Three Canadian researchers say that the real tool of oppression is dodgeball. “The message is that it’s okay to hurt or dehumanize the ‘other,’ ” researcher Joy Butler, a professor who studies pedagogy and curriculum development at the University of British Columbia, recently told the Washington Post. The team’s findings, set to be presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences this week in Vancouver, argue that the playground favorite actually “reinforces the five faces of oppression” — which have been classified as exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism and violence by political theorist Iris Marion Young. Researchers are encouraging physical-education teachers to replace the gym staple with “outdoor education, fitness, gymnastics, aquatics.”