Sex sells: The women's game

A little late to the game, but here is an except from Pitch Invasion's Andrew Guest on the subject. This article is about UP soccer, but think it holds true for the WNT fans.

http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2009/09/14/where-women’s-soccer-is-king/

 

Re: Hottest Women's Player, v2.0

Did I hit a raw nerve

I only speak about what I see and hear. As an avid football fan, and a male, I tend to be in the appropriate environments to see and hear a lot of behaviours relating to this topic first hand. It doesn't take a PHD in social psychology to see what's going on here.

Saying that guy's don't give a crap about what a woman is like when she's attractive, and accentuating her sex appeal to gather attention, is an easy to observe piece of info. It's a natural reaction for guys when assessing an overtly sexy woman. The woman becomes an object or tool, and nothing more at that moment in time.

Just sit in any room filled with guys looking at FHM, Playboy etc... and you will see and hear all you need to know. Go out to any hormonally charged environment with social interaction between men and women, and listen to the guys around you. It's something we choose not to acknowledge, but it's all there.

When an female athlete puts her self in the situation to be viewed and desired sexually, little to no respect is given to her being outside of that state. We are told sex appeal is the best way for girls to get a message across to men, but there's always more to the equation of sex being all that's needed to sell things.

When you speak about attracting current day potential women's soccer fans, your not speaking about all men. So the slightly annoyed "half the population" remark is a dud. The traditional straight male soccer fan is an absolute stereotype though, when it comes to their reaction to viewing unnecessary or overtly sexy women. We're men.

I don't like hearing the remarks made in poor taste, or the overly negative tone of thought, but I understand why it's sometimes there. It's not embarrassing, it's the way the male brain has evolved to function. Dave Chapelle (the comedian) for me say's it best. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OBPaenkxdg"]YouTube - ‪Dave Chapelle on how women dress.‬‏[/ame]

 

Re: Hottest Women's Player, v2.0

No. Too many words to spout off generalities and assumptions.

I thought your contributions to the recent discussions on the US team though have been interesting and provocative.

 

Increasing Attendance

Those advocating the use of sex to sell the WPS have it backwards. Forget trying to get more men. The WPS should go after a larger female audience by hiring male dancers. Dress them up as the male equivalent of NBA dance teams. Chippendales in shorts but without the stripping and in a wholesome atmosphere.

 

Re: Increasing Attendance

Get a bunch of burly, muscular guys, paint their chests to spell "magicJack" and after every goal they strip their shirts off, pick up a large magicJack prop and plug it into a USB port.

The Breakers- put the guys in speedos and give them an "ocean spray" after every goal.

The Flash? Well... hmmm... uhhh....I guess just clap and stuff.

 

ESPN previews the World Cup with an article by Roger Bennett: 10 Reasons to Watch the WWC. Currently it's featured on the soccer main page.

Excellent photo to go with it.



This is all I've been saying... How hard was that? Hey, I actually like how Abby looks but I can't deny Alex Morgan probably has more widespread appeal? How hard was that to work in a picture with her?

One reader comment:

He never knew Alex Morgan was hot because bozos like us at BigSoccer want to find every excuse imaginable to not show photos of someone like her with an article on women's soccer.

 

This should go over well here.........

 

All I want is a sandwich. Preferably turkey and yellow cheese. What? You mean this is not the food thread. Damn.

 

I think if you look at the comments on Solo's facebook page where the picture was posted (c'mon, I know you all have "liked" her page), you'll see comments from other females saying "You are my role model!" (not "you were my role model till I realized you were a slut!"), so apparently she can be sexy to guys and an empowered female to other women all in the same picture. Nike and Solo seem to already get this and have moved on while the burkas vs. wet t-shirts debate rages on here.

 

It sounds like your a fan of the Barbie doll effect. That could be the only reason to why you could pay any attention to so many stupidly disingenuous comments and views, all relating to the possible acceptance of beauty over substance in women's sports. "He never knew Alex Morgan was hot" .

If the girls don't fit the mainstream media convention of female beauty, don't use them to promote the game. Is it that just simple? Should all of women's sport use all the simplistic conventions of wider entertainment and it's gender roles, in how it chooses to promote women on a purely sexual platform?

It may work for the ridiculously shallow, vacuous natured music industry, and be all that's needed to seem relevant on near enough everything that's on our screens and magazines. Within a sports landscape though, it all helps to take away form the talent on show. Remember that for every David Beckham, there's a Messi. Between these two polar opposites of football ability vs marketing power, who's quality actually brings in viewers to the sport

I would have hoped women's football wouldn't have to go down the E! entertainment style culture route to appeal to a wider soccer fan audience. If guy's or girls want to enjoy the physical aesthetics of the girls that play the game, fine, there's plenty of pretty girls within the sport to cater to that demand.

These same girls though, genuinely have talents beyond what they wear, or how pretty they can look. I seriously doubt such enlightened comments as "I never knew Alex Morgan was hot. I guess I'll watch." suggests seeking out the archetype male fan through sex appeal alone.

 

What, like Solo is the only female soccer Nike athlete marketed in this way. Take a look at Germany's Lira Bajramaj right now. It's the exact same situation in terms of the female support she draws. With Nike neither athlete has been put into uncomfortable scenarios, but instead exude strength and ability, alongside beauty and personality. What female wouldn't want that in a friend or role model?

Nike when in comes to their athletes seem to have a pretty good understanding of the balance between the needs of talent/personality, and marketing/sex appeal. I think the wider question is not strictly about the companies who's interest lies with the girls as personal commodities, but more about the way in which media outlet sources highlight or discuss the game as a whole.

Burkas vs. wet t-shirts would make a hell of a comedy skit though

 

I think it is mindset. The majority of sports fans are male. They are geared to faster and stronger. Women are not viewed as such. While some will fall in love with the game, most will look to beauty and attractiveness of women athletes.

 

Re: Hottest Women's Player, v2.0

Well, rise above it.

 

Aww, come on. You posted that quote. That or raineyday05 is a woman, because no guy would suddenly decide to watch the WWC based on that photo of her.

What I'm really wondering, though, is what do the players think of that uniform. Doesn't look like it has much room for ventilation and the collar has to start chafing after 90 minutes.

 

Am I the only one who looked at this photo and wondered if it was photoshopped? In this photo Hope appears to have no body fat. Or at least none on her abdomen. Only women athletes I've seen with that little body fat were runners. And not all runners. I wouldn't expect that of a goalie.

 

Re: Increasing Attendance

They could hire Anthony Weiner. He'll be looking for work soon enough!

Anthony can't be the only Congressman with skills.

 

Bajramaj is an even more interesting example because the culture in her native Kosovo is still pretty un-liberated. I'd be really curious to hear how she is viewed there by men and women. The german team, as a whole, seems to get a little kookier with their shoots anyway.

Uh-oh, as I searched for a good picture from one of their recent shoots, I found this.....



Here's a link to the brief article with a few pics. Certainly this isn't where I'd like to see the USWNT go, but I guess that's Europe being Europe.

Um, I don't recommend clicking the video link if you're at work.....

 

Oh, no, not at all. Anymore than anyone could possibly be drawn to a player's tattoos. Either that or the tattoos have something specifically to do with "love of the sport...."

Honestly....

***
and not that there's anything wrong with the tattoo appeal. I'd post some pictures from the ESPN Body issue but they may run afoul of the rules here. So for those interested - Google Tasha Kai ESPN body

We'll settle for this here:

 

"If the girls don't fit the mainstream media convention of female beauty, don't use them to promote the game."

Wait a minute, isn't it about changing the mainstream view as to what is beautiful and attractive? Or at least providing an alternative to it? As the slogan goes, "we've come a long ways, baby."

As for Beckham and Messi, at the very least the two show that both ways of appealing to fans' interests can coexist on the pitch. So why are we arguing.

Second, do you actually know what, say, most women who watch soccer think of Messi? I don't. He's no Beckham but my guess is that a lot of women would think he's reasonably cute in a boyish kind of way. But I really don't pretend to know what women think.

But it's a pretty bizarre discussion we're having here, bordering on absurd. As StevieBeat says,

 

If commercial sex appeal translated into TV ratings and fans, Indycar racing TV ratings would be on fire the last few years due to Danica Patrick. Instead, they have been lackluster. She has plenty of marketing deals, but just because she can sell motor oil, domain names, men's magazines, Sports Illustrated issues and other products doesn't mean that the men who buy those things are going to sit down and watch her in an Indy car race on TV. That's why the big time for her is making the jump to NASCAR.

Women's soccer already had a beautiful, megawatt media darling. Not even the super popular Mia Hamm, however, could carry the WUSA to mainstream success. We've already had sexy marketing of pro players. Heather Mitts was in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. What percentage of guys who bought that issue started watching women's pro soccer?

Men being attracted to sexy women should not be conflated with men wanting to watch women play sports. Men like sexy women, that's easy, that's just basic biology since the beginning of the human species. Why men typically don't like to watch women's sports is a much more complicated social question.

 

Same ol' strawman .
Nobody's saying one cute smile or, heaven forbid, one Playboy or Maxim pictorial is going to turn women's soccer into an overnight success. That's ridiculous.

As for Danica Patrick, I don't get the appeal of auto racing much personally, but it isn't a strong argument. A) she still has brought a lot of extra coverage to Indy racing. That's valuable exposure that would otherwise cost millions of dollars in advertising. And B) the decline in racing is not limited to Indy. NASCAR has taken a big hit in the last 3 or 4 years, for example. For all we know Danica Patrick has helped stem a decline in attendance, viewership, and fan interest in Indy since other signs point to a decline in these categories for auto racing in general. (at least in the US - I have no idea about Formula One around the world)

 

How ironic for you to say that, when you post things like this

You are one of the most annoying posters I have ever seen. Every time someone disagrees with you, you just say that they are making a strawman argument, which makes it impossible to have an actual discussion.