During the 2026 Olympics, both the USA Men’s and Women’s National Ice Hockey Teams won gold in the finals; however, only one team received recognition from the country it sought to represent.

After the men’s hockey team arrived at their locker rooms, they received a phone call from President Donald Trump congratulating them on their win. Attempting to connect with the exhilarated group, Trump made a joke about having to invite the women’s winning team to the White House.

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” said Trump, followed by a room of laughter, according to USA Today. 

A video recording of the phone call was soon posted to social media for the world to hear, including the women’s team, to which player Hilary Knight responded, “I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke and, unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success … We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time,” according to The Guardian.

A misogynistic joke was nothing to laugh about, especially considering that women have excelled in Olympic hockey in the past Olympics, since their first in 1998; men started competing in ice hockey during 1920, making it an one-hundred-and-six year difference between the allowance for men adn women to compete in the same sport.   

Finding women’s victory in sports something to laugh at seemed to come easily to the men’s team and the president. That same dismissive mindset that allows a men’s team to proudly mock a women’s team representing its country also allows people to look down on all women athletes, ultimately devaluing women’s achievements. The women’s hockey team won the same gold in the same tournament, yet one gold is worth less than the other.

Women being overshadowed in sports is a tale as old as time. The original Olympics, dating back to Ancient Greece in 776 B.C., prohibited women from competing because they were not considered equal to men and were merely seen as observers. Women, only unmarried women, were forced to sit on the sidelines and watch their missed opportunities literally race in front of them. Married women were not even allowed to become spectators, according to the official Olympics site. 

As the Olympics became a tradition, so did the ideals it carried: if men were the competitors and the leaders, the generation after them would, too. It’s a never-ending chain yet to be broken, even as the current Olympics host women’s own games. 

Sports are continually segregated by gender for reasons out of a woman’s control: hormones. 

Testosterone, the primary male hormone, causes increased mass, growing strength, and a larger oxygen capacity. There is 10 to 20 times the amount of testosterone in men than in women, allowing men to more easily grow their strength and, in theory, become stronger than women, as explained by Harvard Health. 

Testosterone does not apply to the mental stamina and strength possessed by a woman or a man. 

The difference between testosterone and estrogen does not define a person. It does not define people by what they are capable of and have the true passion to achieve. Yet the contrast that society makes it out to be is much deeper than what it truly is. The sheer difference between two hormones only causes women to ovulate and become pregnant, perpetuating a misogynistic idea that women are only held on Earth to provide a family. 

Women should be able to decide whether or not they want to compete with the opposite gender, as they are capable of making decisions for themselves. Men should not be able to separate the genders from competing against each other in sports, believing that women are more fragile or meant for something lesser. 

Hormones are a problem that neither a woman nor a man can change about themselves, although they are continuously the core reason behind discrimination against women.

The idea of women not being equal to men is not a singular problem; it’s a series of built-up causes, ranging from religion to government to sports. These ideas show up in literature, legislation, society, education, locker rooms, and even the representation of the USA, a country made for the liberty of the people: all the people. 

A large part of the prejudice against women in sports could be defined as “locker-room talk.” Men, in private, exchange degrading and vulgar ideas about women. A casual conversation, just like the one that occurred after the men’s final hockey game, could be used for a few laughs and a way for the speakers to “fit in” with each other. Endless examples of locker room talk show up in a woman’s day to day life.

A woman trying her hardest to speak in a room full of people who glance at each other and chuckle when she speaks. 

One simple comment about a woman’s “bad form.”

Someone immediately objectifying a woman’s body while competing in a sport she was so proudly confident to show up for and try her best in. 

One finger pointing at her “harsh” and “weird” laugh, followed by mockery.

An overconfident man competing against a woman, assuming it would be easy based on her looks or gender.

A humiliating joke was made about it being a task to invite the women’s team to an event that they deserved to be at just as much as the peers that completed the same game they did, with the only difference being their birth sex.

A pebble thrown into a pond causes ripples. Ripples continue out until they hit the bank hard and break the tranquility of the still water. Once the still water is moving, there is no returning to what it was before.

The tiny ripples made by these “jokes” may not seem like a lot to the person saying it, but the effects of objectification against women are so much more than a small joke. 

One small comment about a woman could ruin her view of sports forever. Celebrating something you were so proud of or completing your own personal goal can be something celebrated by everyone, not something to make fun of for the thrill of the game. Losing your love for a passion that made you happy should not be stripped away for a single laugh in the corner of a locker room.

Locker-room talk stems from the idea of gender-based double standards: similar behaviors will be judged differently based on gender. Double standards are and have been a key component of our current culture and cannot be simply removed.

The ripples continue this horrible culture of putting women down for a man’s own enjoyment, based on a social standard that society is unable to rid itself of. 

You are not born with the automatic idea that men are superior to women. 

You are not born with the idea that women are not equal to men. 

You are not born with the idea that women should be put down for enjoyment.

And you are certainly not born with the idea that women should not be able to compete in a sport they love to the full capacity of their opposite gender.

It is almost impossible to ever make a true change in society. Discrimination comes from the beginning of humanity, long before sports even existed. People will always have their own unchanged opinions to influence them. Society evolves by itself, but someone always seems to base their opinions on the greater movement.  

A movement will happen with one person saying “no” to the supporters of a common theme, followed by people with similar opinions joining them. Once a few people make their case and more join, it would be odd for the outsiders to stay outside. 

Influence is all it takes to make a change in society, and to make a change in society, you first have to make a change in yourself. You are so heavily influenced by the gender-based biases presented in so many places that you are unable to speak up for something you think is inequitable. 

One simple ripple of saying “no” to a rude joke made about a woman will disrupt that silence. 

A small congratulations to a woman completing her goal will propel her to go further, and make her happy in a sport that should already be equal. 

One call from the president’s office to the women’s hockey team to congratulate them on a gold medal to make it fair to both of the winning teams and fill them both with unimaginable joy. 

We, as a society, will never change if the chain is never broken. One loose link could change discrimination forever. So be the link to change, for the betterment of you, your society, and your society’s women. 

Recently, on February 28, the hit comedy show Saturday Night Live invited gold-medal hockey players Hilary Knight and Megan Keller to enjoy their show, joined by gold-medal hockey players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes. 

During the monologue, Knight delivered a perfect line: “It was just going to be [me and Megan Keller], but we thought we’d invite the guys too.”

There, she found an equitable way to honor both of the teams’ successes at the 2026 Olympics, and she became the loose link.