So I just sent the following letter to no less than 23 anthropologists and sociologists at the University of Toronto, the University of Michigan, Dalhousie University, and Simon Fraser University. I hope some of them bite, especially the one I sent to my sports anthropology idol at SFU:
Subject: Doctoral Studies in Anthropology at [Name of University]
Dear Professor:
I am currently completing the second year of my two-year MA Anthropology thesis program at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Ontario. I am considering applying to your university in order to study for my PhD, beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year, and I wonder if you would be interested in overseeing a project such as mine. I noticed, while looking through a list of faculty, that some of your interests match mine, to a certain extent.
I am interested in issues of masculinity and power in professional sports, and my specific focus is on the National Hockey League and its feeder programs.
Hockey is Canada’s national game, and its history and evolution have inextricably woven themselves into the Canadian ideology. Hockey victories are a matter of national pride; failures can be blamed on the problems of this complex sport.
There are many social problems, for example, associated with the socialization and professionalization of young hockey players. Boys as young as 12 years are shipped far away from home to train to be a pro the moment they display the potential to make it to the big leagues. This separation at a young age when boys are especially insecure about their identities and changing physiques results in severe homesickness in many cases. Young players combat this situation by identifying with the male-oriented, mother-absent environment of the locker room. A male coach presides as resident patriarch, and a dangerous hierarchy exists among players wherein the younger and more vulnerable are picked on and forced to conform to the often sadistic and misogynistic ideologies that exist in this environment.
The locker room has become a breeding ground for anti-social and deviant behaviour in young men. Athletes in male team sports, especially hockey and gridiron football, have been known to be more violent and more likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, teammates, and women. Recent court cases have shown that, once these socialized players become coaches themselves, they propagate this behaviour further, and, in some cases, their abuse of players has been seen as a criminal activity.
It is my hypothesis that the gradual re-introduction of women into the professional hockey system, starting in the pee-wee levels and moving towards the NHL as each cohort advances, will put a stop to the majority of this aberrant behaviour. Constant socialization with women in positions of authority and otherwise will enable young players to balance their ideas of masculinity and femininity, and will help to change how they behave towards other people, either male or female.
It is a rather complicated idea, and requires further explanation than can be delivered in a single email. I do hope, however, that I have given you enough information to consider my proposal. I look forward to being given the opportunity to outline my project and my passion for this field in greater detail.
Please take your time in considering this request, and thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Alison Bell
allythebell@gmail.com