The American Lingerie Football League (LFL) has arrived in Australia.
In an opinion piece in Eureka Street, Catherine Marshall points out that while a few newspaper writers “have done much to highlight the misogyny that is inherent to this form of entertainment, they have done so against a rousing tide of public support for this seedy American import”.
The league’s founder is Mitchell Mortaza, who “implicitly concedes that the only way female athletes can attract attention in a saturated sports market is by taking off their clothes”.
Marshall concludes that “Few women would sanction a ‘sporting code’ that required male athletes to run around nearly naked and unprotected on a sports field, all in the name of titillation; indeed, they would regard it as inhumane. Let’s show women the same respect”.
Catherine Marshall is a journalist and travel writer.