I’m one of those women that was raised assuming that girls are equal to boys and that it’s okay for people of either gender to pursue any interest that catches their fancy. Yes, I realize that we’re still battling for equality in some areas and that society doesn’t always treat men and women the same but I often forget this fact when it comes down to every day details.

This issue came to a head last Christmas when I purchased a set of kids bedding with hockey designs for a niece of mine that loves the sport. My brother-in-law went ballistic over it telling me that hockey bedding wasn’t for girls. His reaction stunned me into temporary silence. It seemed so old-fashioned and outdated.

What really shocked me was that my sister later told me that she agreed. We’d been raised in the same home; how could we see the issue so differently? To me, what made sense was that my niece liked hockey and that her interest in the sport should be encouraged. For my sister, the issue was more complicated. She didn’t want her daughter growing up to play hockey one day because of the risks involved and because she felt it would make her life difficult.

My sister tried to explain this to me but it still doesn’t really make any sense. I live in a world where we’ve moved on from times like these. We managed to come up with a resolution, though. My niece keeps her old animal print bedding on her bed at home and gets to use the hockey sheets when she comes to visit me.