The "Beauty" of Contact Sports Beautiful, curvy women have a definite advantage in the social aspect of contact sport. Since these ladies look feminine, they are better accepted to audiences and viewers. Attractive females who engage in contact sports can tie together masculine actions with a feminine look, which makes audiences more comfortable. For example, Ronda Rousey is a powerful athlete that dominates her opponents in matches. She is a very successful athlete that gained a lot of media attention, but the fact that she is attractive made it easy for the media to broadcast her efforts. Think: Would she have gained as much media attention if she represented a minority such as African-American or Hispanic? What about if she was not attractive?
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In fact, the appearance of an athlete relates directly to the audience’s interest. Since the sport’s target market is directed towards men, the media uses the “sex sells” strategy. This means that female athletes are sexualized or made extra attractive in order to promote more sales. In the Olympics, for example, women are feminized by makeup and made sure to wear little wardrobe in their photo shoots.
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=819024e0-27e6-41ec-a1bd-f1021cbc082b%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=120 http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f3fdf39f-14f8-42ea-a93d-28141bf797b7%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=120
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=819024e0-27e6-41ec-a1bd-f1021cbc082b%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=120 http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f3fdf39f-14f8-42ea-a93d-28141bf797b7%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=120
Another example of sexualizing female athletes is the Lingerie Football League. This is formerly known as the Legends Football League, which is a huge disgrace to female athletics. These players are provided barely any protection to their bodies because they have to look sexy, which means they wear barely any clothes. They wear shoulder pads and knee pads, but the rest of their bodies are exposed except for the little bit of clothing they wear. They do not wear proper attire to engage in tackle football. They are put on the field in bras and underwear, and they are expected to experience full on tackles and rough play even with the little protection they have. It is horrible for these athletes, and it terrible representation for female contact sports overall.
The athletes in the Legends Football League are underprivileged because they have to play football as sexual objects instead of playing as serious athletes. The league focuses on their bodies and appearance. They are not praised for their skills and achievements on the football field the same as they are praised for their sexiness. The league promotes itself by recruiting not the best of the best players, but the best of the best-looking girls. This is a huge disgrace to contact sports because it is promoting the sexualization of female athletes. The league is getting a lot of successful media attention, but they are not selling women’s sports, they are selling sexy. Media images that hypersexualize sportswomen do not promote interest in the sport, they actually suppress interest (and respect). “Even when younger males, a prime target audience, indicated that sexually provocative images were “hot,” they also stated that such images did not fundamentally increase their interest in women’s sports, particularly when it came to attending a sporting event. The key takeaway? Sex sells sex, not women’s sports.” The article also stated, “Our findings revealed that in the vast majority of cases, a “sex sells” approach offended the core fan base of women’s sports— women and older men.”
http://www.lflus.com/ http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f3fdf39f-14f8-42ea-a93d-28141bf797b7%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=120
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=819024e0-27e6-41ec-a1bd-f1021cbc082b%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=120
The athletes in the Legends Football League are underprivileged because they have to play football as sexual objects instead of playing as serious athletes. The league focuses on their bodies and appearance. They are not praised for their skills and achievements on the football field the same as they are praised for their sexiness. The league promotes itself by recruiting not the best of the best players, but the best of the best-looking girls. This is a huge disgrace to contact sports because it is promoting the sexualization of female athletes. The league is getting a lot of successful media attention, but they are not selling women’s sports, they are selling sexy. Media images that hypersexualize sportswomen do not promote interest in the sport, they actually suppress interest (and respect). “Even when younger males, a prime target audience, indicated that sexually provocative images were “hot,” they also stated that such images did not fundamentally increase their interest in women’s sports, particularly when it came to attending a sporting event. The key takeaway? Sex sells sex, not women’s sports.” The article also stated, “Our findings revealed that in the vast majority of cases, a “sex sells” approach offended the core fan base of women’s sports— women and older men.”
http://www.lflus.com/ http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f3fdf39f-14f8-42ea-a93d-28141bf797b7%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=120
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=819024e0-27e6-41ec-a1bd-f1021cbc082b%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=120
The Legends Football League is not a good example for young females that are aspiring to be successful professional football players. No female should be made to play in her underwear in efforts to attract an audience. LFL is not a safe environment for players. Athletes of every age should play with proper gear, padding and attire. All athletes deserve to be taken seriously and not taken for granted.
Fortunately, there are a few leagues that offer a serious and safe environment for women who want to play football at the professional level in the United States. The Independent Women’s Football League is a women’s American football league, which was founded in 2000. www.iwflsports.com/ The Women’s Football Alliance and the Women’s Spring Football League are the other two football leagues available for female athletes to be a part of.
All in all, gaining the public interest by sexualizing athletes does not sell the athlete or the sport, it just sells sex. It is found that women and older men are more often than not repulsed by the sexualization of female athletes. Instead, these individuals were more interested in images and articles of women that displayed achievement, athletic talent, and professionalism. With that, the motion to make female athletes famous for their bodies instead of their athleticism needs to stop. Female athletes do not need to be shown as sexual objects in order to gain an audience. Most women and older men are not interested in that anyways. Sportswomen need and deserve to be celebrated for their accomplishments, skills, and work ethic, just as their male counterparts.
Fortunately, there are a few leagues that offer a serious and safe environment for women who want to play football at the professional level in the United States. The Independent Women’s Football League is a women’s American football league, which was founded in 2000. www.iwflsports.com/ The Women’s Football Alliance and the Women’s Spring Football League are the other two football leagues available for female athletes to be a part of.
All in all, gaining the public interest by sexualizing athletes does not sell the athlete or the sport, it just sells sex. It is found that women and older men are more often than not repulsed by the sexualization of female athletes. Instead, these individuals were more interested in images and articles of women that displayed achievement, athletic talent, and professionalism. With that, the motion to make female athletes famous for their bodies instead of their athleticism needs to stop. Female athletes do not need to be shown as sexual objects in order to gain an audience. Most women and older men are not interested in that anyways. Sportswomen need and deserve to be celebrated for their accomplishments, skills, and work ethic, just as their male counterparts.