Gender stereotyping & ice-skates

4thand5thave · January 2014

When visiting the new ice-staking rink in Prospect Park for the first time this past weekend (which, btw, is a fantastic place), I was astonished to find that girls are automatically given figure-skates and men are automatically given hockey-skates. In 2014, haven't we moved past making even ice-skating a gendered activity?Has anyone else noticed this or tried to request a particular type of skate? I (a male) was actually fine with the hockey skates, but I can imagine a younger person (of either gender) being very put off by the prospect of explaining to the (overwhelmed, albeit) staff that they want the other type.

tateinbk · January 2014

Meh, I as a female always liked hockey skates and got used to asking for them specifically. Unless you're doing fancy figure skating I don't know why anyone would want figure skates. But I'm sure there are legions of girls who hold the fantasy alive of being the next Michelle Kwan (I think I'm dating myself) and having figure skates keeps that up. It would be nice if they asked which kind you wanted when they asked for your size. It might complicate things a little because then they have to calculate ladies shoes size to men's hockey skates. I'm really just happy to hear they're stocking both kinds at that rink. now if only there were big signs up telling parents/adult guardians to TIGHTEN laces!