MLB Bans Hazing, as Should All of Society

For once, baseball is not stuck in the past

I recently read that the MLB has put into motion a rule that will ban all hazing for rookies in the majors. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Hazing is a mean, dirty, dehumanizing, disgusting, any other bad thing you can think of, a thing that is extremely archaic. Just the idea of hazing alone is quite upsetting. I mean, to demean someone because you are a few years older than someone is so stupid and childish. What has hazing ever proved, except that it is terrible?

There has never been a story about a hazing that was in good fun, or that guys were laughing and cheering each other on when they got hazed. Sure, the goofy hair cut thing, and small stuff like that may be funny for 5 minutes, but after that, why do they make that person continue on with the weird hairdo or clothes? I ask again, what does that accomplish?

The most regular stories we hear about hazing always seem to end terribly. People are put through horrible, horrible things, that can sometimes even lead to death. When I hear these stories, I get both upset and angry. I feel terrible for the person being hazed, for all the embarrassment they have to go through and, in the small case where someone loses their life, I feel horrible for their family. The hazing makes me upset because it is so barbaric. It is such an unnecessary practice that does not prove strength in one and weakness in another. Spoiler alert, if you are older and bigger than someone, you should not have to haze them to prove your strength. You should already be established as someone that is older and bigger. You do not need to shave someone's head or tape them to a wall or, even something as small as, filling their car with popcorn. It is just dumb.

Recently the hazing has gotten really, really awful, especially in sports. Why do athletes feel the need to degrade a fellow athlete that just happens to be younger than them? I ask for a third time, what does this prove?

The main hazing lately seems to be dressing men as women. First off, why is this a hazing tradition? Men dress as women every year for Halloween. It is almost expected. But, especially in current America, this is incredibly disrespectful to men that may identify as female, or females that identify as male. There are a lot of people out there right now that are grappling with their own sexuality and their own personal sex, and pro athletes think it is funny to make rookies dress like females? What a bunch of garbage.

No matter how far we may have come along as a society, we still act as if we live in the 50's or 60's. Just look at the recent election. I'm not going to go into great depth on it, but dumbass people, who will get totally screwed over, voted for an even bigger dumbass, with no government experience, and this monster probably thinks that hazing is hilarious. That alone should be enough for people to be disgusted by the prospect of hazing.

But, for some reason, when the country looks like it is taking a step forward, we take 2 giant steps back. We had a great 8 years of an Obama presidency, and now, we will be the biggest joke of a country in a little over a month when Voldemort takes office. But, at least the MLB is trying to take a step forward and push away from past and bring its game into the present. 

Baseball seems to be trying to get away from its checkered past with this new rule. Major league baseball does not have a solid history when it comes to being ahead of the times. They were one of the last sports to be integrated. It took the MLB forever to hire an African American manager. It also took forever for front offices to hire people that were not white. But, they are at the front of trying to ban hazing, and that is a good first step for them. I really hope this catches on in all major professional sports leagues, and trickles al the way down to high school and even lower levels than that.

Hazing needs to be banned all across everything, in my opinion. There is no place for hazing in the modern US, and yes frat boys, I'm speaking to you morons too. That is one of the main problems with hazing. When I think of it, or hear stories about hazing, I immediately think of fraternities, and that is a damn shame. Frats and sororities, and any other group of people that force you to pay, then haze you, to be in their "club" is stupid and pointless. But, that is just my opinion. 

Good for you though MLB. I love that they are taking a stand against what is the highest form of bullying. Hazing does not belong in sports, or any other form of life for that matter, and I'm glad that people are aiming to put a stop to this nonsense. Let's hope this catches on everywhere.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thinks the second best thing MLB has done this week is get rid of the idiotic "All Star Game" means something garbage. Looking good MLB. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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