Hockey looms large in my life, and so it will in The Melissaverse. On the occasions when this space isn’t devoted to hockey it will probably focus on pop culture, and if it’s not hockey or pop culture it will be something more philosophical. Probably. I guess we’ll find out together.
Oh, and I am a Devils fan. If that disgusts or horrifies you then read at your own risk, or just move along. I’ll understand.
If you are neither disgusted nor horrified then feel free to give me a follow on Twitter, where I’m @MGeschwind.
UPDATE: Huh, looks like the blog is primarily about mental health stuff these days. Will it stay that way? There’s just no way to know.
The Melissaverse 
Just a quick note here to thank you for a wonderful piece posted on Puck Daddy that I just got around to finishing. The pervasiveness of sexism in hockey culture gets in the way of my love for the sport. I’m a Red Wings fan — one of the good teams vis a vis Ice Girls — but I can’t watch a broadcast without seeing the Fox Sports “Girls”, I can’t read my favorite blogs without blatant objectification in the ads, I can’t read NHL news in any newspaper site or blog without the suggested articles including “Hottest WAGs” or “Hottest tennis players” etc.
I have a son and a daughter, and while genes suggest that neither will play professional hockey, it angers me to think that my daughter will grow up believing that she has less of a place in the sport’s culture than her brother does. Of course, there are people like you out there, so that gives me hope.
Thanks again,
Justin
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Thank you for taking the time to write this, Justin. I’m so glad you appreciated the piece, and that your kids have such a supportive and enlightened dad!
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I am here to post a BRAVO on the “sexism in the NHL” piece as well. My sister and I pulled our season seats with the Dallas Stars a few years ago and explained that we didn’t like the sexually charged environment. (Aside: We had been sexually harassed at one game last season so badly that the Stars compensated us with free seats. I am pretty sure the permissive environment had something to do with how we were treated by those two male fans.) In any case, every year, the Stars try to entice us to renew. We explain our position and never hear from them again. Knowing what Brad Alberts said has put us both on a permanent boycott of the Stars. So, thank you for revealing to us that the Dallas Stars feel we should just grin and bear it. No thanks, Dallas….I already fly to Winnipeg a few times a year for games and the experience there is truly about hockey. I’ll just keep doing that.
It’s nice to see you and people like Adam Proteau advocating for change. I am pretty sure you both get more than a fair share of criticism for it. Please keep fighting the good fight.
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Because I love your blog, I have just nominated you for A Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Feel free to accept or ignore. http://thejellyfisheffect.com/2014/11/27/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
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Regardless of the dates on these extremely well written posts, I simply would not be able to correctly word how much your posts mean to someone like myself.
Words cheapen just how your letter to Mr. Rollings made me feel!
Please try and find a bit of time to continue!!
You never realize just how deeply you hit until the subject matter you’re writing about is gifted to your readers. And, your posts are hitting the bone!
I, for one, couldn’t be more grateful.
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What an amazing compliment – thank you so much!
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