I have already taken some grief from my single male friends who suggest I need to lighten up a little and if I don't like it I don't have to watch.
It seems as though a seedy Pay per View contest that was created to coincide with the Super Bowl a few years back, has blossomed into a full blown league that is taking up roots in Canada. I speak of the LFL out of Las Vegas… the Lingerie Football League.
Now I am hoping that I am not the only man disgusted by this development, but I am probably bothered by it for different reasons than the one others might naturally fall on.
First, the story from the Calgary Herald just in case you thought I was making this up.
Now for the record I am not a prude who thinks all women should be dressed in muumuus or some chauvinistic jerk who thinks women have no business in sport. Quite the contrary…
If you get your jollies seeing women cavorting around in next to nothing for the amusement of paying customers, there are businesses and locations where people can partake of such “pleasures”….namely strip clubs, cover-charging dance clubs… and Hooters.
As far as women in sport… some of the most exciting sporting events I have ever witnessed were achieved by women. Less than a year ago the world was treated to one of the greatest soccer matches ever played when the US women took on Japan in the World Cup Final, I am Canadian and was on the edge of my seat at every scoring opportunity. The drama of the Americans tying the game and then losing to the Japanese in penalty kicks...the whole thing was magical and what sport is truly all about.
The reason I am disgusted by this development is because it belittles the power and significance of Sport itself.
I’ve been accused of taking sports and athletics a little too seriously at times and that I and many others have trumped up the whole theory of “The Power of Sport”. As a person who has played in various sports throughout my entire life and who coaches young men in Basketball, I am a firm believer in the benefits sport offers us. Both physically through the improvement of health and well being, and mentally through the character development gained in learning new skills, adapting to difficult situations, overcoming obstacles and general life lessons. There is nothing exploitive about what happens in a football game. It is two teams, playing a game that pits their physical ability and mental prowess against a worthy competitor determining who will win.
But THIS garbage?
The players are already jumping up stating “We are NOT being exploited. This has more to do about sport than it does gorgeous women traipsing about in their underwear.”
If that is their stance, I have a simple question.
If it IS about sport and competition… then why aren’t they wearing the full protective gear and covering afforded REAL football players? What benefit is there to the game and the competition in ensuring that the shoulder pads don’t cover the barely covered breasts and the wearing of lace garters if it isn’t to BLATANTLY exploit these young ladies sexuality for the SOLE purpose of making money from sex starved Neanderthals?
Give me a break…
One woman who plays on a team said “This isn’t exploitation. No one is putting a gun to my head to play”
My dear… just because you aren’t being forced to do this against your will or being turned into a slave doesn’t mean that you aren’t being exploited.
Oh and guys? Be honest. How many of you are going because you wanna cheer your team of athletes on to victory and how many of you are there to have a few drinks and pray that there is an “equipment malfunction” or two after a gang tackle?
That’s what I thought.
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