For Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, “locker-room talk” is more than just a part of sports. Dr. MacDonald is a post-doctorate researcher at Saint Mary’s University. Her research looks at the attitudes and behaviours of men’s ice hockey players and the impact they have on homophobia, gender and sexuality.
Dr. Cheryl MacDonald was featured on CTV News.
In late November, the SMU Centre for the Study of Sport and Health invited Dr. MacDonald to give the final presentation of the centre’s fall speaker series. She spoke to a group at the Homberg Centre about her research on men’s hockey culture. She talked about issues such as toxic masculinity, sexism and homophobia. She says that while progress is being made with younger generations of hockey players, there is still work to be done.
“What has been consistently happening in my work, whether it’s my research or my activism, is that I go in talking about homophobia or LGBTQ+ issues and leave talking about sexism. Every single time it amazes me that, for some reason, this is still a problem,” she says.
Dr. MacDonald also spoke on divisiveness within hockey; something that she says can be seen clearly after the firing of Don Cherry earlier in November.
“I don’t think we have a [singular] hockey community anymore. I think we have a bunch of small ones because not everyone can get along within it,” she says. “A lot of the most meaningful education comes from just talking to people and understanding them and, in the hockey community right now, I’m seeing a lot of people who are simply not taking the time to do that.”
Dr. MacDonald wrapped up by questioning how sexism, toxic masculinity and homophobia can continue to be addressed within a community that is becoming increasingly divided.
“In the midst of all of these divisions and disagreements, and where it is so easy to just shut down and shut one another out, how are we supposed to educate male youth ice hockey players?”
The fall speaker series was put on by the Saint Mary’s Centre for the Study of Sport and Health during November. The three-part series focused on hockey and topics included sport science, sport photography, and gender and sexuality education in sports.