Representation

 

Women and Hockey

Week 3 Post 1

Me on the National Women's Hockey League Facebook a few years ago :)

Representation:

Representation is often known as an image of something. This is to imply a visual component to this act. In terms of minority groups, such as women, people of color, all non-normative sexualities, the issue of representation is one that many film theorists and filmmaker’s struggle to contend with.

To reflect on this, after researching and recognizing that this is a struggle for filmmakers, I wanted to focus a lot on this aspect.

For minorities, representation relies on the roles of size and power. The size of a minority group is an important component that plays a role in shaping the experiences of minority group members.
I learned that when describing the representation of characters in a film, an important factor is to make a specific and detailed reference to production elements, like camera techniques, acting, mise-en-scene, editing, lighting, and sound, all adding to character development. I reflected on this in a previous posting.

I found a comparison to the opening sequence of The Dark Knight; director Christopher Nolan uses a number of techniques to establish The Joker as particularly villainous. In the early part of this sequence, dialogue is used to establish The Joker before he appears onscreen. In my film, by establishing a rink full of boys, they will appear as dominant in the sport.

Women and Hockey:

The first game of women's hockey in the United States was recorded around 1920. The period of women's hockey history in North America had peaked in the 1930s, which soon disappeared with World War II. Ice hockey was seen as a men-only sport in the post-war era.

Ice hockey is now a sport for everyone. In fact, more and more female players have joined the game in the past two decades and numbers are still increasing. Between the years of 2007 and 2018, the number of registers female players in the world had gone from 156,665 to 205,674. Women's teams can be found in North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Latin America.

Girls' hockey is one of the fastest-growing youth sports in the United States. In 2018-2019, almost 83,000 girls and women had participated in the sport. Girls' hockey has increased about 34% in the past 10 years. 

The National Hockey League (NHL) currently has a "Hockey is for Everyone" campaign, in which they state that "We support any teammate, coach or fan who brings heart, energy and passion to the rink. We believe all hockey programs - from professionals to youth organization - should provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment for players and families regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.

As read above, they want to use the game to influence and drive social change around the world, for a more inclusive community.

The NHL is a male only league, but in 1992, goalie and Olympic silver medalist, Manon Rheaume, played for the Tampa Bay Lighting in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues, in which she became the first female NHL player. 

In 2016, the NHL gained their first full-time female coach, serving as the Arizona Coyotes skating coach. 

Recently, women have becoming more and more prominent in the league. Although not as players, many women have taken on coaching, management, and broadcasting jobs. These powerful examples have a huge influence on girls in the sport today.

My view and film:

I love this sport and have ever since I started playing. Being a girl had never set back my mindset and motivation to keep playing. I have always, and still do, play on a team with boys, with the exception of a few teams of all girls. Luckily, none of them have been nothing but supportive of me on their team. When I played on the team with all girls, we still played against the boys' teams, and still did very well in the league. One of my teams was highlighted on Sports Extra, a few years back. This was such a cool experience, as I was interviewed for the first time and even scored in the game! I hope that women continue to prosper in hockey as they are today.

When this project was introduced to us, I knew that I wanted it to have a purpose. I wanted to use my love for the game and issues that girls may face. The representation of gender is my focus, and hope that the elements of my film add to this. Acting, camera techniques, and mise-en-scene will add to this.

                                 

Me with my first ever goal puck and my first High School Hockey goal puck.

Citations:

Burden of representation in film. TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Burden-of-Representation-in-Film/112767

Onwuamaegbu, O. by N. (2018, May 25). The importance of representation. The Stanford Daily. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/25/the-importance-of-representation/

IIHF - women's Ice Hockey. IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.iihf.com/en/static/5068/women-s-hockey

Content search. Girls & Women. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.usahockey.com/girlshockey

Women in the NHL. Pro Stock Hockey. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.prostockhockey.com/hockey-resources/miscellaneous/women-in-the-nhl/