Lingerie football ignites gender debate
June 8, 2012 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Nestle has asked a sporting venue not to put its logo on a game of gridiron played by women in lingerie after pressure from consumers who say it’s gender discrimination.
The Allphones arena will be the second venue in Australia to host a promotional game played by teams from the US’s Lingerie Football League.
The players – many of whom compete in other, fully-clothed sports – are unpaid for the lingerie matches that attract tens of millions of viewers both live and via telecast.
They wear just a helmet and shoulder pads for protection – a notable difference to the fully-clothed version of the sport, in which players wear heavily-padded, full-body uniforms.
Chloe Butler, an Australian who plays for the league overseas has told reporters that she has been in two incidents on the field that resulted in broken bones.
In addition, players are required to sign a contract that prohibits them from wearing anything under their lingerie that may ‘prevent accidental nudity’.
ANGRY CONSUMERS
“I contacted Allphones and asked them not to condone the objectification of women,” says Claire Johnston Hall.
“It promotes the idea that women shouldn’t be taken seriously in sport,” she adds.
Ms Johnston Hall contacted all of the sponsors listed on the Allphones Arena website, the background of which had been fully covered with promotional images of the lingerie-clad players.
She said Nestle responded quickly, ringing her to say it had asked Allphones to remove its logo from the list of sponsors on its page.
However, Nestle advised that it could not end its partnership with the arena – for which it is the sole supplier of ice cream – because that would mean it could no longer sell its products there.
PLAYERS DON’T FEEL EXPLOITED
Chloe Butler hopes to represent Australia in rugby at the 2016 Olympics. She says she doesn’t feel at all objectified when she is on the field playing lingerie football.
The LFL is holding tryouts in Sydney this week, ahead of its launch in Australia in 2013.
Local gridiron player Gemma Weeks is hoping to be chosen on the Sydney team, and says she doesn’t mind what she wears as long as she has the chance to play the sport.
Her husband Jamie – himself an avid gridiron player – says it’s more important to him that the sport gain exposure than the reason it attracts attention.
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