I can't help but think of that scene in "A League of Their Own" when they bring in that beautician to diagnose flaws in the players' apprearance. I find it funny that the scene was meant to underscore the regressive attitudes of the '40s. Guess we haven't come too far.

The NBA adopted a dress code a couple of years ago to improve their image. That seems far more intrusive than a seminar giving beauty tips to WNBA players.

I heard Don Imus was talking about maybe going into this business...OW!!! JUST KIDDING!!! JUST KIDDING!!!

Let's highlight the good points of WNBA, too. This article got me really excited about my home teams season and shows that the 'prettyfying' isn't close to being an pervasive in the sport.

its a tough one, this is just the latest in a long line of things the wnba has done to boost ratings and revenue. Took them what, 10 years, to get to this point? Not sure there is a fix for the wnba, without the nba it would never have been/would have collapsed long ago. I do find it interesting though that they finally went with beauty tips and all that, seems to fit perfectly in our society and even the sports world now as all the leagues, especially the NFL try and showcase their players outside of the playing field, whether it be the family tip, charity or something else.

Here, fucking, here!!

I, too, thought of the scene in "A League of Their Own" where they're supposed to be these perfect, pretty girls--and of course, male ballplayers were never held to such a standard.

There's a big difference between asking a guy to put on a suit and look respectable when he's engaged in team activities and marketing female athletes as objects first and athletes second.

There's a big difference between asking a guy to put on a suit and look respectable when he's engaged in team activities and marketing female athletes as objects first and athletes second.

Forcing a male athlete into a suit in order to portray them as "respectable" is making them a mythical "gentleman" to be emulated first and an athlete second. Some people even find the tight fitting designer suit look to be quite attractive.

Just as women are pressured by society to be "desirable" men are forced to be "respectable". I don't pretend that it is worse for men, but saying they don't compare is pretending like there aren't serious pressures on men to conform.

I also find your implication that a man isn't worthy of respect without wearing a traditional western male costume to be quite offensive and frankly, oppressive.

At least they didn't do what the NBA did, which was institute a mandatory suit-and-tie dress code for their players at NBA events when not in uniform.

There actually isn't a big difference in asking a guy to wear a suit or asking a girl to wear a dress. Both are traditional modes of fashion that are deemed to be the only way to look respectable for a given gender. The reason the NBA did this was to market their players as gentlemen first and players second, post rumble at Auburn Hills.

There actually isn't a big difference in asking a guy to wear a suit or asking a girl [sic!] to wear a dress. Both are traditional modes of fashion that are deemed to be the only way to look respectable for a given gender.

Deemed by whom, exactly? Dresses haven't been considered the only way to look respectable for women in quite a while.

The fact that you attempt to equate them to this degree suggests that you haven't actually spent much time wearing dresses. They can hardly be considered equivalent. Dresses (and much of the range of female business and formal attire, come to that) are substantially more revealing and restrictive of movement than all but the most ill-fitting men's suit.

Suit, dress, whatever. The point is that its all clothing prescribed to these people based on the gender role equated with their bodies.

My issue is that this behavior by the WNBA is only the latest in a string of offensive marketing. On the sides of buses in my city, WNBA players are depicted as half woman, half animal, marketing them as fierce. It just so happens to be that all of the women pictured on the bus are women of color, which seems to me to be (intentionally or subconsciously) perpetuating stereotypes of women being close to nature, and of women of color being more "primitive" than white women. (there is a lot of research done on this issue - especially in the context of advertising).

When are we going to be free of these antiquated notions about sex and gender? It's appalling to see them so blatantly employed by an organization that holds so much power to provide positive and diverse role models for younger female athletes.

My regional women's netball team trains at the leisure complex where I go swimming every week. Recently, a series of life-size cardboard cutouts of the team members were put on display in the main entrance. They're wearing their game strip, but have obviously been made up and have their hair loose & styled. The majority of the team are young, 18-30, and all have the sulky, pouty "model look". Except the team captain. She's 38, back in the game after having a couple of kids, recently retired from the national team and just loves the game & wants to play. She's beaming, the biggest, happiest grin you've ever seen.

I know there's probably photographers and others coaching the women on their expressions, but it just makes her look so different to the other team members, and really makes me look up to her more.

Amen, Vanessa! The feminist F-U was well chosen this week.

To the people who said "there's nothing different between women wearing makeup and a dress and men going to a NBA off-court event in a suit", yes, there is. They're suits, chosen by stylists to be both dapper and professional. It says to the world "Look, this player can take the business side of the NBA seriously".

Making the rookies take an image consulting seminar and dressing them in gowns for WNBA photoshoots is not remotely the same. It says "Look, I can be a frivolous woman" rather than "Look, I take my business seriously".

I think that if the WNBA has not done so already, it should enforce a dress code for professional appearances comporable to that which the NBA put in use. It should have image consultants available for those players who wish to use them. It should not expect mandatory off-court glamour from each and every player.

Rebecca C - The NBA has a required dress code and rookie seminars. The WNBA just has seminars. That's the difference.

I think the owners of the NBA teams want to stop subisdizing the WNBA and are therefore trying to use sexuality to sell more tickets.

WNBA will probably have it's doors closed soon as a failed social experiment.

The same thing can be said about the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) who are too busy to show players as models rather than athletes.