When we see her, what do we see? Gender norms and hockey photography

Co-authored by Brett Pardy and Courtney Szto I (Courtney) was looking for a picture of Hilary Knight to include in my lecture slides and this is what I found when I went to Google images: These are all perfectly fine photos but I wanted one of Knight playing hockey because the other photos on the…

Is Hockey Barbie a Feminist Barbie?

Last year, Tim Horton’s worked with the toy conglomerate, Mattel, to roll out “a hockey-themed Barbie as part of a charitable initiative aimed at getting girls involved in the sport.” There was only supposed to be one doll — a white doll. But, in light of…realization that racism is still a thing, Tim Horton’s asked…

How Nationalism + Masculinity Affect Women’s Hockey

Every four years, hockey fans in Canada and the United States gather around their televisions and in bars to cheer on this generation’s best rivalry on ice: the US women’s national ice hockey team versus the Canadian national women’s team. The Pyeongchang final drew almost 3 million viewers (for a midnight start) in the United…

A Day in the Life of Hockey Playing Moms

Hockey moms represent an integral pillar of hockey culture. So much so that in Canada there is a website called “Canadian Hockey Moms” dedicated to connecting and supporting all the rink moms. Gongshow apparel has even written an open letter to hockey moms expressing, “Thank you for giving us that extra 10 minutes on the…

Male Entitlement at the Rink

Privilege operates all the time and often in seemingly innocuous ways. I went to a stick n’puck session recently with a friend and I had to leave earlier than her. Stick n’puck sessions are usually co-ed; translation: 90-100% men. Due to the lack of women that usually show up to stick n’puck sessions, rinks don’t always delineate…

Things We Don’t Talk About: Residential Schools and hockey

Indian Residential Schools are a dark part of Canada’s history; it is a fact that we would probably prefer be swept under the rug.  The history of American slavery continues to be part of everyday vernacular (whether popular or not), yet residential schools and Canadian settlement really aren’t talked about. It wasn’t something that I learned about…

Camouflage jerseys: In support of, what exactly?

*Cross posted on The Rabbit Hole. I have noticed that the new National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) has been showing a lot of military appreciation on its Twitter feed recently. If you like women’s hockey and supporting the troops, it seems they have a jersey for you: I wrote a piece in 2012 about the increasing…