Toward sport reform: hegemonic masculinity and reconceptualizing competition

The need for a violence prevention programme in ice hockey: a case study on how hegemonic masculinity supports and challenges violent behaviour in Swedish ice hockey

“…The competitive logic supports a hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 2005;English, 2017;Flood & Dyson, 2007). In short, this logic forms and legitimises hierarchies and, thus, the sorting of certain characteristics in a powered pattern that could marginalise or subordinate some players and include or embrace others.…”

“…Amongst the informants, David was the person who focused most on the group's language and attitudes, was able to identify the risk tendencies in teams and see that the management of group dynamics was necessary in order to improve the team's sporting performances. In other words, the intervention interacts with the competitive logic, which is a vital part of the construction of the hegemonic masculinity in sport (English, 2017;Flood & Dyson, 2007). Providing coaches with training that enables and encourages them to intervene in difficult situations is therefore necessary.…”

“…Teammates and spectators often promote such ideals by demoting 'softness' and 'sensitivity' (Carlson, 2008). This inclination can be linked to a competitive and win-at-all-costs logic that is fundamental for the (re)production of hegemonic masculinity (English, 2017;Flood & Dyson, 2007;Pappas et al, 2004;Weinstein et al, 1995). Pappas et al (2004) further contend that the ice hockey culture reinforces the objectification of women, 'because of the focus on traditional male behaviours conducive to sports success and the large amount of time men spend exclusively with other males ' (p. 307).…”

Athletic Labor and Social Reproduction

“…These dynamics have everything to do with the global political economy and structures of White supremacy and colonialism charted by Anderson (2000) and Agathangelou (2004) in their studies of more traditional forms of social reproductive work. Likewise, the continued social reproduction of patriarchal and heteronormative structures of masculinity (Sears, 2017) contributes to the socialization of subjects who enter the world of sport conditioned to accept as legitimate the dehumanization—denial of affect, instrumental relation to the self, ubiquitous violence, among other norms of hegemonic masculinity—demanded by high-performance spectator sport (e.g., Connell, 1995; English, 2017; Messner, 2007). Ultimately, what needs to be explored are these and other questions about who ends up performing social reproductive athletic labor, why, and how this is connected to broader forms of structural inequality.…”

Representaciones sociales de la violencia basada en género en la formación de adolescentes futbolistas

“…Respecto a las expectativas de género que se han desarrollado históricamente en el fútbol, se encuentran, por un lado, la masculinidad hegemónica que se representa a través del énfasis excesivo en la competencia que da como resultado actitudes absolutas de triunfo, relaciones conictivas entre competidores y compañeros de equipo y promulgación de valores supremacistas (English, 2017). A esta masculinidad se vincula la pretensión de dominio sobre las mujeres y la jerarquía de dominio entre hombres.…”