The Absurdity of the Lingerie Basketball League
More objectification of women in sports.
When you visit the Lingerie Basketball League’s website, a short video starts to play that showcases pictures of the league’s scantily clad players. The women wear little more than a bra and underwear and have some sort of weird wrapping around their legs (must help with their three-point shot).
The site’s colors are predominantly pink and black and its logo features a silhouette of a woman with noticeable curves. The basketball in the logo is wrapped in what looks like a garter. Next to the logo, you’ll see the league’s tagline: “Where Beauty Meets the Hardwood.” The stagnant background image blacks out the women’s faces with only their chest and stomach visible.
As the pictures rotate, this is the audio you’ll hear in the background:
“America loves basketball. America loves beautiful women. Now, a match made in hoops heaven. I’m Kevin Scholla and this is the Lingerie Basketball League. Are you ready for supreme athletes that are tough on their opponents but easy on the eyes? You better be; the Lingerie Basketball League is here. Join us for professional basketball with a twist – gorgeous women with top-notch talent. Three letters say it all – LBL – the Lingerie Basketball League. Basketball never looked so good.”
I love basketball. I have nothing against lingerie. But mixing the two is asinine.
If you weren’t aware, the Lingerie Basketball League’s championship game between the Los Angeles Beauties (featuring a pageant crown for their logo) and the Los Angeles Glam (the ‘L” in Glam is actually a picture of lipstick) is on November 4.
Will you be watching?
“Lighten up,” you’ll say. “No one is forcing these women to play half-naked. Who cares?”
Maybe you’re spot-on. I don’t disagree that these women have a right to play in the league if they want. It’s absolutely their choice to willingly subject themselves to wearing underwear while playing basketball.
But the issue as it pertains to women’s sports runs much, much deeper than that.
Critics of the WNBA have long called for the league to try new ideas and to market the league in a fresh way. Suggestions have ranged from “sexualizing” the league by having its players wear bikinis or tighter uniforms (some of which are being enforced by FIBA overseas as we speak) to lowering the rims and trying other gimmicks to make it more appealing for males to watch.
My favorite writer (Ben’s note: not really), Bill Simmons, sums up the stereotypical male view perfectly (from his 2005 article):
“…the vast majority of WNBA players lack crossover sex appeal. That’s just the way it is. Some are uncomfortably tall and gawky, while others lack the requisite, um, softer qualities to captivate males between 18 and 35. The baggy uniforms don’t help. Neither does the fact that it’s tough for anyone to look attractive at the end of a two-hour basketball game.”
Bill nails it. That’s why you watch the NBA, right? You want the players to have sex appeal. You watch because they have the “softer qualities” that captivate you. You watch because at the end of a basketball game, they look attractive.
Well, thankfully for Bill and millions of other sports fans, the Lingerie Basketball League is here for your enjoyment. It’s the perfect league! After all, society and male reinforcement has made it mandatory for its female athletes to “captivate” males between 18 and 35 with their “assets.” They have to be universally considered to be “attractive” or people will never watch.
No perceived sex appeal? Must not be worth it.
Sarcasm aside, the remaining issue here is that the over-sexualization of women’s sports continues to be experimented with as if society is simply tweaking with the only way to make it appealing to the masses. Rather than focus on the improved quality of play in women’s basketball, mainstream media outlets now want the LBL to replace the WNBA essentially calling it a brilliant idea that is long overdue.
Does that not sadden anyone else?
The LBL contradicts itself when it says that it is much more than a “powder-puff” team and the women are gifted athletically. I don’t dispute that; many of them are. But, then, why the need for lingerie if you’re resting your laurels on their collective athletic talent?
Women shouldn’t ever have to do this to get attention. And, quite frankly, it’s rather insulting and derogatory.
I’m not here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t watch. These women are voluntarily putting themselves in this situation. But it troubles me that the Lingerie Football League (a sister league to the LBL) is now recruiting teenagers as young as 13 for a youth league.
Why aren’t more people upset by this?
And, perhaps more importantly, how long until the LBL does something similar?
The scary and unfortunate part is that these ideas keep testing the boundaries of societal acceptability; the more shocking something is, the more we consume it. What was once a call for “tighter” uniforms has led to players wearing bras and panties.
What’s next? The Nude Basketball League?
Unfortunately, in today’s society, that idea doesn’t sound nearly as outlandish as it should.
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Sex sells, but we all know real basketball fans won’t watch this nonsense, cause the ladies will probably suck.
I don’t take these things seriously, it’s just another aspect of the sex industry to me, right there with strip clubs and porn.
People clamoring for the WNBA players to don sexy uniforms though, now THAT is disturbing.
I don’t watch much WNBA, but when I do, I do it cause of the “B” in the league’s name, not the “W”.
My comment never posted.
Nevermind then…
This article is free advertisement for the LBL.
I’m sure they’ll be happy to see it.
Now, this league is obviously nothing more than someone else trying to cash in on the s e x industry.
To me, it’s the same as strip clubs and the “p” word I apparently can’t say on here.
TRUE basketball heads will most likely ignore this, because the players will most likely suck.
People suggesting WNBA players should dress more provocatively though, THAT I find disturbing.
It leads me to believe that these men care more about the “W” in WNBA than the “B”.
Personally, I don’t watch much WNBA, but if I do it’s for the basketball.
Sure, I’m a guy and I might say “damn, she’s kinda cute” but it doesn’t get to the point where I’ma be like “I need to see HER in her bra and panties!”
I respect them as ballplayers and as women.
But long as the WNBA remains the WNBA, let these fools have these lingerie leagues.
It doesn’t hurt anyone until it really does threaten the WNBA.
People want to make money,men are better at sports and women are sexy. It sounds disgusting for me to say, but it’s realistic. This is why nobody’s on here crying about how come there isn’t a lingere basketball league for men.
I mean, if Ben Osborne is to be believed, SLAM Online gets a ton of traffic.
Many people read the posts on here and don’t comment.
Makes you wonder how many will read this and tune in to this LBL nonsense that might not have known about it otherwise.
Then again, you have a point.
Is silence the same as condoning?
Some say it is, so in that regard, I suppose speaking out against this if you’re that against it is the right move to make.
That being said. Ben, I’m glad that you are a voice for the WNBA. I don’t follow it that closely but I do enjoy the games when I do watch it. And I check your posts to see which players and teams are worth checking out.
I wouldn’t have watched it either way, but I wanted to make that point.
But, I do understand that if you care deeply about an issue, you feel the need to speak on it when you see something that pricks your conscience. I understand that urge completely.
Die-hard fans of the sport’s tactics, competition, technical abilities, etc have no problem watching the WNBA, though. That being said, when the WNBA continues to be a black hole financially, in spite of the ever-increasing abilities of the players, how is the status quo a good thing?
As a soccer fan as well, I’m also aware that the president of FIFA has gone on record as saying women soccer players should wear sexier uniforms, as well. And that’s in a sport where commentators have gone on record saying the level of play is quite close to that of the men’s game, compared to a sport where the physical capabilities of the athletes are in stark contrast as they are basketball; that means more casual fans are potentially watching the game just for the game.
As unfortunate a state of affairs that it may be, men and women athletes will continue to be treated differently because their skills and abilities are different. That’s not saying men are better at these sports than women, or vice versa. It is saying that in certain cases, like basketball, the men’s game is a much more bankable product. Thus, things like the LBL come along in an ethically grey attempt at increasing bankability.
The WNBA, although not as popular as the NBA, is relatively strong and has a decent fan base. Lots of people appreciate sex and a lot of people appreciate female athletes.
“I have no problem with women. I have nothing against lingerie. But mixing the two is asinine.” ……………I SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH COMBINING WOMEN AND LINGERIE, NOTHING WRONG WITH SUBTRACTING LINGERIE FROM WOMEN EITHER. AFTER ALL, WHY DO THEY WEAR IT?
………….
SPEAKING OF GIMMICK SPORTS, I MISS SLAMBALL.
Basketball… there’s really nothing hot about basketball, not even accidentally. Why don’t they just subtract the basketball and leave the women?
THE ONE THING THAT TRULY BOTHERS ME ABOUT ANY OF THIS IS HOW THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE IS GOING TO START A YOUTH LEAGUE. I WOULD HOPE THAT THE GIRLS WOULD AT LEAST WEAR MORE CLOTHES.
ID LIKE TO REITERATE ONE OF MY EARLIER POINTS THAT UNNECESSARILY SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN IN SPORTS IS NOTHING NEW. SEE: VOLLEYBALL, TENNIS.
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