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i really really really really loved HR. one of my favorite shows i’ve ever seen and it’s brought me to tears multiple times.

but i’m also on tiktok a lot, and i keep seeing women in comment sections of REAL NHL hockey talking about “oh is this when they kiss” or “i don’t even go here but they’re def fucking”

don’t even get me started on willmack. and the million other ships and edits of REAL PEOPLE.

i think my biggest issue is that women are automatically already puck bunnies or fake fans inherently based on the fact that we are women. but i have to say that i am not optimistic about our reputation if this behavior continues much longer.

at the end of the day, athletes are people as well as entertainers. and just because they’re predominately, often exclusively, men, that doesn’t invalidate the severity or the invasive nature of the frankly horrifying rampant sexualization.

and the NHL is CRAZY homophobic, not just as an organization, but as a culture, too. it’s bred into boys in high schools, at the juniors, all levels of professional hockey. they are systematically protected because they bring in money to their organizations. and that needs to change, fucking obviously.

but the way to make this league more inclusive and accepting is not by making ship edits of teenagers who are, as far as we know, just friends. it’s also not made more accepting by retaliatory sexualization.

it is absolutely horrific to grow up as a woman in society today, where there’s constantly eyes on you telling you what’s right and what’s wrong. holding any amount of fame comes with even more speculation and commentary on your private life, for all people but i’m not going to pretend like it’s equal for cis men. we know this, we grow up knowing this, it’s almost intrinsic. and for some reason, female athletes get an even shorter end of the stick somehow.

so yes, it might make you feel better to go to hockey game with a gross comment on your sign because you think two nineteen year olds are fucking in secret. but how does that actually help anyone?

and it feels like we never learn. we continue to make this mistake. it is not our business to know such an intensely personal thing about extremely young men, even more so considering the context of their JOB being known for a lack of acceptance and diversity.

maybe some hockey players are fucking. or maybe they’re really good friends. or maybe we’re all on a big floating rock and have gained way more access to the private lives of people we don’t actually know in a very short amount of time and now feel completely entitled to knowing everything about everyone.