Gender-Based Violence Outside The Military

Comments by Dr. Allan English

It would be interesting to see how hockey, which has been lionized by the Canadian Armed Forces over the years (e.g., regimental hockey teams, ball hockey with NHL stars in Afghanistan, and the “star” of the “Party Flight,” Tiger Williams) has influenced CF culture. 

When I coached the fencing team at RMC for 14 years (1982-96) the military athletic staff, including the Athletic Directors, often used hockey an example of the “ideal” sport at RMC because of its toughness and physicality (note: there has never been a women’s hockey team at RMC). It was constantly inferred that fencing was not a “real” sport due to its lack of physicality and the fact that we eventually had as many women as men on the team.

 Fortunately for fencing at RMC, we were winning championships when the hockey team was dead last in the league and this assured our funding as one of the few “winning” teams at RMC at the time (and today as well). We also had the support of a number of senior staff at RMC including a Commandant and Deputy Administrator who were former fencers. The final article on hazing in female sports teams suggests that hazing is more related to the sport than the gender of the team. More to follow on this I’m sure. Allan

Note in the photos how men are demeaned by having them dress as women. This is similar to a story told to one of our classes by a member of the Queen’s men’s hockey team who said that as part of their initiation rookies were told to dress in revealing women’s figure skating costumes and then were hazed by members of the men’s hockey team and senior female members of the figure skating team. Note the differences in the examples of women’s team hazing. 

The hockey story: “Daniel Carcillo becomes latest NHLer to allege abusive coaching in hockey”: https://nationalpost.com/sports/daniel-carcillo-becomes-latest-nhler-to-speak-about-alleged-abusive-coaching-in-hockey

  

A vivid example of how abusive behaviour and sexual assault are normalized in a culture: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/carcillo-hazing-hockey-culture-ohl-abuse-1.4922623

When it comes to hazing, female athletes are just as vulnerable: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/when-it-comes-to-hazing-female-athletes-are-just-as-vulnerable-1.4919659