outcome of this with certain boys. Later in the video we see the consequences of this after they show a therapy session. The boys there all talked about how they keep things inside, how they pretend to be someone they’re not and how that makes them feel. If the fact that they’re in therapy isn’t clear enough, we learn that a lot of them were very sad and depressed, causing some of them to cry at the acknowledgment of their behaviour and feelings. This is just one of many problems relating to “unimaginable possibilities of social change.”

As stated on page five of Defining Men’s Studies, achievement and status is defined as “successful men who have achieved success through the fields of work, sports, and sexual conquest.” The one man who is the most obvious in accomplishing this definition is Hugh Hefner.

Hugh Hefner in the filed of sports has successfully published many articles where women posed for athletes. You may of seen Hugh on television for being admired for his success and for his sexy conquests. He was the founder and co-editor of the playboy magazine. He was also known for his playboy mansion where he has invited several celebrities and wealthy people to party and enjoy women. At his death it was publicly understood that he was worth around $50 million. Later, the market research firm Wealth-X released that Hugh Hefner was worth at least $110 million, with roughly $45 million in liquid assets. many men looked up to Hugh. Hugh was seen as The Man. Based on the definition of someone who has status and achievement,

Hugh Hefner’s accomplishments would suggest that he has achieved this. Some examples of his success that categorizes him as a man with status and achievement are is work, making him millions and being praised with sexy women. He was very much involved in the celebrity and athletic community and will never be forgotten.

By: Daniel Bohbot & Alexandra Morgan Arseneau

The man who inspires me is Jonathan Sibrulini. I look up to him because he has admirable characteristics that I aspire to inherit with time, and he motivates me to be healthier and a better person. When he was younger, he found himself hanging out with a bad crowd; vandalizing, stealing and doing lots of drugs. As things got worse for him, he found went to rehabilitation for is drug addictions and ever since then, he’s managed to stay sober for over 10 years. When he got better he devoted a lot of energy and time to help people avoid making the same mistakes he did. He gives speeches and spreads awareness throughout high schools and organizes events that give teenagers a chance to learn how to live a healthier life for the mind, body and soul while avoiding poor decisions. He started a non profit organization, hiring volunteers to share what they’ve learned about, diets, training, stretching, meditating etc. Jonathan is a leader, a good influence, motivated, a good teacher and has good morals, all of which are things I work on. 

My definition of someone who is considered to be inspirational, is someone who inspires people to be a better person and motivates them to achieve their goal in life.

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