A June 2010 pullout poster from the Chicago Tribune presented professional hockey player Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers wearing a sparkly figure skater’s skirt. Released just before the Chicago Blackhawks faced the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals, the poster spells the player’s name “Chrissy” and the subtitle reads, “Looks like Tarzan, Skates Like Jane.”

discussion

Dressing a man in women’s clothing is one of the oldest insults in the book — but what does it tell us about the way our culture values masculinity? Femininity? About cultural values related to gender and transgender?

What assumptions about the intersections between gender, sports, and athleticism does this poster reveal?

How do you think figure skaters – female or male – would respond to this joke? What about female hockey players?