When I was growing up, my mom and older sister were experiencing the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s – equal rights, equal pay, etc.
They raised me to understand that we are lucky to be living in this century because not too long ago, women were not so fortunate, and their lives literally depended on the mercy of whatever type of man ran the household.
Inheritance went only from father to son or son-in-law or closest male relative, whether the father had daughters or not; it was of little consequence when it came to inheritance rights.
It’s hard to believe that our gender has come so far, only to be set back by people who will do anything to make money from the exploitation of others, especially the exploitation of women or girls who don’t seem to value themselves and who end up exploiting themselves in search of attention, approval and value.
I don’t doubt there are thousands of girls wanting to audition for the LFL (as per their spokesperson). When a young girl is raised that their value is in their looks and sexuality, which ends up outweighing the value of who they really are, then it seems a natural progression that they will emulate their idols or the images they see all around them.
The music videos you see now would have, 10 years ago, been considered soft porn.
What do we expect when we’re bombarded with the Jersey Shore gang, the Kardashians, Girls Gone Wild, and all the images, videos and advertisements that sell their product with sexuality?
There is a documentary film nominated for an Academy Award this year, which chronicles the lives of some Pakistani women. Some whom have had acid thrown in their faces by their fathers, mothers-in-law, etc. for not following the rules of their culture.
So here we are, on the other side of the world, with the freedom to make choices, to run our own lives as equal citizens in our society, and what do these young girls choose to do? Tackle each other in bras and panties wearing a helmut and shoulder pads, and call it football, when we all know it’s just the marketing strategy of the sex industry once again making a buck off the backs of our seemingly devalued young women.
I have a 15-year-old daughter and she thinks this is just plain stupid. She rolls her eyes at the notion that young women will be running around half naked, playing a sport, for the pleasure of a bunch of leering men who, I’m sure, really can’t see the problem with this at all.
Come on people, teach your daughters they don’t have to shake their butts to be popular, to feel loved or get attention.
They are worth more than that aren’t they? It’s really quite sad isn’t it that we’ve come such a long way and are now turning backwards at an even faster pace.
D. Wall
