It’s no secret that being a journalist is a tough career to pursue. Being a female sports journalist in a male-dominated field, no pun intended, might be my greatest challenge yet.

For the last three months, I’ve had the opportunity to cover VIU’s Mariners upcoming season in all categories, watch the Mariners in their first hockey game back on the ice, and witness VIU’s Women’s soccer team conquer the Douglas College Royals a few weeks ago. 

I fell in love as I worked with the teams and took on the position to write game recaps for the VIU Mariners Hockey team and manage their social media page.

I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to be immersed in my biggest passion, and the team members for each sport have welcomed me in.

But as a woman in a male-dominated field, it can be frustrating when you’re called a ‘Puck Bunny’ while you’re trying to work.

‘Puck Bunny’ is used to describe women who primarily enjoy watching hockey with the end goal of going home with one of the players.

I was called this term for the first time last semester while taking my first journalism class. As a student, I was given free admission to interview anybody I wanted and create an enticing article from it.

I decided to interview the VIU Hockey team to inquire about their pre and post game superstitions.

I was beaming about this article as it combined my interest in hockey with the opportunity to be labelled a real journalist, while also talking to the players about more than just how it felt to win or lose. The players were engaged throughout each interview, and the article turned out to be an all-time favourite of mine. 

After the interview, I was boasting about my article to my friends and anyone in my vicinity when a man scoffed.

“Puck Bunny,” he muttered.

~ 

As a Creative Writing Student and Social Media Manager for The Nav, Emily Brandstaetter also feels the weight of sexism in the journalism field. 

“It can be really tough sometimes interviewing people or engaging with people as a woman in a male-dominated space because there is a lack of respect,” she says.

Someone once remarked that I was only showing an interest in sports because I was trying to find a boyfriend. I was merely “playing the field,” they’d said, insisting I was a physical distraction to the team.

The first question most people ask me when I mention the hockey team is how many of the team members am I currently talking to.

The answer? All of them—it’s my job as a journalist and as a representative of their team. I know they’re trying to egg me on, but I refuse to give them any answer that allows them to disparage me. 

“I feel that it’s empowering being a woman in journalism,” Brandstaetter says, “because in an industry like sports or politics or careers where it can be male-dominated … women can be seen as a statement in different ways.”

Brandstaetter shares the frustration for the stigmatism surrounding women. “There’s a tone that undermines our perspectives or opinions as women in the industry and society alone,” she adds. We’re assumed to not know enough about the subject being discussed and are dismissed.

Fellow journalism student Noelle Suzuki shares some personal challenges she has faced as a woman who loves to write about feminine beauty.

“When I was younger, I [started] getting into magazines, whether it was Sparks or Highlights, and I loved Cosmopolitan,” Suzuki says. She enjoyed reading about women, fashion, and beauty products.

“I find that [when] trying to be a female journalist, it’s hard to talk about things that are feminine because people won’t take you seriously and [they think] women are only good for beauty and aesthetics,” she says.

Sports are considered to be a ‘masculine’ topic. However, when my fellow female journalists and I want to write about feminine topics, our work is categorized as ‘too girly’ or non-essential material.

It seems to me that we’re stuck in a penalty box and the referees can’t even decide what we’re “allowed” to write about.

“See how people react when a female journalist does a sports segment,” Suzuki says. “[They assume], ‘Oh, that’s not going to be very good,’ but why not? We are intelligent beings and able to write awesome things.” 

A woman’s capability—and the underestimation of it—has been a topic of conversation for many years. We have only now seen the first female coach in history for an NHL hockey team. Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell has made waves in the hockey industry and has become my personal inspiration. 

When writing game recaps for the VIU Mariners hockey team, I get asked if I know what I’m talking about—never about how the game went or about my work.

After a road trip with the hockey team down to Victoria to play the UVIC Vikes, I was personally questioned about my expertise on the sport by a male peer. He asked why my role with the team even existed. I was speechless, as I had thought up until that moment, that my job was important to the team. 

As much as I want to be able to brush these comments off, they stick with me. I question my own worth as a sports journalist—don’t I deserve to work amongst the teams?

Instead, I use these accusations to fuel my inner fire and continue to do my work with my head held high. 

Even though I have faced these roadblocks, I continue to love my job and my work with the hockey team. I get excited to attend each game, talk with the players, and write a piece I am passionate about. I love being immersed in the world of journalism and sports. I feel lucky for all of the opportunities I have been given and will continue to thrive in. 

I am a woman, and I like sports, but I am also a woman who likes makeup, shopping, and hair accessories. I am a woman, Noelle Suzuki and Emily Brandstaetter are women, and we can like both.