Revs Girls...?

Not if they were Blue Eyed blondes

 

That's not the problem at all. The problem is this:

 

An economic institution bringing wealth and security to one's family would probably be viewed differently than one's response to an attractive woman. I didn't live in the 1840's. Maybe Georgians back then viewed those concepts similarly in your BASIC ANALOGY

 

Personally, I find it more demeaning to think daughters can't figure things out on their own and take their marching orders from these kinds of PG-13 images. Aren't they exposed to far worse and far better things in the media and on the internet?

 

If someone is hopped up on heroin, might as well give them some more. They've already had so much, what harm can a little more do?

This is my whole point. Just because this practice is wide spread, it doesn't mean the Revs need to take part in it. Just because little boys and girls see this all the time, it doesn't mean the also need to see it with the Revs.

The analogy merely exists to point out a fallacious statement.

 

The problem isn't one of coercion or intelligence. The problem is that the entire concept is insulting.

Yes, there are women that will put up with being insulted for one reason or another. We all put up with being insulted from time to time for one reason or another.

That doesn't mean it's not insulting.

 

I put up with being insulted every time I hear Mike Burns say "we're really, really trying to sign a striker, and the ownership is in full support of building the best possible team we can here."

 

This conversation pretty much personifies how the offseason is going...not well

 

"This practice" is the fundamental concept that people are more attracted to beauty. That's it. Another ridiculous analogy doesn't refute that universal truth.

 

It's not that people are attracted to beauty that bothers me. To quote Mike Marshall, this is what bothers me:

• I don't like that the name refers to a large group of grown up women as "girls".
• If it's not sexist, why are there only women? (I know other companies use women... that doesn't make it OK)
• What's up with the Revolution jerseys with the collars that hint at cleavage?
• Bicycle shorts?

The fact that it's women only makes it sexist. That seems pretty strait forward to me. I'd love to see an argument for keeping the Revs girls that isn't morally bankrupt or outright fallacious, but it certainly hasn't come up yet.

 

1. You mean all I had to do to get Oprah off the air was report her saying "You Go Girl" as it is offensive, akin to slavery and heroine addiction? Also "One-Nil to the boys in blue": The new YSA.

2. If they had men, would Kyle Lindsey (if he still works there) be above or below your line of hotness and need to be fired? Oh wait, you probably never noticed the male members of the FO accompanying the Rev Girls at games and events.

3. I have never lewdly examined the "hint of cleavage". Fill me in, what have I been missing?

4. I remember a port visit in Bahrain during August. They made us wear pants as not to offend. The jock itch I got from walking around was so insane, I had to get an injection.

See, here's the problem: You find the Rev Girls offensive when the vast majority of people at games either don't care, are mildly amused/confused by them, or find their presence to be a pleasant thing. If they were the problem you claim them to be, there would have been enough negative feedback by now to force the team to take away their opportunity for promotional experience.

They don't need to justify themselves to a few prudes or phoney white knights. Nobody needs to argue in order to keep them, they have been here since 2009. Your over the top comparison do you no justice when people see who they are and what they do.

What does need to be justified is how you can bring yourself to an event that decides its conflicts in a physical manner. All this does is perpetuates a war society, while reenforcing the concept of male expendability. If you can think of an argument as to why we should let the institution of soccer survive and isn't morally bankrupt or outright fallacious, I'd love to hear it.

 

Of course using sex to sell a product works. Duh. That's not what I'm arguing. Does it work, from a financial perspective? Yes, absolutely, but I'm criticizing it from a moral perspective. I object to it morally, not financially.

Ad hominem, the hallmark of any good defense

They exist, therefore they should remain? What kind of argument is that? People haven't revolted and there hasn't been backlash, therefore it's absolutely fine? Ad populum, another hallmark of any good defense.

Soccer perpetuates a "war society" because it's an athletic competition? That's absurd. Soccer is not violent. In "fact violent" conduct is an offense punishable by ejection. And "male expendability?" I'm pretty sure women play soccer too. Last time I checked, these players are not risking their lives.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to explain and yes I now see it in a different light and I now realize it didn't emanate from you. Thanks for that.

Now as for the Twitter sentiment which precipitated this poll... Twitter shmitter. My 9 year old daughter loves them, and I've met some of them, they are good eggs, and not Barbie Tarts and that's all that matters to me.

 

Wow. Real games cannot start soon enough.

 

Interesting more people are upset over this than the current level of attention we receive from ownership

 

The only problem I have with the RevGirls is that it seems like whenever they give one a microphone for some kind of on field presentation, they never pick one who is, you know, good at speaking in public. As for using sex appeal as some kind of sales and marketing tactic, everyone has their own opinion on that kind of thing. Whether you like girls in skimpy outfits or David Beckham in his undies, you find fault with it for moral reasons, or you are just indifferent to it...each is an opinion. Free societies allow all opinions.

Personally, on my "Aspects of the Revolution that I care about" list, the RevGirls have to be dead last. If they exist or not, I don't care - not even enough to vote in the poll.

 

Ha ha!

 

Not true for me! I'm just all cried out about the appalling neglect of these owners.

 

I would imagine it's hard to find attractive AND articulate girls for these roles. I just find it refreshing that these girls are friendly, pleasant, hard working and somewhat pretty. I like how they just need to look appealing but not perfect and plastic. I also like how they promote the team, while not being like a cheerleading squad. I find that more real, more organic, more accessible. I appreciate that.

How unfair would it be for the Rev girls to have something they like to do be eliminated by those who simply don't care?

 

That should fall on the Revs. It should be mandatory that they know at least the names of the players on the team what what positions they play.

 

Or you can even use the "Jonathan Kraft Standard," where they would have to at least know 3-4 key player names, more or less how the team is doing, who the next opponent is, whether it is a "big" game vs. a "good" team, etc.

Um, on second thought.....

 

"[A] little bit more"? How about a LOT more?

I can understand the draw of having a team of promotional brand ambassadors who go out into the community and engage with people in the hope of convincing at least some of them to become consumers of the New England Revolution product. However, in order for said marketing effort to be truly effective, the brand ambassadors need to be more than just attractive. They need to be outgoing, articulate, and both knowledgeable and passionate about the sport of soccer and the Revolution, as well.

This is why the Rev Girls initiative has been a failure from the get-go. Historically, while the young women chosen to participate have been attractive (I'll concede that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder") and outgoing, far too few have been articulate, with an even smaller percentage being truly knowledgeable and passionate about the product they're promoting. My experience has been that the members of the Rev Girls (God, that name has to go.) that I've engaged with, while pleasing to the eye and energetic, as well as successful in pursuit of their education and other business endeavors, have been vacuous when it comes to having even rudimentary knowledgeable about the sport of soccer and the Revolution. As for harboring a passion for soccer and the Revs, I can remember conversations I had with some of these young women, as well as a couple of actual past bios that appeared on the Revolution website, where members of the Rev Girls listed football, baseball, or hockey as their favorite sport! Are you kidding me?!?!?

From the start, any person selected to be a New England Revolution promotional brand ambassador should have been someone who actually played the sport of soccer. And I'm not just talking about having been on an AYSO team when they were 7. I'm talking about young women and men (more on this in a moment) who play the sport - whether at school, or in club programs - into their twenties. Better still, soccer enthusiasts who choose to continue playing the sport at a recreational level into adulthood. Simply by virtue of regular athletic activity, these people would be attractively fit. More importantly, they would harbor a true passion for the sport of soccer.

I also believe that the Revolution's team of promotional brand ambassadors should be comprised of both women and men. I'm not so naive as to be oblivious to the fact that fitness and attractiveness - yes, sex - sells. If attractive, outgoing, soccer-knowledgeable and soccer-passionate women prove effective at promoting the Revolution to men, it stands to reason that attractive, outgoing, soccer-knowledgeable, soccer-passionate men are going to just as effectively promote the Revolution to women. Why not build a team of promotional brand ambassadors that can effectively market your product to all potential customers, male and female?

Further, having at least one male Revolution promotional brand ambassador travel with two or three female brand ambassadors could prove a boon from a security standpoint. I have to believe that the chance of some lecher in the crowd at a bar making a an untoward comment or advance on a female Revolution brand ambassador would decrease if there was also a clearly visible male Revolution brand ambassador working the crowd. Ultimately, a bar's security team would handle intervention, but as a means of I'm not saying that Revolution's team of brand ambassadors be a 50/50 split of women and men, but - for a variety of reasons - I believe it would be beneficial to have about 1/3 of the team comprised of males.

 

I think the Rev Girls can serve an important purpose to the Revs, but they're asking too much from one position. Maybe have Rev Girls at bars and Rev Team-ers(?) at the stadium?

From what I've seen at bar appearances, the Rev Girls are probably the only way that Revs can engage patrons about the team and the sport. In fact, at the bar appearances, they're probably better off hiring promo girls or just have the Rev Girls dress like promo girls.

At the stadium however, your much better off with a high energy, engaging, soccer-lover, regardless of the dress or appearance.

It's like they hired someone for TV and require them to have a radio voice