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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 22, 2024

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Jokes are not a problem, pranks aren't a problem and you even noted yourself that the misogyny and homophobia is light hearted, which in a sane world would be another way of saying "not a problem". And then we get the kicker - repressed homoeroticism. No action involved is an issue, but there are problematic thoughts involved.

Yeah I don't think a lot of it is a problem. I'm not one to start an Inquisition over some "problematic" jokes or whatever. But when you're say, having all the veterans take turns pissing on cookies that you then force the rookies to eat, or you have all the veterans take turns teabagging the rookies, or you force the rookies to run a gauntlet of towel-whipping while nude... there's a point where this crosses a line into both homoeroticism and cruelty

I have a hard time believing the "cum on a cookie" myth has much, if any, basis in reality. People have been telling that story (always about some other team or sport, or sometimes somebody else's frat) for decades and I've never heard of anyone with first hand experience. It's possible I've lived in a bubble and different cultures exist with different norms, but this is so far removed from my and my acquaintances' personal experiences that I just don't really buy it as a serious, widespread problem.

Yes, serious, sometimes crossing into abusive hazing happens, but it's much more rare than you'd think just going off the urban legends and sensationalized news stories. So many of these "homoerotic sexual abuse" stories come across like cope or fetish literature by women and nerdy wordcels who have never actually set foot in a male locker room.

None of these are myths entirely and I've experienced all of them in some form, in multiple sports, clubs, countries and continents.

What's not common is the kind of over the top ritualised stuff described in the press, which as you say come off as fetish fan fiction.

It's not the entire team pissing on someone, it's just someone pissing on another guy in the shower.

It's not forcing a rookie to eat buns with cum on/in them, it's tricking them to do it.

It's not the entire team teabagging someone, it's a bunch of guys holding someone down who is then tea bagged by one guy (or doing it while they're sleeping)

Forcing some rookie to run a towel whipping gauntlet naked is par for the course though. People beating each other or games where you get to beat someone is very common, just like it is in ~middle school.

Harsher stuff can of course happen but it's rare.

CHL hazing is notoriously wild. Former Philidelphia Flyer Dan Carcillo's class action lawsuit against the CHL alleges rookies in his CHL team, Sarnia, routinely being urinated on or beaten while naked.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/carcillos-former-teammates-back-up-hazing-and-sexual-assault-allegations

Jesus, thats pretty grim. Fair enough, guess I'm more sheltered than I thought.