I never knew that a women’s football league existed. Did you? Well, I was wrong. On Friday night, as I was flipping through the channels, I came across women playing football; in their own league. Amazing, right?
Actually, it is quite amazing. It’s a football league for women called the LFL, or the “Lingerie Football League.” It is amazing in the sense that women have their own league to play football. They were tough athletes and played just as hard as any man would. But these were the only things I found amazing about it.
When I saw these women playing, I was baffled. They were playing FOOTBALL in what seemed like panties and a bathing suit top. No, this wasn’t flag-football. This was straight up tackle football, in panties. What was kind of ironic was that these athletes still wore their shoulder pads. Although the shoulder pads were made to fit around the chest, not to cover the breasts.
When watching this, I turned to my boyfriend (who was intrigued by this sport) and said “I’m not sure if this is a good thing for women’s sport or a bad thing.” As I was watching I thought about the discussion we had in class about feminizing women’s sports. And you can’t feminize football anymore than bras and panties. The athletes even wore garters on their thighs.
It was obvious that this sport was directed towards a male audience. The crowd at this game was 90% male, I think. I only saw one female out in the stands that they showed on TV. In my opinion I found this league to be degrading to women. For me, I feel it says that women can’t play tough sports without looking sexy. I mean that there has to be some sort of sex appeal in order for it to be somewhat interesting. I still don’t know what to think of it…
Ann Marie Evidente
Kin 338I
Section 3018
T/Th 9:30am
1 comment:
I knew about the Lingerie Football League because a girl I am friends with actually played in it for a season. In order to make the team, she went through intense try-out sessions and numerous practices. The organization even went so far as to monitor and regulate each girl's diet and workout schedules. I remember my friend not being able to drink alcohol or eat normally with the rest of us because her coaches and mentors in the league did not permit it.
On the otherhand, these women are definitely strong athletes! I am sure that they would be able to play competitively against a lot of other teams. What is sad is that in order to make the league more popular and marketable these women have to play in the skimpy uniforms. I have never heard of a guy's league organized around the notion of playing in very minimal clothing. The NFL requires all players to wear pads and protection so why do women have to play in bras and underwear with just as much effort and running the risk of serious injury?
Tori Dario
KIN 338I T/TH 9:30am
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