During my brief stint on Hinge, my profile consisted of pictures of me skiing, playing golf, hiking, and comments about my love for hockey and motorsport. My fun fact was I had changed six  tires in four months. The reactions I got were honestly baffling.

“Do you actually like F1 and hockey?” “Do you actually golf?” “The fact you can change a tire as a girl is honestly impressive.”

I’m not sure what they expected me to say. Maybe some big grand reveal where I expose that my entire existence is a lie. Golfing? Photoshop. Hiking? I’ve never walked a day in my life. Hockey? I just think, like, Dunn and Bedard, are like, sooooo hot. In fact, I’m not even real — I’m artificial intelligence generated from unrealistic patterns.

Sarcasm aside, even when I did humor their disbelief, it just got worse. If the chat was a courtroom, I was being cross-examined by the prosecution, on trial for liking sports.

“Okay well, what skis do you have?” “What’s your handicap then?” “Name the entire 1999 Dallas Stars roster right now.”

To this day, I still laugh at what might possibly have been so hard to believe. My first time changing a tire was on the shoulder of a highway with a AAA YouTube video as support. I write about F1 and motorsport not because I’m fangirling over Sainz or Leclerc, but because I love driving fast and there’s deep-rooted, historical underrepresentation in the sport.

Yeah, I do things — and that should be it. The conversation should then pivot to shared interests, or a wild new talent who’s emerged, or talking about pre-season and placing bets on the next circuit victor. As a woman, I shouldn’t have to prove to men, by some ridiculous quantitative measure, that I am genuinely passionate about something — be it sports, finance, bioengineering or whatnot.

To be honest, I didn’t think much of the comments initially — I was more amused than offended or annoyed. I’m secure in what I do, I love what I do and I simply don’t have the time to care about the sexist undertones of external opinions. But since I’ve deleted Hinge and let pitches for my column stew, I’ve realized it doesn’t matter what I think of it — the situation shouldn’t even arise at all.

Especially in the United States, when talking about underrepresentation, disparity or gender equity gaps, it all mostly boils down to historical precedent and the introduction of certain industries and their giants. Sports like skiing, ice hockey, racing and golf have historically been (and still are) white, male-dominated sectors. So it makes sense, in some twisted way, that these men on Hinge would react in some degree of disbelief at a girl genuinely being into sports.

But when you think about how much society claims that it’s progressed today, it’s still wildly out of left field.

As is with most things, it reflects what we’re seeing today as a broader society. The impressions are based on what we all grew up with. Beyond that, it reflects what needs to be changed: what has been an issue, what still is an issue and what perceptions currently are regarding the correlation between gender and sports.

We’ve come this far, yes, but it’s a marathon, not a 500-meter race. We still have a long way to go.

For all those on Hinge, my skis are Elan Ripstick 88s, by the way.

Victoria Lee is a sophomore writing about diversity and representation in sports. Her column, “The Chairlift,” runs every other Wednesday.