All the men I know were disgusted by the latest article by journalist Martin Leclerc on the degrading initiations suffered by hockey players in the junior ranks at the hands of “veterans” who thought they were allowed everything. All the men I know.
All men except you…
You who find an obvious pride in being part of a strong, virile minority.
You who, by your mentality Slapshotpretend that there have always been initiations and that there is nothing wrong with them.
You who, for a reason that totally escapes me, feel attacked, hurt in the depths of your masculinity because a journalist strongly denounces these initiations which are anything but healthy and inclusive.
But why is it normal in your eyes to welcome a rookie to a sports team while absolutely wanting to hurt him? How does it feel to annihilate his dignity, his pride to join a team, to wear the jersey and to be able to play? How is it “man” to torment him like this? To reach such a level of wickedness?
Why do you pay lip service to the fact that people in positions of authority, that is to say coaches and general managers who witnessed these sinister initiations, preferred to laugh rather than intervene?
Masculinity…
Why, finally, do you consider it normal for men to behave like this? So that’s masculinity in your eyes? Humiliate, break, abuse, sometimes rape (that’s the right term to talk about a hockey stick that you force into someone else’s anus), destroy? Why do you find this funny? Why do you turn against us who find these initiations barbaric, on the pretext that we have been doing this for years? What a strong argument… Sorry for you, but that has to change.
Toxic masculinity needs to end once and for all because that’s what it’s all about. Who will have the courage, among the leaders, among the decision-makers in sport, to denounce the initiations, to punish those who have indulged in these practices and those who have approved without saying anything? Who will have the courage to take the necessary measures? Who will have the will to do everything so that this does not happen again?
You can be welcomed into an organization by focusing on its values and its history, by making newcomers feel that they are accepted, that they are a safe bet for the team. That’s what real men do in normal times…