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puck bunny
DCHP-3 (Apr 2023)
The word puck, because of its rhyme with an expletive denoting copulation, carries the double connotations of hockey and sexuality. The word bunny alludes to the late 20th-century occupation of 'Playboy bunny', a highly sexualized but legal job invented by the founder of pornographic magazine Playboy, catering to heterosexual men. The Playboy bunny is obliged to dress in a degrading, skimpy outfit complete with a headdress made to resemble the ears of a rabbit as she serves food and drinks in bars, restaurants, and other locales to her almost-exclusively male clients. The bunny's pay depends primarily on her clients' tips rather than on an assured salary.
This term should not be actively used for its offensive nature regarding women's dignity.
This term should not be actively used for its offensive nature regarding women's dignity.
n. — Hockey, informal, derogatory, offensive
a girl or young woman who mingles with male hockey players out of a desire for their attention.
Type: 6. Memorial — The idea that the primary motivation of a girl or young woman who hangs around hockey arenas is a desire for the sexual attentions of male hockey players (see COD-2) is a belief borne out of centuries of patriarchal disrespect for the female gender. As such, the term puck bunny reflects a misogynistic strain in Canadian society (see the 1992 and 2020 quotations). Prior to the #MeToo movement of 2017-2018, acceptance of the term was considerable enough to be casually used by such mainstream newspapers as the Globe and Mail (see the second 2005 quotation) and included in names for charity events (see the first 2005 quotation). As Chart 1 shows, the term is not unique to Canada.
Many female hockey fans have pushed back against the term (see the 1998 and 2012 quotations). Others have felt the need to alter what would be considered normal behaviour in a man, simply in order to avoid being unfairly labelled with the slur (see the 2017 quotation). Women's continued lower economic and political power within society, however, has led to the perpetuation of a double standard.
Puck bunny is labelled "Memorial" as a negative aspect of Canada's, culturally significant, Hockey culture.
Many female hockey fans have pushed back against the term (see the 1998 and 2012 quotations). Others have felt the need to alter what would be considered normal behaviour in a man, simply in order to avoid being unfairly labelled with the slur (see the 2017 quotation). Women's continued lower economic and political power within society, however, has led to the perpetuation of a double standard.
Puck bunny is labelled "Memorial" as a negative aspect of Canada's, culturally significant, Hockey culture.
Canada's hockey culture seems to suffer from ongoing problems with misogyny, as shown by the Hockey Canada and 2018 Canada World Juniors hockey team scandal that broke in late 2022. Merchandise does not help the issue (see the 2025 quotation).
Quotations
1992
What's a girl to do? Puck bunny or not, the only activity for girls is spectating. Take Shelley, who came to watch her boyfriend play Junior C in the Grand Valley arena near Orangeville.
[...]
The puck bunny phenomenon is the product of a system that continually slams girls' hockey into the boards. (Just last week a team of 10- and 11-year-old girls was being tossed out of the Shamrock hockey tournament and disqualified after beating a boys' team 6-1.)
The Ontario Women's Hockey Association has one staff person for women's hockey for the entire province, while men and boys have seven fully staffed agencies that organize hockey for them.
1998
Boys and girls should play together, Robinson writes, arguing for an end to the segregation that not only bars girls from the ice but also encourages boys to learn about sex in the locker room, where girls are seen as little more than groupies.
"Right now," Robinson writes, "it is easier for a girl to be a `puck bunny' than it is for her to play hockey."
She does not think the hockey establishment will entertain any of her suggestions.
"I don't think hockey -- the people who are in power -- are going to change. They could have long ago. I think that it can only change from outside of hockey, by parents and others who care."
2005
Langley country crooner Aaron Pritchett showed his prowess on the ice and on the stage when he took part in the Remax Sea to Sky Hockey Challenge and Puck Bunny Ball. The events, held Feb. 26 and 27, raised $50,000 for the PacificSport PodiumFund to help aspiring Olympic athletes.
2005
Solid beer and cocktail list, reasonably priced wine mark-ups from a smart card that makes frequent stops in Cascadia and B.C. Chef's matinee-idol looks attracts a heavy puck-bunny contingent.
2012
Speaking from personal
experience, it is so hard to be taken seriously when talking about
sports, especially hockey, based on the fact you're female. The
stereotypes are endless -from being oblivious, to being gay, to
being a puck bunny.
And the fact that CBC is condoning a forum that reinforces these
aspects is utterly pathetic
and sad.
2017
At some point along the way, the trainer of the Hamilton Mountain A's junior team noticed her and offered her a job. They had no scorer or scoreboard operator. So for $15 a game, she did both.
"I always made a point of staying away from the players," she says. "I didn't want that stigma of being a puck bunny."
2020
"I basically got told 'you're a woman, what do you know about hockey, you're no better than any other puck bunny out there'. Other males stepped forward to defend me because they knew me personally and yet this person still ended up attacking me and then attacking them. After that, you just didn't feel comfortable, even though you knew your hockey.
References
- COD-2 • puck bunny
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