Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I intend to explore women in hockey and the media’s treatment of them. This includes sportswriters on all levels, ice girls, matters and subjects of domestic violence and sexual allegations (especially in this day and age) - the roles they are subjected to, the scrutiny, and what can and should be done about it. I plan to interview both “beat” sports reporters as well as bloggers/columnists for smaller websites (team specific and general hockey) although my  main focus will be on females on the lower circuit of hockey coverage.

Sports media in general is a severely male dominated profession and hockey is a pretty much a big ol’ boys club which has a tendency to spill over into its media coverage. Attitude towards women goes a long way from the ice where ice girls are mostly subjected to wearing very revealing clothing in freezing temperatures to women who write about hockey, even legitimate sportswriters, who are told that they don’t know anything about the sport and to just shut up. (Yes, the latter happens with men too but it takes on a more misogynistic and perversive tone when women are the subject.)  Fans on social media are harassed and then slut shamed (for no reason) all because they chose to open their mouths about inappropriate behavior when all they wanted to do was talk hockey. Even management’s attitudes and acceptance of women in their offices has an impact ultimately on how women are embraced into the innerworkings of the sport.

On my first blog post, I added a graphic of how to tell the difference between “fans” and “puck bunnies.” You get this picture again, plus a bonus! 

This is something that comes up a whole lot and it will be something I touch on as well. The sexism against the female fans, many times even from female fans, is what spurs on this hesitation for women to pursue a career in sports journalism. The idea that women aren’t serious enough about the sport is something that constantly comes into question. From my own experience, I’ve had to name the entire roster of my favorite team but it was okay that the guy I was talking to didn’t know anyone but the two most well known (at the time) players on his “favorite” team (NY Rangers) at the time.

What I want to do is continue to call attention to this problem and find ways to help break down the barrier. Women in hockey operations/management are scarce. Women’s hockey is exciting to watch but has little professional future. The women who cover the games, discuss statistics, and the general goings on around the league - how far they’ve come into breaking in and how much farther there is to go. And of course, the fans of the game - the women who are routinely subjected to dated mentality and sexual harassment on social media and shut down, shouted over, and left with a disgusted “why am I still supporting this?” taste in their mouths. There’s a reason we stay - because we hope we can change it. And hopefully this project will shed some light on how to do that.