Masculinity and Sport Revisted: A Review of Literature on Hegemonic Masculinity and Men's Ice Hockey in Canada

Abstract

Ice hockey is particularly significant in Canada as it acts as a primary site of socialization for boys and men. This form of socialization raises questions about masculinity on the public agenda in terms of the problematic nature of hypermasculinity in sport, stereotypical images of athletes, and questions of social responsibility as both men and athletes. These issues are presently relevant as Canada (and perhaps all of North America) finds itself in an era characterized by accounts in mainstream media of competitive athletes’ cavalier lifestyles, hazing, violence, homophobia, drug addictions, and suicides. This review of literature uses secondary research to problematize masculinity in the ice hockey context by presenting the overarching claim that male hockey players are hegemonically masculine individuals. The piece begins by defining Australian sociologist R.W. Connell’s (1987) concept of hegemonic masculinity and situating it in the contemporary academic context. Next, it offers an overview of relevant literature on masculinity and sport along with a concise examination of scholarly work on the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and ice hockey in Canada. It concludes by summarising calls for further research in the literature and by suggesting approaches to future studies in the field.

Sports Participation and Beliefs about Male Dominance: A Cross-National Analysis of Sexist Gender Ideologies

“…The findings show that in most countries, when sociodemographic factors are taken into account, men who are active members of sports clubs hold sexist gender ideologies to a significantly greater extent than men who are not active in sports clubs. This finding is in line with expectations: The sphere of sports has been repeatedly described as a sphere in which hegemonic masculinities exist (see, e.g., Anderson 2002;Lavelle 2021;MacDonald 2014). According to Connell (1995), these forms of masculinities are characterized by being exclusively heterosexual, by valuing physical strength, and by maintaining dominance by oppressing others.…”

Through their eyes

“…As participants in this study were members of an elite male youth hockey team, the implications extend beyond the school onto the hockey rink. In Canada, hockey is a part of the Canadian social fabric and national identity (Allain, 2010;MacDonald, 2014;Messner, 1989;Robidoux, 2002;Young, White, & McTeer, 1994); as such, this study implicates a Canadian ideology that privileges hockey culture. Studying the empowered elite within hockey culture troubles a hypermasculine identity that permeates hockey and our schools.…”

“…Studying the empowered elite within hockey culture troubles a hypermasculine identity that permeates hockey and our schools. Hypermasculinity within hockey culture validates the aggressive, strong, and "tough," expecting hockey players to play through injuries and protecting homophobia and misogyny (Connell, 2005;MacDonald, 2014;Messner, 2000;Young, White, & McTeer, 1994). Acts of violence on the ice are not criminalized but celebrated (Young, White, & McTeer, 1994), and these performances of a hypermasculine identity offer hockey boys a means to construct their identities as hockey players (Weinsein, Smith, & Wiesenthal, 1995).…”

“…Violence is often a result of people disengaging from their moral standards (Wang & Goldberg, 2016); however, as moral standards are a product of socialization (Aly, Taylor, & Karnovsky, 2013), this presents a paradox for hockey boys. The hockey boys had been socialized into a culture of violence (Allain, 2008(Allain, , 2010Hickey, 2008;Pringle & Hickey, 2011;MacDonald, 2014;Messner, 1990;Robidoux, 2002;Weinstein, Smith, & Wiesenthal, 1995;Young, White, & McTeer, 1994) that decriminalized their actions on the ice, rewarded them as members of the dominant culture, and given them space to disassociate from school. So what moral standards were guiding these young boys?…”

Horseracing as gendered leisure events: doing and redoing masculinities in Mexico

“…We recognise leisure as a key site for the production and reproduction of gender identities, as well as an arena through which those identities are challenged and sometimes shifted (Bäckström & Nairn, 2018). Sport and active leisure are mechanisms through which men and boys 'do' different forms of masculinity, whether that be hegemonic masculinity in body contact sports (MacDonald, 2014), heteronormative masculinity through dance and practices like salsa (Boulila, 2020), or collective forms of hegemonic masculinity through fandom (Ncube & Chawana, 2018). This 'doing' of masculinity is always in relation to an other, very often other men, as Lamont and Hing (2019) describe in relation to peer group norms among young bettors; or to differentiate from the assumed opposite, femininity, as Dashper (2012) found among gay men in equestrian sport; or in interaction with broader norms of neoliberal masculinity, as Voorhees and Orlando (2018) identified in professional gaming.…”