Argumentative Essay: Women's Hockey In Canada

When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;

which shaped how the sport would be gendered. Many important steps led to the legitimization of women’s hockey but the key moment for the sport was its addition to the Olympic Games.

Hockey began as a ‘gentlemanly’ sport played by men in universities. As it grew in popularity it continued to be dominated by men, and aspects such as physicality and aggression were added. Violence became an important aspect for the popularity in watching hockey. This worked against the expansion of women playing because playing as the men did at this time was seen as unladylike and dangerous to the fragile gender. Many women such as Isobel Stanley worked against these ideas. In the late 19th century it was only just being accepted for women to ride bicycles. But according to Coast to Coast there are records of women playing informal games as early as the late 1880s, not long after men had started playing. Before WWI women had little opportunity to engage in sports due to the ideas of femininity. Opportunities before this time were generally only for women in colleges and universities. However, once the war came more and more women moved to cities looking for employment and also searched for different forms of entertainment. In 1920, the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) was formed and according to Coast to Coast their contribution to women’s hockey moved the game closer to legitimization. The LOHA sought the recognition that women were also important participants in ‘Canada’s game’. While a governing body for women’s hockey was an important step, the game was not yet seen as legitimate. In 1923 there was a vote at a Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) meeting for whether or not women’s hockey should be officially recognized and the majority vote said no. From this point on there were more ups and downs in the popularity and acceptance of women’s hockey. For example, the Preston Rivulettes competed in the LOHA for 10 years and dominated, showing that women could excel at the sport. However, they still had challenges with ice time since men were the clear priority. Times of increased acceptance were seen such as during the 1960s and 70s in the Second Wave of Feminism, and times of decreased acceptance were seen such as the lack of participation during and after WWII.
The way to show that a sport is truly legitimate is its acceptance on the world stage.

In 1990 women’s hockey had its first World Championship. Team Canada was made to wear pink jerseys as described in Hockey: A People’s History which showed a clear difference in the opinions of men playing versus women, as the women did not get to wear the red and white that the men wore to represent their country. However, this was still an important step. Men’s hockey was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1920. Women’s hockey was not included until 1998. It took 78 years for female hockey players to get to the same level on an international scale that men had been welcomed to. Olympic competition is arguably the best of the best; as countries send their most successful athletes to compete against the best from countries that they may not have the opportunity to play against in regular competition. While it may have taken many years, the introduction of women’s hockey into the Olympics was a clear display of the legitimization of the game. Thanks to the addition, many girls in Canada and around the world have had more exposure to women playing hockey. Especially for Canadian’s, seeing Team Canada dominate so frequently on the world stage has helped the growth of the game for women and has helped with the acceptance of female

athletes.
There is still an obvious discrepancy between the views on men’s hockey versus the views on women’s. For example, men have been competing as professionals in the NHL since the league started in 1917. There is no equivalent to the NHL for women in terms of recognition and interest or of salaries. In 1992 Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play in the NHL; and no woman has played in it since. She played as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning for a period in a preseason game, as a way to create some excitement about the new team. This ‘event’ helped to inspire more girls to join hockey and helped change ideas about what women can accomplish in the sport. This is similar to the Olympics of recent years where great players such as Hayley Wickenheiser have shown that hockey is not just something that can be dominated by men, but it is a sport that people can excel at no matter their gender. Also, a clear different between the men’s game and the women’s game is that body checking is still not allowed in women’s hockey; a decision that was made many years ago by men. While men and women still are not seen as the same caliber by all, certainly important events such as these have helped to promote women in hockey and it will continue to grow in legitimacy and popularity.