So women finally get a national pro women's football league, and in order to participate, they have to wear their skiivies. It's called the Lingerie Football League and tryouts, unfortunately, are coming to a town near you.
As far as I can tell, this is a new project of the assholes who have been bringing us the Lingerie Bowl, a half-time spectacle during the Super Bowl, for the last few years. I wouldn't know because I'm always obsessively watching the Puppy Bowl.
Heading into Friday's Denver Dream tryouts, my main question was, "What exactly are the producers looking for: models or athletes?"It seemed like a logical question for the fledgling enterprise that boldly calls itself the Lingerie Football League and promises to present scantily clad girls in 10 cities battling it out on the gridiron. Would the emphasis be on the football or on the lingerie?
I'd attempted to get an answer from the LFL prior to tryouts but was given a response that would make any PR agency proud: "We've been fortunate to find girls who are athletic yet very beautiful."
Gross all around. This is objectification at it's most pernicious--give women an opportunity to participate in a sport that they haven't had the chance to do for pay and publicly previously, but only let them do it if they're stereotypically pretty and willing to do it in their underwear.
Thanks to Cinnamon for the heads up.
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wow. barf. I have nothing new to contribute other than the fact that I'm offended that they used "yet" in their statement. Offended as a feminist and as someone that works in PR. Because I guess most athletic women aren't beautiful?
I have no words. Only the need for a vomit-bag.
Frankly, I hope they're looking for models, not athletes. Because with that little protective gear, and that much skin exposed, actual athletes playing football could seriously injure each other. Imagining the turf burns makes me want to cry.
Exactly what I was thinking! So basically, sacrificing safety for the sake of "sexy"? How is no one objecting very, very loudly and publicly to this? How are people even thinking of taking part in it?
Yes! I'm a very athletic person and I would never play this "sport" for many reasons. One being that it can't possibly be safe to play football while wearing so little clothing and such flimsy protection!
Nonsense... Real women play rugby anyways.
In their underwear? Get real. Models that are hired by companies like VS play pretend sports for the viewing pleasure of men. But when real female athletes play something like rugby they wear more than lingerie.
The comment I replied to was about safety.
As far as rugby goes the only difference is going to be a few more cleat marks
I was responding concerning safety as well. You dismissed Avogadro's concern about safety as "nonsense". Do you think it would be safe for women to play rugby in their underwear? Or is it that the safety of female athletes is less important than the safety of male athletes? I played rugby in college, and I wouldn't play it in my underwear. And if men aren't expected to play it in their underwear, then why should women?
"Do you think it would be safe for women to play rugby in their underwear?"
If the bra is strong enough to bind in the scrums then yes. The only protection a jersey gives you against is abrasions, and if you're afraid of getting booted stay off the pitch imo.
I find it interesting that you didn't respond to this question:
And if men aren't expected to play it in their underwear, then why should women?
Because a guy in their underwear is NOT sexy.
Are their lingerie male models, ummmm NO. Victoria's Secret = Sexy, Victor's Secret = Creepy.
I've played rugby in, if not my underwear, then close to it (sports bra and rugby shorts) - it makes binding in the scrum problematic (I play prop, and ended up with the Hook's fingernail marks all down my shoulder), and I got wicked grass burn, but that's about it. So, safe, yes, comfortable, no. Of course, it wasn't a particularly hotly contested game either - it was flipping hot out, a muddy field, and it was after both teams were already out of playoff contention.
On the other hand, you couldn't pay me to play football in that little clothing; football pads are there for a reason - football players have a higher rate of injury even with the pads because they tend to hit indiscriminately, not to mention the hard-shelled helmet.
That little padding is /not/, in my opinion, safe for football - I'd expect to either see a lot of injuries, or some extremely tentative "football".
That's a partly fair point. Rugby players do wear a lot less protective gear than American football players. But they don't wear that little.
Well they wear more clothing, but much less protective gear (just a mouthguard for most).
Its one thing to have naked rugby unisex but not naked rugby for sexual objectfication purposes.Obviously theres no way you'd wear lingerie unless you were playing the 'fool' for entertainment.
I'm a rugger. I started mostly because I always wanted to play a sport with more contact than soccer (which I had been playing for 14 years), but was not able to find a football team to join.
It's true that we wear a lot less padding, but the game is much different than football with more controlled tackles and absolutely no tackles above the neck or pile ups like in football.
This "league" is just an extension of men thinking that girl on girl action is meant for their pleasure. I agree with everyone else who posted that it totally undermines women's sports.
fake girl on girl action makes girl money.
Do you happen to know how much money NFL cheerleaders make? Last I heard they would make more working at Burger King.
I don't know about the NFL, but, a former roommate of mine tried out for the Knicks City Dancers about 10 years ago.
They were paid $ 80 a game for 42 home games a season (they didn't travel to away games with the team.
They also had to come in 4 hours early on game night for practice - and they had to attend various Knicks public events - and all of that extra work was UNPAID.
She decided to stick with her $ 10/hr unionized cashiers job at Pathmark - $ 400 a week plus employer paid health coverage made a hell of a lot more sense than $ 3,360 A YEAR for cheerleading!
Reminds me of the movie "A League of Their Own," in which the women had to wear short skirts that were impractical to the sport because they were seen more as pin-ups than players. I feel bad for the women that tried out for this. There should be more feminsit awareness so the next time this crap comes to a city the women say 'fuck off and shove a football up your ass,' rather than go along with it.
And remember the massive scrape one woman got from sliding? Pants, FTW.
Live your life and let these girls live theirs.
PS-I posted this on my facebook wall in outrage, and here are some comments I got from my lovely male friends:
This is pretty much the best idea ever, combining two of my favorite things. If only they served us beer during timeouts..
well, isnt it true that if women want to play pro sports they will have to sell it to the general public?
Is David Beckham disreputable for being a sex symbol/athlete? I heard Wilt Chamberlain had intercourse with over 1000 women while playing basketball. Athletes become sex symbols because they're HOT! Remember Anna Kournikova? Good looking, but sucked at tennis. Now, Maria Sharapova is a different story.. ROWR
AY.
Oops. I meant to italicize the other two quotes.
This is why I don't have male friends.
Second that! I've met some who are surpisingly enlightened (weirdly scary sometimes). They'll write essays on feminism and defend it as if they were a woman. Maybe its luck and not the beginning of a precedent?
None of my male friends are like that. Anybody in my social circle who is like that I would consider somebody I merely tolerate.
However, there are plenty of guys who aren't activist enough to have become enlightened feminists yet, but who would never make or condone those sorts of comments.
You need some new friends.
Tell me I'm not the only one weirded out by the term "scantily clad girls", with an emphasis on 'GIRLS'.
You're wrong about women finally getting a league, Courtney. There are 2 professional football leagues for women in the US. Both have been around for a few years and have around 20 teams each.
And surprise - the lingerie wearing football players are most popular. That makes me sick.
That's not really true. The "lingerie bowl" started as an alternative option during Super Bowl halftime. Now it's a pay-per-view option during halftime, but it's not made of athletes. It's made up of models "playing" at football.
This lingerie football league isn't more popular; it hasn't started yet. People who are interested in women playing football know about the women's leagues. They do have fans. The issue here is that Courtney is admittedly *not* a football fan (which is pretty common among other commenters), so she heard about this league because it's grossly sexist. Everyone extrapolates from that (and her erroneous comment that "finally women have a professional football league") to assume that the lingerie league is more popular without any proof of that.
"It's made up of models "playing" at football."
Which is sooo infantalizing. Why do they have to suck to be 'sexy?'
I agree. The Lingerie Bowl is more for fun, so I think there's less concern over actually playing at the sport. To be honest, if this league is going to succeed, then the women who play will have to be decent at the game. I know that women playing men's sports ranks fairly high as a male sexual fantasy, but in the end, I think the women who play have to do something other than "be sexy" for anyone to continue to watch. Otherwise a strip club is more enticing.
If you really think a fully clothed women's football team is going to be more popular than a lingere league, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I think you'd be interested in...
Over the long run, I absolutely believe the (clothed) women's leagues will be more popular. These teams do sell hundreds of tickets, and tons of women come out for the tryouts.
The lingerie league is a male fantasy being played out, and that's pretty clear from their literature. It's not going to have "fans." It's likely that for a few games, there would be viewers. Since these women won't be able to play full contact, the league's not going to become a long-term attraction for true football fans.
I find the league disgusting, but as a football fan, I'm seeing its prospects very differently. Football fans will view this as little more than an arousing show to see once. Even backed by ESPN, I don't think it's a serious effort.
Another surprise! A girl from the IWFL who has won numerous awards and her team won championship game tried out for the Lingerie Fooball Leagues' Dallas Desire team and is now currently a coach for them. I think this could be good for woman and sports once all the females start supporting them and stop hating them or treating them like garbage. It would be different if they were playing in see-through corsets or clothing like that but they are sports bras and shorts.
Goddamn this pisses me off! It kills me that there is a real professional women's football league, but this shit will get more attention. As a kid I always wanted to play football but couldn't because it was considered a boys' sport and I couldn't find any teams. I hoped that someday women who play football would get some recognition. This is not what I had in mind. What a mockery of female athletes. It goes to show how our culture fears strong and athletic women unless they are also sex objects and typically feminine. Even female athletes who compete in real clothes often end up posing naked or near naked for ads and magazines. I don't see a problem with appreciating the aesthetic of a muscular female body, but when it is valued over athletic ability and is a requirement for attention, there is a problem.
PS. Those "uniforms" provide no protection from hard hits or turf. Ouch.
So, is this our century's version of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League? In 50 years are people going to be watching a remake of the movie "A League of Their Own" but for football? Because this SO reminds me of that.
Female professional baseball players were required to play in short skirts (imagine sliding into home plate!), wear lipstick at all times, to not wear long pants at any time, and to have long hair.
Well ha! I just read Lilith Luffles comment about how there already IS a professional women's football league in the U.S. It's really sad that its been around for 10 years and I've never ever heard of it, and the Wikipedia page makes it sound like the league is currently in jeopardy too.
This isn't really surprising to me. Most men who watch sports don't care about women in sports. The only sport, being played by females, I've heard male co-workers and male friends admit to watching is beach volleyball and the occasional tennis. And this is not for the love of the game.
I have to add to that crew rowing. I was in crew rowing in high school and college and we had quite the male following. In college we decided at the end of one season to switch to the sports bra top option because the shirts we had were giving us trouble. We didn't even think about the impact it would have on how we were viewed by male fans. But the next season it basically doubled our male fan base, which was annoying. We were also kicking ass, and doing better than the men, and on top of our conference, so that may have played a role, but I suspect it was the sports bras. The funny thing is, in high school I was often made to feel unfeminine because my shoulders and upper body were too muscular, but this didn't seem to deter our male fans. But that was the mid 90s, which seems to be around the time when muscular female bodies were gaining more acceptance.
I plead guilty to the beach volleyball part. I do keep track of the score though, so I'm not a total horndog.
I watched the beach volleyball in the Olympics awhile back... the wardrobe may be retarded but did you see the women's team? Those two were amazing! Anyone who wants to disparage beach volleyball should watch some of their matches. It was beautiful and inspiring to watch them play - Their teamwork and communication was brilliant - something to strive for in any team sport.
And many of the women who compete at that level are also a little older. There was something satisfying about hearing friends who normally fetishise (?) youth be impressed by a mature, strong woman.
And I don't think it's inherently bad to sexualize sports when they are legitimate athletes, and their athletic performance is what put them in the spotlight. How many girls are drooling over Phelps now?
omfg.
I really hope AFL (australian football league) producers here don't get wind of this shit. We have to suffer through the footy shows enough already.
*facepalm*
Yeah!I'm so happy this is featured on feministing. I saw this a couple days ago and am happy it got featured here.
What I remember reading is that the author of the article has won many competitions for football throwing and was athletic. She's 6ft tall and has a masters and is a journalist. She tried out as did a few other women some of whom were a gladiator contestant and another was a beach volleyball player. Those women didnt make it. I dont think the author was really lacking in feminist awareness. She used her athleticism to point out the lies of the football mouthpieces.
Thanks for the reply. My name is Shannon Hurd and I am the author of the Denver Post article. I have won numerous football awards and truly was interested in playing the sport.
I knew going into it, based on the name "Lingerie Football League" alone that looks would be important. The question that I was trying to answer was "HOW important?" Meaning, if the LFL is faced with the choice of picking between a serious athlete who is attractive vs. a Supermodel who may or may not have athletic skills, which way would they go?
Some might think this answer is obvious, but I am here to tell you: I had a LOT of interaction with the league prior to tryouts and could not get a straight answer. So I went to the tryout to find out. Simple as that. It really had nothing at all to do with feminist viewpoints.
If anyone wants to read the story, or talk to me further, e-mail writersmh@hotmail.com.
All those pads in the NFL are not purely cosmetic. This league should be shut down the lingerie league before someone lands a good tackle that leaves someone dead or paralyzed.
It makes me REALLY angry that WOMEN are willing to participate in this heresy. Dear women who participate in that stuff: FUCK YOU. Yeah, FUCK YOU!
Fuck you for making a mockery out of women's sports!
I agree, every woman who participates in these sports make it that much more difficult for the next woman to get taken seriously when she wants to keep her clothes on (and not just on the sports field, either).
But the 'Fuck You's? Really, BTP. You don't know these women's stories. Yeah, some of them are tools. OTOH, some of them are finally getting a chance to be play football at all. Some of them are finally finding a way to earn some money. Please, hate the system, not the marginalized class who is forced to navigate it.
like that stripper that wrote a movie, got an Oscar, and is working with Spielberg-
yeah- lets blame her and others like her for working with her sexuality -
c'mon now- be effin real.
Women survive first, then thrive.
Women can also play with the male dominated BS and fuck with it- turn it upside down and inside out from within
I'm not a fan of the blanket stereotping and blaming that happens on sites like this-
it's what turns intelligent WOC and white women who come from "lower" classes away from feminism.
Stop that and start with some compassion-
and take pride in the survivors and thrivers out there.
Dear women who make money selling their sexual prowess and attractiveness-
make your money by any means- and lingerie football is better means than a lot of women- go make your money and then invest it in making the change you want in the world-
as I have and countless others like me have.
MAKE YOUR MONEY and ignore the folks who have a hard time with you for capitalizing on somethng you have to work with for a short period of time...
who knows, when u are done, you may have the funds to open a school or make a film...or invest in other women's projects-
or perhaps you'll write a book about t- a book that causes a hell of a lot more change than the women bashing and blaming other women!
peace,
i_muse, ex-stripper
current business woman
Don't cry about it. It's unhealthy for your life.
Thank God their shoulders are protected.
This actually gives me a headache.
And I'm mad at the women who would willingly participate in this. Yes, of course they have the right to choose to do whatever they want. But stuff like this only helps to further illegitimate actual female athletes. If there weren't so many women auditioning for crap like this, maybe there wouldn't BE crap like this!
But I am surprised by how many people on this forum weren't even aware that there IS a female football league. I don't follow sports, but I'm proud that woman who excel at it and I think we should all try to give them more support.
blaming women is not doing you or any women in this world any good.
What will you do next? Spit on a sex worker?
As if the NFL is GOOD for men.
Dear women who play football in lingerie-
as long as you are making BANK! I salute you.
Get your money! Money is power in this culture. Take that money and educate yourself (if not already educated) and your children, buy property and invest in businesses owned by women as many ex- strippers do.
Go females making money! By any means ya'll....
Right, except that the salaries of female athletes are usually laughable. Especially compared to their male counterparts.
Nobody's gonna get rich playing lingerie football.
Your privilege ignorance is showing.
They make more than maids and waitresses-
2 jobs I personally found soul killing. I bet a lot of maids would trade mops for shoulder pads and lingerie any day.
They make more than pharmaceutical saleswomen on average as well (or so says one who was one before she became a lingerie footbal shero).
Thank you. Finally some sanity in these comments.
...privilege ignorance...interesting. I've been an athlete all my life and have several friends female who went on to pro sports. One of them makes just enough to live on, the other two have to supplement their income with other jobs. My sister's best friend became an NFL cheerleader and made $7 an hour. I was paying my employees more than that at Starbuck's.
But you're right - I'm totally privileged and ignorant of the world of both female professional sports and the female accessories to male sports.
Have you by any chance researched this lingerie league to see how much BANK the players are going to earn? I wait with baited breath.
Rachel pls stop acting as if you don't understand how bi business works.
You know that NFL players (not other leagues- NFL) make ton o money becuase the industry makes a fortune- it's all relative.
They make more than they would at BK, serving u you coffee wherever you buy it or being your moms maid or your bosses assistant.
As the industry grows and gains popularity (if it does) they will make more money.
and they don't have to grind on anyone's lap to do it.
they are mostly models and dancers who couldn't make it as dancers for whatever reason. I hope women will stop judging them-
As far as I know, I haven't said anything that was judgmental of the players themselves. If you're claiming I did, please provide quotes.
What I am critiquing is our culture which routinely undervalues and others female athletes, overvalues male athletics in comparison, and portray women and the activities they engage in as only being interesting if they're attractive and half-naked while performing them. This does not amount to being judgmental of the women themselves. It just doesn't.
Move to another country if you cant handle our culture. Get in reality and deal with it.
Wowza! I saw this article in the Post & wrote a letter to the editor, and hadn't checked Feministing for a a few days...and just now I saw that a discussion had started about this very same article. Sweet! Anyway, it got published and is here:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/
(Scroll down a bit to "women in sports.")
I only wish that I had been able to read all of this before sending in my letter--it would have been much better. :(
I honestly don't have a problem with sexualizing sports, as long as it's the men, too. How about a men's thong football league. That would sate me.
Watch swimming!!!!
If you're mad about this.... and you have background in sports, then don't whine about the evil women doing this.
Go to a place like YMCA and become a volunteer coach, ref, assistant, etc for a girl's sports program. They always need people - and especially women coaches to keep girls on the teams. I played on all boys soccer teams when I was kid for programs that don't charge much to play. It was a very positive thing for me that has still influenced me as an adult.
There are always a lot of kids - of both genders - who could really use an adult with some sense to spend a little time with after school.
Now I am a model. The type that some of you like to hate on. A few years ago I was broke as shit working in a grocery store and I applied to be a model boxer... because they would have taught me how to box (which would be cool) and I would have made so much money. Some of you wouldn't think so. But to me, it would have been liberating to be financially secure, learning to defend myself.
Yeah, so I would have to wear a bikini or something. But I mostly like my body, and even when I don't, even being completely naked seems just fine. And I would be sexually harassed at the grocery store, dressed conservatively. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Might as well make the big bucks.
This lingerie league is pretty stupid, but so is MAXIM magazine.
Thanks for the reply. My name is Shannon Hurd and I am the author of the Denver Post article. I have won numerous football awards and truly was interested in playing the sport.
I knew going into it, based on the name "Lingerie Football League" alone that looks would be important. The question that I was trying to answer was "HOW important?" Meaning, if the LFL is faced with the choice of picking between a serious athlete who is attractive vs. a Supermodel who may or may not have athletic skills, which way would they go?
Some might think this answer is obvious, but I am here to tell you: I had a LOT of interaction with the league prior to tryouts and could not get a straight answer. So I went to the tryout to find out. Simple as that. It really had nothing at all to do with feminist viewpoints.
If anyone wants to read the story, or talk to me further, e-mail writersmh@hotmail.com.
I find it disappointing that the comments on this thread are busy debating the safety of half- naked women playing football and the economic advantages of modeling. Where is the outrage at the systematic and culturally approved objectification of women? The league isn't about sport. It's porn disguised, albeit poorly, as sport. At least porn is honest about what it is. That's what makes this league so disgusting. By dressing it up as "sport" it can be marketed to a wider audience. The women will not be paid or respected for their abilities, only for how "hot" the action is. The thin veil of "sport" is meant to ease the guilty conscience of men who would not otherwise engage in such open objectification of women.