Lingerie Football Youth League: Fun Porn Aesthetics and Male Domination for Kids!

[redqueen]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/lingerie-football-league_b_1206556.html?ref=tw

(snip)

The male gaze (the degree to which men's perspective dominates visual culture and turns women into objects) is why we don't usually think about the football uniform as the peacock display that it is or think of players as unnecessarily overly-sexualized. But, hey, what can I say, that's how I've always looked at men in football uniforms. I'm just not male and I'm a soccer fan. Not only does no one consider the female gaze and its possible economic potential, but recent developments show the ridiculous degree to which the male gaze has been taken to here-to-fore unplumbed depths as women make deeper forays into the world of sports.

(snip)

If you haven't heard about it yet, let me introduce you to The Lingerie Football League: a "true fantasy" football league in which women play football in bras and panties. And padding. And athletic tape. Oh, and blackening face paint. Teams have phenomenal, sexy-girl names like "Fantasy" and "Bliss," "Charm" and "Passion." Their website quotes NBC Sports as saying that today the Lingerie League is "the fastest growing pro-sports league in the nation." Now, some people castigate women like me (you know, the whiney ones who want equality and think that the planet would be a better place if female people can be understood as multi-dimensional and fully human) for not having a sense of humour. But, I'm here to say "I do! I do have a sense of humour! Otherwise, how on earth could I be a feminist???" See:

See, the LFL is growing SO fast that it recently announced it's starting a feeder league to build a multi-generational pipeline of demi-cupped, tackle-football playing boy-toys. YES! Finally! An end to the gender discrimination of professional sports. Is your daughter athletic like mine are? Competitive? Fast? Strong? Here's a dream opportunity!

(snip)

Girls are as terrifically athletic as boys, they are playing more sports and are interested in tackle football. But, they can play it clothed, like boys do. If you never read Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs and The Rise of Raunch Culture, pick up or down load a copy. If you did, dust it off and read it to your kids.

More stomach turning info at the link.

[msongs]

1. why do women choose to put colored mud on their faces to please men? "make up" is a billion $$

industry after all

[redqueen]

2. It's a cultural norm.

Women are 'expected' to do many things, based on the culture we live in. Wearing making up is just one of those things.

However, regarding pleasing men... we're so conditioned to see perfect skin on women it becomes 'natural looking' when in reality it is anything but. Look how often tabloids will catch female celebrities without their makeup, and publish 'shocking' pictures of them with *gasp* their real skin showing! (We all know male celebrities use makeup too, but somehow their normal skin doesn't look so 'wrong' to us... I wonder why.)

The desire not to stand out as one of the few adults with uneven (i.e. natural) skin coloring drives most to use at least a minimal amount of makeup so they don't stand out.

[redqueen]

3. May I ask how that relates to Lingerie Football, or the new Lingerie Football Youth League?

[seabeyond]

4. women wear makeup for men, women wear lingerie and play football for men. that is what women

do?

[redqueen]

5. This is what a few women do for strangers, for money.

No correlation at all to makeup.

[seabeyond]

6. of course not. but then, i was answering the purpose of makeup on a thread about lfl. nt

[iverglas]

7. I think there is a connection

It's about the "male gaze", which is the premise the source starts out with.

We have to self-examine too, y'know.

Play the game of presenting ourselves to meet the male gaze in a way that meets with male approval (or approval by the standard it applies), or not?

[redqueen]

8. True, there is a connection, but one is far more a part of fitting in with society.

Given that one is more about fitting in, and the other about making money, I think there's a substantial enough difference to wonder about the how meaningful the connection actually is.

[Kurska]

9. Split feelings on this.

I'm not okay with the clearly sexual nature of this league, but I've heard first hand how seriously some of the women take it. They train hard and they play the game hard, many of them are excited as all hell to even play football in front of a crowd. Without this league most of would probably never get a chance to make a living doing something they love. I want their to be a league where women can play tackle football, if skimpy clothing is needed to make that work. Alright, I'm just glad they get to play the game.

I feel bad that as a society that is what it takes, but at least it is there. No one is being forced to play on a team if they don't want.

[Nikia]

10. It is too bad that they can't play dressed in football attire

Male football players wouldn't dream of dressing in skimpy clothing. Why can't women be celebrated as athletes?