Whenever my job is mentioned in newspapers, blogs, or magazines, the same tropes tend to pop up: moral panic, drug abuse, violence. Journalists quote us selectively, so that it sounds as if we’re living out the sex-negative, whorephobic stereotypes the public are used to consuming.
I have played hockey almost all of my adult life. The speed, skill, and physicality of the game are exhilarating. I play in a primarily men’s league, and nothing cheers me up more than time in the box for a roughing penalty.