Her Own Person: Talk about female athletes, not their male relatives

If you have ever watched an international women’s hockey competitions such as the Olympics or the Women’s World Championships, you have heard the commentators say “Alex Carpenter, daughter of former Bruin Bobby Carpenter” or talk about Amanda Kessel’s two-time Stanley Cup Champion brother. Or, perhaps, they have included the fact that Laura Stacey is the great-granddaughter of NHL legend King Clancy?

When commentators link a player to a famous male relative, they shift focus away from the player herself. It distracts from her being seen as an individual athlete who worked hard to get where she is. No longer is she four-time Women’s World Championship gold medalist Alex Carpenter; now she’s Bobby’s daughter who happens to have played for the U.S. National Team. Phil’s sister, not Amanda Kessel, scores the shootout extending goal in the gold medal game. King Clancy’s great-granddaughter scores the Clarkson Cup-clinching goal, not silver medalist Laura Stacey.