Ranted: A Pair of Eager Breasts

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May 202011

I’m sure everybody and their dog has talked about (and reviewed photos of) the female Canucks fan who flashed Ben Eager her breasts beside the penalty box Wednesday night. And honestly I didn’t really give it much thought until I was interviewed about it by 24 Hours Thursday afternoon. When the reporter asked me how it made me feel, I realized it made me feel pretty pissed off. Why? Well because after all the articles I’ve written on female fans and our fight to be taken seriously in the NHL, some chick goes and does something like this and sets us back a peg in the hockey world.

Flashing on national TV is embarrassing, not only for women watching the game, but for Vancouver fans in general. Whether you’ve thought about it this way or not, it was a pretty inappropriate move for a fan to make no matter what city it’s in, and Canucks fans have a bad enough reputation as bandwagoners and ref whiners. Do we really need to add “classless” or “trashy” to that list too?

It’s not appropriate for a guy to take off his shirt at a hockey game, and it sure as hell isn’t for a female to do the same when there are many children watching from either the crowd or their living rooms at home.

And yeah, I know that guys will be the last to complain about the Penalty Box Flasher, but part of me hopes that they can understand why hard-core female fans might find this offensive and degrading. It’s hard enough for us girls to be taken seriously by male fans without stuff like this taking place. It’s an uphill battle, and for us flashing goes hand-in-hand with puck bunnies, not fans.

I’m not a Feminist – actually I’m quite hard on my own sex most of the time, but when it comes to breaking through the Boys’ Club of hockey, I’m quite prepared to carry the torch for many women out there. I’ve worked hard to be where I am, and I didn’t show my breasts to get there.

Seriously girl, where’s your class? You’ve embarrassed many female Canucks fans with this move, and I hope folks across the league don’t associate your trashy behaviour with the rest of us.

It’s no wonder I’d rather have the Green Men in her place any day. At least they’re creative.

Boobs? I see them every day, and so do most of the men still talking about this. Get over it guys. The only reason the Flasher is getting as much attention as she is (which I’m sure she planned), is because this rarely happens in hockey, and there are many reasons for that.

If you can’t think of any of those reasons right now, peel your eyes away from the blonde’s nipples and try to see the larger picture. In it alongside of you are kids and thousands of respectable women trying to enjoy the game.

http://twitter.com/popegabrielle Gabrielle Pope

Word. But it does sound like your are a feminist, despite being “hard on your sex”, so don’t be afraid to say so! From one avid female hockey fan/writer to another, I know what it feels like to be fighting to be taken seriously in the hockey world, and to perpetually have to prove myself when I’m talking hockey with the boys (who are automatically accepted into the group even though the last dude in a Canucks jersey at a bar in Montreal was trying to convince his admirers that Rypien gave up hockey for a career in boxing, which is why you don’t see him suited up for the Canucks–PLEASE). This fighting to be part of a group is a fight for equality–the very root of feminism.

Not feminist: flashing Ben Eager. What an embarrassment.

And yes, please guys, stop talking about the boobs as though all hockey talk is “guy talk”. Unless you want us to start writing articles about the Green Mens’ packages.
http://twitter.com/popegabrielle Gabrielle Pope

Word. But it does sound like your are a feminist, despite being “hard on your sex”, so don’t be afraid to say so! From one avid female hockey fan/writer to another, I know what it feels like to be fighting to be taken seriously in the hockey world, and to perpetually have to prove myself when I’m talking hockey with the boys (who are automatically accepted into the group even though the last dude in a Canucks jersey at a bar in Montreal was trying to convince his admirers that Rypien gave up hockey for a career in boxing, which is why you don’t see him suited up for the Canucks–PLEASE). This fighting to be part of a group is a fight for equality–the very root of feminism.

Not feminist: flashing Ben Eager. What an embarrassment.

And yes, please guys, stop talking about the boobs as though all hockey talk is “guy talk”. Unless you want us to start writing articles about the Green Mens’ packages.
http://twitter.com/popegabrielle Gabrielle Pope

Word. But it does sound like your are a feminist, despite being “hard on your sex”, so don’t be afraid to say so! From one avid female hockey fan/writer to another, I know what it feels like to be fighting to be taken seriously in the hockey world, and to perpetually have to prove myself when I’m talking hockey with the boys (who are automatically accepted into the group even though the last dude in a Canucks jersey at a bar in Montreal was trying to convince his admirers that Rypien gave up hockey for a career in boxing, which is why you don’t see him suited up for the Canucks–PLEASE). This fighting to be part of a group is a fight for equality–the very root of feminism.

Not feminist: flashing Ben Eager. What an embarrassment.

And yes, please guys, stop talking about the boobs as though all hockey talk is “guy talk”. Unless you want us to start writing articles about the Green Mens’ packages.
Rob

Point taken, please don’t do that!
Rob

Point taken, please don’t do that!
http://BlackhawksDL.com/ Kelly Thomas Reardon

Great post and couldn’t agree more.
Todd

While I can understand and respect your opininion re female fans being respected as hockey fans and not just “puck bunnies” there are 2 points in your blog I would argue the merit of:

1. They are just breasts, get over it – I would say the same right back to you. We are so uptight in North America about breasts and making sure that the public never accidentally see even a hint of a nipple let alone an exposed breast that we over react when it happens, both on the titilation (no pun intended) scale and the offensive scale.

2. Kids are watching – As a parent I say, who cares? Are we actually going to sit here and say that kids seeing an exposed breast is wrong while we cheer on Bieksa as he fights Marleau? Really?

She was just a fan, probably intoxicated, who made a questionable decision. Trying to indict her as somehow damaging Canucks fans by taking some sort of higher moral ground seems ingenuine to me. I do believe it was this blog that tweeted on Wednesday night after Eager hit Daniel from behind “Ben Eager is a worthless piece of s**t!” and the next tweet contained an f-bomb. Personally profanity doesn’t generally bother me but you know kids can subscribe to your twitter account. Just sayin’…
Todd

While I can understand and respect your opininion re female fans being respected as hockey fans and not just “puck bunnies” there are 2 points in your blog I would argue the merit of:

1. They are just breasts, get over it – I would say the same right back to you. We are so uptight in North America about breasts and making sure that the public never accidentally see even a hint of a nipple let alone an exposed breast that we over react when it happens, both on the titilation (no pun intended) scale and the offensive scale.

2. Kids are watching – As a parent I say, who cares? Are we actually going to sit here and say that kids seeing an exposed breast is wrong while we cheer on Bieksa as he fights Marleau? Really?

She was just a fan, probably intoxicated, who made a questionable decision. Trying to indict her as somehow damaging Canucks fans by taking some sort of higher moral ground seems ingenuine to me. I do believe it was this blog that tweeted on Wednesday night after Eager hit Daniel from behind “Ben Eager is a worthless piece of s**t!” and the next tweet contained an f-bomb. Personally profanity doesn’t generally bother me but you know kids can subscribe to your twitter account. Just sayin’…
Rich

Well Said Todd.

To the writer. Stop making mountains out of mole hills.
Whogives

Yawn.
Tracy

FYI You are a feminist (your blog post clearly indicates this). How you’ve treated the word “feminist” stands against your whole point about advocating for female fans of hockey. Look up the word!
Vanbman

oh give me a break…anyone who has been breast fed has seen a tit….big deal
Anonymous

Todd,

Totally indicative of North America – we pine over an exposed breast in the “name of our children” yet allow them violent video games, violent T.V shows, and we allow them to watch the evening news. All of the above should be more of a concern than an exposed breast.
karwalk

My Guess is this is an overwieght ”CHICK” who is upset about! I’m a chick and and watched hockey all the time…I am a season ticket holder! GO FALSHER GO! That was super funny!
Chrissy

GET A LIFE!!!!! I am a girl who happens to watch hockey all the time. I was at the game and the fans LOVED IT! I hope she gets a deal out of the whole thing. I hope the green men make fake boobs.
Pamala Anderson (Canadian) move aside!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_U5MAE6QSYK75R45KS5IGHHJ7Z4 Ron

You really need to relax Katie. It’s not like she was having sex with anyone. Big deal. She showed her boobs and now getting all of the attention. Just shrug it off and move on.
http://twitter.com/NM_WAACHCast Kent Basky

Glad you tackled this one and not me, Katie lol. Seriously though, and I understand your point of view, I think Todd’s point about North American’s being far too uptight is where I stand on this. Obviously there’s a line that could be crossed there, but overall it’s pretty harmless. If this had happened down in San Jose, Boston or Tampa, this isn’t near as big a deal. A lot of the outrage comes from the crest on the jersey she lifted. The fact more people were outraged by this rather than Eager’s cowardly hit does show the real problem. I know you and others won’t agree with me, that’s cool. We’ve all done something crazy when drunk. I don’t think it reflects on female hockey fans in general. Calling attention to it is the issue. Female hockey writers have made great strides, and I follow a number on Twitter (including you). If people find this makes it hard to take female writers seriously, it’s not because of one flasher. The old boys network needs to be broken down, and if anything I would love to see more females get into covering this greatest of sports.
Isabell_white

No way! I work with this girl and she is not by any means overweight!
Guest that like breasts!!!

In Canada the Courts have said it is 100% ok for females to go topless….get over it.

Not only that it is a great way to spot a terrorist in the crowd as they are not allowed to look at naked girls.
Shelien

I’ve come back and reread this post several times today – the hallmark of a great post, in my eyes.

Female hockey fans are as diverse as male hockey fans. I’m going to oversimplify fans into three groups:
1)People that are fun to talk hockey with because they notice interesting details, reference smart people and help you see things from a different perspective.
2)People that are fun to watch hockey with because they are passionate, funny and fire you up.
3)People that are embarrassing to be associated with in any setting because they are rude and derogatory.
Of course, one individual may fit into a different category on a different day (especially after a few too many beers). Personally, I’d put “not-green twins” in the 2nd category, although some people would say the 3rd.

There are fewer female hockey fans, so we feel more vulnerable about being stereotyped by the actions of other female fans. I worry, irrationally (I hope), that her actions will make it more difficult for me to be taken seriously when I engage in hockey conversations. I have no evidence that this is the case. In fact, my own experience leads me to believe that gender becomes much less noticeable when you’ve surrounded yourself with people from the 1st category.
guest

Because all terrorists are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists?
Lisaebenal_1

I noticed that the the players were so professional and focused on their game that the “attention pig” in their peripheral view was not worth a glance. Her inappropriate behaviour (which she is now blaming on being wasted which women tend to do when they make asses of themselves) is rightfully criticised by women hockey fans who don’t want to trash up their image. I say save your desperate antics for the bar “lady”, kids and families are watching.
Lisaebenal_1

i’m sure she’ll get a deal because….she’s the only female on the planet with tits? what’s your point?
Lisaebenal-1

umm, we’ve all seen feces too, but i think we tuned in to watch hockey?
http://twitter.com/littlemisskelli Miss Kelli

“Ben Eager is such an idiot.”
“I dare you to go down there and show him your boobs.”
“DONE.”

That’s probably all the subtext we can credit the Flasher with. Even if she went to the media and made claims of empowerment, I somehow think it was a lot simpler than that.

I love the whole “they’re only boobs! Who cares about boobs?” argument because, clearly, it’s not “ONLY” a pair of boobs. The instant a still of the event hit Twitter, my stream turned into ALL BOOBS ALL THE TIME. As one person pointed out, there were more boob tweets than “Yay! We won!” tweets. The fact that a pair of bare breasts can cause that much of an uproar completely nullifies the argument that it’s not a big deal to show ‘em off.

Yes, we as North Americans over-sexualize nudity, but as long as a 2-second flash on CBC can cause several days’ worth of backlash and an accidental half-time flash can lead to lawsuits, it’s impossible to claim that tits aren’t a big deal.
Lisa

i think the discussion on video games, and violent tv shows is on other blogs not directly relating to hockey…this blogger was giving a valid opinion on a current event in her field of expertise. Oh and you forgot to ask why are we discussing the questionable behaviour of some woman her breasts when there are children starving in other countries…therefore all debatable subjects are simply irrelevant?
Lisa

i don’t think most parents would object to their child seeing a breast, totally cool nudity, but as a mother of a young girl i would hope that shoving your bare breasts at people as an attention ploy not be portrayed as an acceptable or applaudable way of gaining attention…i think most women do not have any issues with breasts or nudity. Please don’t confuse having class with being a prude.
Anonymous

Katie, I question your assertion that it is not appropriate for guys to take off their shirts at a game. While I personally feel that way, I’ve seen many shirtless male fans standing in a row with letters painted on their bare chests to spell out something. I haven’t seen any of them getting kicked out of a rink. (Although, I kind of wish they would.)
Anonymous

Katie, I question your assertion that it is not appropriate for guys to take off their shirts at a game. While I personally feel that way, I’ve seen many shirtless male fans standing in a row with letters painted on their bare chests to spell out something. I haven’t seen any of them getting kicked out of a rink. (Although, I kind of wish they would.)
Anonymous

Katie, I question your assertion that it is not appropriate for guys to take off their shirts at a game. While I personally feel that way, I’ve seen many shirtless male fans standing in a row with letters painted on their bare chests to spell out something. I haven’t seen any of them getting kicked out of a rink. (Although, I kind of wish they would.)
Anonymous

Katie, I question your assertion that it is not appropriate for guys to take off their shirts at a game. While I personally feel that way, I’ve seen many shirtless male fans standing in a row with letters painted on their bare chests to spell out something. I haven’t seen any of them getting kicked out of a rink. (Although, I kind of wish they would.)
http://twitter.com/pimpzilla pimpzilla

Sounds to me like you’re just jealous of her boobies.
Anonymous

I hear she got fired. Is that true?
NG

Your post is insulting to men and women alike.

It is insulting to men because it implies that seeing one set of tits at a hockey game (or on a hockey broadcast) results in us thinking, “Uhhh, durrrr, now all women at hockey games must show me their breasts!”

We’re not that stupid and not that shallow. There are pigs amongst us that might think this way, but that’s on them individually, not on us as a sex. Just like there are women that make bad decisions, like the Flasher Girl, and don’t represent all women. We represent ourselves when we make these sorts of decisions.

This is insulting to women because it implies that all women do (and should) think and feel the exact same way. I don’t think I need to explain why this is insulting… but if anyone doesn’t get it, I’ll just say this — what makes you the person you are? Your genitals? Or is it an amalgam of things, including your body and your genitals, along with a lot of other really important and great stuff unrelated to what’s between your legs or on your chest?

Maybe I’m not qualified to have this opinion since I’m a man, but I thought the real point of feminism was to fight for women to have the full choices and opportunity that natural rights should afford them (or any human being, sex aside). That being the case, if Flasher Girl wants to make a dumb decision and show the general public her boobs, she’s not setting “women” back, and she’s not hurting feminism. All that happened here is a a girl that was probably a bit intoxicated and having a good time made a dumb (but harmless) decision in the moment of a party atmosphere. Yeah, it was off-color. But if you think it has the rest of the world judging you as a female hockey blogger as a result, then you have an inferiority complex to be sure.

Men do this all the time. No, they don’t show their penises to the guys sitting in the box, but think about the old Tie Domi incident… there are plenty of situations every season where guys sitting around the box end up looking like jackasses as they attempt to taunt players in the box. That guy that got into the “fight” with Domi is a dumb ass that made a stupid decision. Do you think his actions represent me as a fellow card-carrying member of the male sex? I expect not.

And I can’t even begin to start with the “children” argument. I’ll keep my point on that short — if parents would step up and do their jobs, a couple seconds of tits on TV (or violence on the news and in video games, etc.) wouldn’t matter. Parents should hold the outrage for a moment, and maybe think to themselves… “This could be a teachable moment where I can tell my kids to keep their private parts to themselves.”

And I’m not saying that everyone should be able to run around the arena with their tits hanging out. Absolutely not. But for this to happen once in a blue moon, or a Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” to happen on TV every so often… it is not hurting the youth of North America if parents are doing their jobs. I mean, for chrissakes, if parents can’t comfortably take a moment like Flasher Girl and spin it into telling their kids these types of actions are inappropriate and explain why, how can these parents do more important things, like keep their kids off drugs? We are talking small potatoes here.
Todd

I am not confused about anything, but thanks.
I was just offering up a different perspective on some of the issues the blogger raised, not labeling either the blogger on anyone else. I will leave that up to you.
Kira_rossi

remember calgarys run to the cup lots of topless women that was all in funso get a life
Swaayy

Bahaha. That’s exactly what I thought!
guy in support of katie’s view

wow so much hate for this rant!
i’d just say to all guys, chill out. maximick has some valid points.

i’m a guy. i love hockey; i love tits. when i saw eager getting flashed, i was thoroughly distracted for a good 30 seconds after that. i’m glad i didn’t have to be on the powerplay.

but jokes aside, i understand what maximick is getting at because, yes, as someone mentioned, we live in an oversexualized society but we also live in a very judgmental and condescending society. i can’t count how many insensitive posts/comments i’ve read all over the internet about that flasher (eg. dumb blonde, hot slut, stupid bitch on national tv, hot piece of ass, cam whore, i’d hit that, i wish i could hit that, stuff to that extent and etc) and i know that despite all the negative criticism, deep down, all guys wish it was them getting flashed.

it sort of cheapens the experience, but at the same time, we all want it because deep down we’re (guys) all pervs. i think i’m sort of all over the place with my original point, but whatever.
perhaps we can all try to have some empathy.
guy in support of katie’s view

wow so much hate for this rant!
i’d just say to all guys, chill out. maximick has some valid points.

i’m a guy. i love hockey; i love tits. when i saw eager getting flashed, i was thoroughly distracted for a good 30 seconds after that. i’m glad i didn’t have to be on the powerplay.

but jokes aside, i understand what maximick is getting at because, yes, as someone mentioned, we live in an oversexualized society but we also live in a very judgmental and condescending society. i can’t count how many insensitive posts/comments i’ve read all over the internet about that flasher (eg. dumb blonde, hot slut, stupid bitch on national tv, hot piece of ass, cam whore, i’d hit that, i wish i could hit that, stuff to that extent and etc) and i know that despite all the negative criticism, deep down, all guys wish it was them getting flashed.

it sort of cheapens the experience, but at the same time, we all want it because deep down we’re (guys) all pervs. i think i’m sort of all over the place with my original point, but whatever.
perhaps we can all try to have some empathy.
Malcolm

Katie – Can you post the video and pictures please
Dwyness

Try not to take life to serious…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IWSSUPIWP7VW67QQDXQXQEHLH4 MM

You’re NOT a feminist? If you believe in equality and choice that comment is pretty offensive on its own & reaks of white middle class privilege.

Back to the boobs: I agree with most other posts here. It’s just a set of headlights; get over it.

If you’re so DAMN serious about female fans being respected, have you ever considered…I dunno….going to a FEMALE sports event? Just a thought.

And yes, I’m a woman.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IWSSUPIWP7VW67QQDXQXQEHLH4 MM

Thank you for validating this troll’s stupid point that women are petty jealous bitches. Ah mah Gawd, Becky if I’m not hawt I’m nothing!
http://canuckism.tumblr.com/ Canuckism

Didn’t change my opinion of women… and I mean that in a good way!
Neptune

Oh blow it out your ass. They’re just boobs. Go to any concert and women flash the lead in a heartbeat, nobody comments about that. It saddens me that nudism takes such a negative toll — in Europe and most of south america women go topless everywhere, for everyone (including children) to see. Not a soul has a qualm with this, so just let it go. I praise her for having the courage to do what she did, and was only intended under the guise of fun, and the spirit of freedom. If I can show my “boobs” so can you.
Brytan42

small ‘taters for sure! Not! I digress – it all comes down to individual choices. The general feeling out there is that somehow women’s breasts are somehow naughty and therefore taboo. I have news for y’all! We all have nipples!! Granted, from either a male or female perspective, some are certainly easier on the eyes than others. I think that it’s a failing of society that such hang-ups abound regarding the ol’ human bod. How many billions of tits are there bouncing around ( ha-ha) out there in the world? As far as societal norms go, did she act in bad taste? Sure she did – but what’s the big deal people? In the end, they were just nipples on top of fun bags. No harm no foul.
Tl

They were great tits!
Pingback: Canucks Fan Who Flashed Ben Eager Embarrasses True Female Fans | Larry Brown Sports
Hank Moody

Canadians are too uptight. They’re just tits. GO SHARKS
http://www.leftcoastbydesign.ca/ Chris (@lyteforce)

Just to quickly interject – you are correct that the courts have ruled that it is okay for females to go topless, that ruling only applies to public property. As Rogers Arena is private property, the rules begin to differ.

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