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kiki_engAgh, I wasn't going to post about this, but then Shannon Szabados tended net at the Oilers' practice today, which you maybe already know if you're into hockey or if you follow me on tumblr, in which case you might have noticed that in February my tumblr sort of turned into a hockey blog. I mean, I posted things that weren't hockey, but there was also a lot of hockey and all my tumblr posts today have been hockey, and hockeyyyyyyy. Agh.
Because, look, I didn't grow up with hockey - not the way other kids did. I never played hockey*, I can probably count the number of games I watched before I was eighteen on one hand. Hockey's basically just been background noise my whole life and when I actually tuned into the Stanley Cup finals, because I'd read a couple fics because soulbonding or something, I got hit with Don Cherry and the Vancouver riot and the lead up to the Vancouver riot, and just- no.
*ice hockey
I have feelings about violence in hockey; I don't like it. So when hockey fandom exploded and then I tried watching hockey again, that also failed because of the fights, and I didn't grow up with hockey but I did grow up with a song about violence in the NHL - "and as the voice of Foster Hewitt tells the listeners how we do it, once more for the viewers, let's have another brawl"* - and the NHL is just, not something I'm going to connect to, I do not think. (I tried.)
*Hockey Night in Canada by The Brothers-in-Law
I mean, I am pretty fond of the sparkly-bits-only tumblr version provided by fandom, but there are bits of the NHL that make me deeply unhappy and one of them is how male-dominated that space is and the by-products of that, so, women playing hockey is nice.
This February I was doing my usual Femslash February thing where I try to make all of my fannish stuff about women and their relationships with each other and the Olympics were a thing that happened, and there was a lot of women's hockey going around on tumblr, and, I don't know, I think I got mesmerised by the look of a well-taken hockey photograph - the contrast of a uniform on bright white ice - and the look of eyeliner on a face framed by a helmet - and female camaraderie - and. And then I found myself looking through hockey tags and getting pissed at people whining about when men's hockey would start up again, and providingreadbystarlight with unlooked for trivia about early 20th century women's hockey, and earlier tonight I was reblogging stuff about Szabados and I added a correction on a post, and I am really into hockey now! Apparently!
Yeah, I mean, I still do not feel like I know a lot about hockey but it is apparently a thing that I am sort of into, these days. One of the things I like about women's hockey is that there's less contact and less violence. I'm really appreciative of that, and I've got an emotional investment in women's hockey in a way that I don't with men's hockey, because the athleticism of women is not encouraged the way the athleticism of men is, because it is a thing that is questioned and needs support, I support it.
So, yeah. I have lots of feelings about hockey now. There's not a lot of fandom around the women's end of Hockey RPF, unsurprisingly, so I'm not engaging with it the same way I do with the men's end. With the men's stuff it's like yes, I would like to read 50K about Malkin and Crosby being ridiculously domestic together, thank you and with the women's stuff it's like Did you see that ref? Why aren't we talking about that ref? We need to talk about that ref. and yes, please, keep athlete-speaking at me, and, oh, you are a dork and there's a lot more engagement with primary source materials and I have a lot of feelings.
This has been a post about feelings? (Feelings, I has them.)
Because, look, I didn't grow up with hockey - not the way other kids did. I never played hockey*, I can probably count the number of games I watched before I was eighteen on one hand. Hockey's basically just been background noise my whole life and when I actually tuned into the Stanley Cup finals, because I'd read a couple fics because soulbonding or something, I got hit with Don Cherry and the Vancouver riot and the lead up to the Vancouver riot, and just- no.
*ice hockey
I have feelings about violence in hockey; I don't like it. So when hockey fandom exploded and then I tried watching hockey again, that also failed because of the fights, and I didn't grow up with hockey but I did grow up with a song about violence in the NHL - "and as the voice of Foster Hewitt tells the listeners how we do it, once more for the viewers, let's have another brawl"* - and the NHL is just, not something I'm going to connect to, I do not think. (I tried.)
*Hockey Night in Canada by The Brothers-in-Law
I mean, I am pretty fond of the sparkly-bits-only tumblr version provided by fandom, but there are bits of the NHL that make me deeply unhappy and one of them is how male-dominated that space is and the by-products of that, so, women playing hockey is nice.
This February I was doing my usual Femslash February thing where I try to make all of my fannish stuff about women and their relationships with each other and the Olympics were a thing that happened, and there was a lot of women's hockey going around on tumblr, and, I don't know, I think I got mesmerised by the look of a well-taken hockey photograph - the contrast of a uniform on bright white ice - and the look of eyeliner on a face framed by a helmet - and female camaraderie - and. And then I found myself looking through hockey tags and getting pissed at people whining about when men's hockey would start up again, and providing
readbystarlight with unlooked for trivia about early 20th century women's hockey, and earlier tonight I was reblogging stuff about Szabados and I added a correction on a post, and I am really into hockey now! Apparently!Yeah, I mean, I still do not feel like I know a lot about hockey but it is apparently a thing that I am sort of into, these days. One of the things I like about women's hockey is that there's less contact and less violence. I'm really appreciative of that, and I've got an emotional investment in women's hockey in a way that I don't with men's hockey, because the athleticism of women is not encouraged the way the athleticism of men is, because it is a thing that is questioned and needs support, I support it.
So, yeah. I have lots of feelings about hockey now. There's not a lot of fandom around the women's end of Hockey RPF, unsurprisingly, so I'm not engaging with it the same way I do with the men's end. With the men's stuff it's like yes, I would like to read 50K about Malkin and Crosby being ridiculously domestic together, thank you and with the women's stuff it's like Did you see that ref? Why aren't we talking about that ref? We need to talk about that ref. and yes, please, keep athlete-speaking at me, and, oh, you are a dork and there's a lot more engagement with primary source materials and I have a lot of feelings.
This has been a post about feelings? (Feelings, I has them.)
