Thought I would forward the below, which appeared recently in the Globe and
Mail from Canada. It points out that any subculture which operates by
indoctrination via humiliation and abuse of 'its own' will of course operate
that way on others. It is more or less directed at a Canadian audience to
point out that the sort of behavior of American soldiers toward Iraqis is
not particular to the American army but operates in Canada in the
semi-professional 'junior' leagues of hockey that lead to the NHL. And so it
does. And has for a long time.
ja
Hockey hazing, Iraqi style
By LAURA ROBINSON
Laura Robinson, former national-level skier and cyclist, is author of
Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport
(1998) and, most recently, Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality.
There is nothing surprising about the charges of prisoner abuse by
American soldiers in Iraq given the hyper-masculine culture of the U.S.
military.
In fact, abuse is predictable in any group that defines masculinity
through power, strength and aggression. That female soldiers took part is
also predictable. To prove they are "one of the boys" in this subculture,
women must push the envelope of disgust further than the men would.
The brutal sadomasochistic acts themselves are hardly original. They are
strongly reminiscent of the initiation rites some soldiers themselves
report taking place at the start of their military service.
The truth is, they also bear a striking resemblance to what junior and NHL
hockey players have told me formed part of their own initiations in
playing hockey in this country.
The photo released this week of stripped prisoners who had been forced to
pile on top of one another as if they were having oral sex shocked most
people.
But it reminded me of the dozens of junior hockey players who told me
about something they all called the sweatbox. This is the tiny washroom at
the back of the bus in which the teams travel. On many teams, it was
required for all rookies, at one time or another, to be stripped and
forced into the sweatbox, only to be taken out one at a time for more
abuse.
One player, who went on to play in the NHL, told me rookies sometimes had
to walk down the aisle of the bus naked, with their hands behind their
heads, while senior players could use any object they wanted – cassette
cases, coat hangers, whatever – to beat their genitals.
He said he was a pretty quiet guy, and wasn't beaten badly, but one
player, who was considered rather mouthy, was beaten until he bled. All
the while, the coach sat at the front of the bus and laughed. That coach
is now in the NHL.
Reading of Iraqi prisoners being sodomized with a chemical light stick or
a broomstick reminded me of the countless numbers of junior players who
told me about the favourite instruments in hockey for sodomizing: a tube
of liniment or a hockey stick.
The similarity between military hazing and hockey initiation became clear
to me when I was researching Crossing the Line. It continues to be
supported by further testimony.
At a recent conference on sport, three men described the abuse they had
encountered in the U.S. military. Another disclosed the abuse he suffered
in junior hockey.
There was little difference.
The former hockey player added that his son, who played on a U.S. hockey
scholarship, dealt with the risk of being abused by taking steroids to
become one of the biggest and, he hoped, most feared players on his team.
For me, junior or NHL hockey teams and military units long ago became
interchangeable. The behaviour both exhibit is the logical progression of
an ideology that equates real men with violence. If women want to be real
men, they have to do it, too, and the violence will ultimately turn sexual
because of the gendered nature of defining power through masculinity in
the first place.
No one likes to talk about the brutal hazing that young soldiers endure,
nor about the macho attitudes that gave rise to the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners. Certainly, few people have bothered to investigate the
connection.
Unfortunately, I found the same thing in Canadian hockey. Deeply
entrenched and sick behaviour has gone unchallenged and uninvestigated for
years.
It may be reassuring for Canadians to know that our national symbol is a
hockey player and not a soldier, but whether a human being is a first-year
junior player or a prisoner of war, there is little difference between
hockey sticks and broomsticks.
Laura Robinson, former national-level skier and cyclist,
is author of Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's
National Sport (1998) and, most recently, Black Tights: Women, Sport and
Sexuality.
Globe and Mail
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040510/COLAURA
10/TPComment/TopStories
hockey & torture
-
Type: discussion
Comments
"whether a human being is a first-year [hockey]
junior player or a prisoner of war, there is little difference"
This is so absurd. I have to imagine that hazing in a junior
hockey camp while perhaps brutal and unpleasant is NOTHING
like the horror endured by prisoners of war… an exisitence
lived moment by moment as the possibility of death is real
and always present.
Given the choice, I'd pick a Canadian hockey camp over Abu Gharib
anyday!!!
Matthew
On Wednesday, May 12, 2004, at 04:33PM, Jim Andrews <[email protected]> wrote:
>Thought I would forward the below, which appeared recently in the Globe and
>Mail from Canada. It points out that any subculture which operates by
>indoctrination via humiliation and abuse of 'its own' will of course operate
>that way on others. It is more or less directed at a Canadian audience to
>point out that the sort of behavior of American soldiers toward Iraqis is
>not particular to the American army but operates in Canada in the
>semi-professional 'junior' leagues of hockey that lead to the NHL. And so it
>does. And has for a long time.
>
>ja
>
>Hockey hazing, Iraqi style"
>
>By LAURA ROBINSON
>
>Laura Robinson, former national-level skier and cyclist, is author of
>Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport
>(1998) and, most recently, Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality.
>
>There is nothing surprising about the charges of prisoner abuse by
>American soldiers in Iraq given the hyper-masculine culture of the U.S.
>military.
>
>In fact, abuse is predictable in any group that defines masculinity
>through power, strength and aggression. That female soldiers took part is
>also predictable. To prove they are "one of the boys" in this subculture,
>women must push the envelope of disgust further than the men would.
>
>The brutal sadomasochistic acts themselves are hardly original. They are
>strongly reminiscent of the initiation rites some soldiers themselves
>report taking place at the start of their military service.
>
>The truth is, they also bear a striking resemblance to what junior and NHL
>hockey players have told me formed part of their own initiations in
>playing hockey in this country.
>
>The photo released this week of stripped prisoners who had been forced to
>pile on top of one another as if they were having oral sex shocked most
>people.
>
>But it reminded me of the dozens of junior hockey players who told me
>about something they all called the sweatbox. This is the tiny washroom at
>the back of the bus in which the teams travel. On many teams, it was
>required for all rookies, at one time or another, to be stripped and
>forced into the sweatbox, only to be taken out one at a time for more
>abuse.
>
>One player, who went on to play in the NHL, told me rookies sometimes had
>to walk down the aisle of the bus naked, with their hands behind their
>heads, while senior players could use any object they wanted – cassette
>cases, coat hangers, whatever – to beat their genitals.
>
>He said he was a pretty quiet guy, and wasn't beaten badly, but one
>player, who was considered rather mouthy, was beaten until he bled. All
>the while, the coach sat at the front of the bus and laughed. That coach
>is now in the NHL.
>
>Reading of Iraqi prisoners being sodomized with a chemical light stick or
>a broomstick reminded me of the countless numbers of junior players who
>told me about the favourite instruments in hockey for sodomizing: a tube
>of liniment or a hockey stick.
>
>The similarity between military hazing and hockey initiation became clear
>to me when I was researching Crossing the Line. It continues to be
>supported by further testimony.
>
>At a recent conference on sport, three men described the abuse they had
>encountered in the U.S. military. Another disclosed the abuse he suffered
>in junior hockey.
>
>There was little difference.
>
>The former hockey player added that his son, who played on a U.S. hockey
>scholarship, dealt with the risk of being abused by taking steroids to
>become one of the biggest and, he hoped, most feared players on his team.
>
>For me, junior or NHL hockey teams and military units long ago became
>interchangeable. The behaviour both exhibit is the logical progression of
>an ideology that equates real men with violence. If women want to be real
>men, they have to do it, too, and the violence will ultimately turn sexual
>because of the gendered nature of defining power through masculinity in
>the first place.
>
>No one likes to talk about the brutal hazing that young soldiers endure,
>nor about the macho attitudes that gave rise to the abuse of Iraqi
>prisoners. Certainly, few people have bothered to investigate the
>connection.
>
>Unfortunately, I found the same thing in Canadian hockey. Deeply
>entrenched and sick behaviour has gone unchallenged and uninvestigated for
>years.
>
>It may be reassuring for Canadians to know that our national symbol is a
>hockey player and not a soldier, but whether a human being is a first-year
>junior player or a prisoner of war, there is little difference between
>hockey sticks and broomsticks.
>
>Laura Robinson, former national-level skier and cyclist,
>is author of Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's
>National Sport (1998) and, most recently, Black Tights: Women, Sport and
>Sexuality.
>
>
>Globe and Mail
>http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040510/COLAURA
>10/TPComment/TopStories
>
>
>+
>-> post: [email protected]
>-> questions: [email protected]
>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>-> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>+
>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>
>
> "whether a human being is a first-year [hockey]
> junior player or a prisoner of war, there is little difference"
>
> This is so absurd. I have to imagine that hazing in a junior
> hockey camp while perhaps brutal and unpleasant is NOTHING
> like the horror endured by prisoners of war… an exisitence
> lived moment by moment as the possibility of death is real
> and always present.
>
> Given the choice, I'd pick a Canadian hockey camp over Abu Gharib
> anyday!!!
>
> Matthew
I think the point, Matthew, is that the 'initiations' in the military are
very similar to those in the hockey camps, what the soldiers do to each
other is similar to what the hockey players do to one another. And it is
sick and violent. And it breeds sickness and violence toward others. The
problem is not 'a few bad apples'; the problem is the deviant nature of the
subculture…'the energy of slaves'.
ja