A video featuring the UBC women’s hockey team has drawn a great deal of attention over the past week.
Titled “Stupid Questions Female Hockey Players Get Asked," the video mocks people’s ignorance about women’s sports. What started as an assignment for T-Bird defenceman Kirsten Toth’s creative writing course has turned into a viral Youtube video, which now has over 115,000 views.
“[Kirsten] came up with the idea and she kind of asked us to be honest in our answers and share our experience,” said Emily O’Neill, who plays forward for the women’s hockey team. “I think it’s brought a lot of light to some more serious issues surrounding it. But at the time, when we were creating the video, it was really just to be honest and talk with humour about questions that we have been sincerely asked.”
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O’Neill stated that she has personally been asked some of these dumbfounded questions throughout her playing career.
“There’s definitely a lack of knowledge surrounding the women’s side of the game,” said O’Neill. “It’s more annoying than anything that people just kind of expect a double standard when there isn’t a whole lot of a double standard anyways.”
Beyond ice hockey, Toth’s project has also caught the attention of other female athletes on campus, including volleyball player Alissa Coulter.
“I thought [the video] was a really cool way of showcasing female sports,” said Coulter. “Especially our UBC Athletics — we’re such an awesome, successful group of women.”
Coulter said that she could relate to the hockey players in the video seeing as she has been asked some “stupid questions” in the past such as, “Why do you high five so much?” as well as questions about her gear.
“There are some people who don’t take our sport seriously all the time,” said Coulter. “But we’re a competitive group and a lot of people don’t realize that until they come watch us play.”
Field hockey player Katrina Davis also expressed her support for the video.
“As a female athlete myself ... [I thought] it was awesome,” said Davis. “They’re probably just wanting to raise awareness that some people ask stupid questions like that ... it gets annoying after a while.”
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