'Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code About Hockey
Montana Fissel Blog
post 1
24 September 2014
In
the article 'Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code Michael Kimmel talks about the
attitude, values, and traits that make up what it means to be a "man"
in American culture (Kimmel 1). Growing up a guy you are always told to
"suck it up" and told to be manly and not to show emotion. To be a
man there are four rules: no sissy stuff, being successful, reliable, and being
edgy (Kimmel 2). These ideas were consistently being told to men by men to give
them the idea of what masculinity looks like (Kimmel 3). The biggest insult to
a man is emasculating him. So when men go about their day they try to do things
that make them seem masculine and avoid things that do not. Men then try to
walk, talk, and act in a way that protects them from the gay stereotype (Kimmel
4). Kimmel says in the "Be a Man" box that homosexuality signals that
you are weak and a failure. And Men completely fear this idea of being weak.
But not all guys want to be in the box (Kimmel 5). But if you step out you are
instantly criticized (Kimmel 6). So since biologically we have testosterone
that all the theories of being a man are encoded into us and we cannot escape
the “Guy Code” (Kimmel 7).
Reading this article made me think
about how this is being displayed around me in my own life. The first thing I thought
of was sports, more specifically the sport of hockey. So my research questions:
What gender
issues does hockey have? Is hockey a gender specific sport? Answering
these help me find out how the “Guy Code” is incorporated in hockey.
In the research my group conducted we found an article
from the University
of Maine, written by Tyler Bilton that explains a gender issue in hockey.
Bilton in his article talks about how hockey is identified with being violent
and that it always has been portrayed that way. But it is inherent to the sport. Media
constructs this idea and makes men’s hockey hegemonic masculine. Portraying the
idea of violence forming a masculine identity for hockey around the world (Bilton1).
Boltin says:
Hockey is helping give women in Turkey
confidence while also altering the traditional identity of femininity. In order
for a new male identity to emerge, a new male gaze that recognizes that women
are equal and can play hockey is required. This new male gaze is being formed
already due to the shift in media coverage of women’s hockey and the
participation of women in ice hockey. And from that new male gaze there are
already examples of this new male identity emerging, providing hope for
continued growth. (Boltin 1)
Similar to what Boltin said, my
group found another article. However it is on the gender specifics of hockey. Author’s
Gilenstam, K., Karp, S., & Henriksson-Larsen, K. who wrote: Gender in ice
hockey: women in a male territory. Gilenstam,
Karp, & Henriksson-Larsen said:
Ice hockey is undeniably a very
tough sport. In North America some
consider it to be a “flag carrier” for masculinity as it takes many skills
deemed masculine to be a top athlete in the sport. These skills include explosive strength,
aggressiveness, and rough body contact.
In Canada women’s ice hockey is thought to be superior to men’s ice
hockey. It is promoted that the women
play with more speed and finesse and less violence. However, female ice hockey players describe
their love for the game for almost the same reasons as male ice hockey
players. They love to exert their
physical power to the limit, as well as the physical contact of the game. Female hockey players take it one step
further when they state that they feel refreshed that they can enjoy the
physical aspect of the game which is accepted more widely on the ice than it is
in society. (Gilenstam, Karp, & Henriksson-Larsen, 2007)
I now timidly say that I have found the answer to my
questions. I found a gender issue in hockey in the sense that media portrays
the idea of violence making it a very masculine sport. Hockey is considered a
gender specific sport in some cultures but it is slowly changing worldwide. Becoming
less of a masculine sport will playing hockey be against the 'Bros Before Hos':
The Guy Code? I don’t think it will. I think The Guy Code has to be changed a
little in the sense that females are capable to be masculine also. So men will
not be less masculine, rather women are becoming less feminine.
Works
Cited
Bilton,
Tyler, "An examination of hockey: identity, gender construction, hegemonic
masculinity, women's hockey, and Turkey" (2013). Electronic Theses and
Dissertations. Paper 1896.
Gilenstam,
K., Karp, S., & Henriksson-Larsen, K. (2007). Gender in ice hockey: women
in a male territory. Scandinavian Journal of
Medicine and Science in Sports , 235-249. http://www.unicommons.com/node/22156
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