Gender theory examines how socially constructed norms, roles, and expectations around gender are produced, reinforced, and maintained within society (Connell 2005). This theory is relevant for understanding the presence and reinforcement of hegemonic masculinity within the culture of hockey. As discussed in the literature review, hockey has historically been a site for upholding traditional masculine gender norms of aggression, dominance, and physicality. The violence and fighting that occurs can be seen as performances and expressions of a hegemonic form of masculinity (Connell 2005). Using the perspective of gender theory can help analyze how masculine gender norms are produced, reproduced, and challenged or reinforced through the comments on hockey fights and the acceptance of the on-ice violence itself.
Performance theory views human behavior and actions as performance. This theory posits that our behaviors, language, and expressions are conscious or unconscious “acts” shaped by social norms and contexts(Goffman 1959). This “performativity” is extremely identifiable within one’s actions within the context of their gender (Butler 1988). Fighting and violence in hockey could be viewed through this lens as types of gendered performances tied to the sport’s aggressive masculine culture. Within this analysis performance theory can shed light on how the comments constitute performances reinforcing or resisting normative masculine ideals. It can also analyze how the hockey fights themselves represent culturally-scripted performances of an idealized, hegemonic masculine identity within the sport’s cultural context.
Together, gender theory and performance theory provide a framework for critically examining the interplay of gender norms, masculine ideals, and their expression through fighting in hockey as well as the discourses surrounding it from fans online. This combined perspective illuminates how dominant conceptions of masculinity are produced and embodied through performances on the ice and in digital fan spaces.