The Tragedy of the Pink Jersey, Part 2

Tragedy, comedy, horror story- however way you spin it, it's all bad for us female hockey fans, and fans of sport in general.

Observe. A couple of weeks ago, I read a post on Islander Mania by billch89, directed at the Isles' staff, regarding women's jerseys: "I have a few female friends who would love to buy an islanders jersey. They all would prefer the white away jersey, however it looks like the "womens" jerseys only come in home colors and in pink. Unfortunately the largest child size is too small and the smallest male size is too big. I was just wondering if it is correct that there are no away-style jerseys for women and also why pink ones take preference over official ones?"

The response by one staff member was that he would see what could be done within retail and merchandise to get women a white away jersey. The truth is, there should not have had to be anything done to achieve that.

Somehow I find it hard to believe that these pink jerseys are in such high demand, seeing as only a minority of females that I see from my TV in the Coliseum wear any jersey at all, much less the pink and white ones that the league and organization foist onto us. Billch confided to me as well that he did not understand why jerseys not in the team colors would be offered in the first place. The league might think that they're popular, but all I see is the degrading aspect of wearing a jersey of a team that I live for in colors that not only are not theirs, but colors that I have not worn since I was, let's see, around six years old.

Why the NHL believes that women would willingly want these jerseys- and why women would buy them either way- is beyond me. As fans, and fans first, we expect the same as would be offered our male counterparts, and that is both road and home colored jerseys. Plus, we would love it if the merchandising staff of each team would take care not to treat us as though we are lesser than simply because we are women. I can assure you that I am perfectly fine with wearing blue, orange and white- those are the Islanders' colors, and I will wear them proudly. Never will I walk into Nassau Coliseum wearing a pink jersey with impunity.

The Isles thought they'd do something nice for us with "Hockey and Heels Night" in February, with the same effect. In fact, the Isles-Flyers game that took place on that night was the day after my birthday, and I refused to go because of the blatant gender roles that the marketing team of the Islanders thought I would be perfectly fine with. I was fine with the cheap tickets. I wasn't okay with the condescending feel of the fashion show and makeover, and I trust not many other female fans I associate with would be, either.

The truth is, when it comes to things like this, I can't help but get the feeling that women aren't represented with the same level of respect that men are as fans. Pink jerseys are not the way to show respect to the women who come into the Coliseum to cheer on their favorite team. The organization can try to paint it with another spin, but I can still see the ugly pink and white underneath.