Watching Women in Sport

Female athletes have a rough road to hoe (oops that’s a no-no). The reality is that athletic women have often been looked upon as “odd” or to put it bluntly, as lesbians or dykes.

Women in team sports fare worse than their counterparts in individual sports. Tennis players, golfers, swimmers, soccer players and volleyball players are often quite feminine looking and pass the pin-up girl smell test.

But women in a team sport such as basketball seem to get labeled not only as odd but as unattractive and masculine.

The WNBA has struggled for years to become a financially viable industry. But although the players are better, smarter and can put on a basketball clinic, sports fans are still not quite ready to embrace them and put up their hard earned dollars to attend games.

Male athletes on the other hand can be butt ugly and still get paid plenty and get laid in the process.

So, what are the marketing geniuses doing to market its WNBA players? Sexing them up of course.

The WNBA is offering rookie lessons in fashion and makeup.

Rookies spent part of their orientation weekend learning how to apply makeup and get that oh so feminine look.

How to get a perfect arc on that brow and keeping the mascara from running was as important a lesson as learning how to execute a pick and roll.

The league hired a cosmetics artist to teach the rookies how to apply perfect brush strokes and get that oh so pretty look whether they are on the court sweating bullets or off the court doing interviews or simply having a bite to eat.

The courses included fashion tips for these women who have to shop at Big and Tall, not an easy day of shopping I’m sure.

The courses also included financial advice, media training and fitness and nutrition seminars.

That part is smart and prudent.

"I think it's very important," said Candace Parker, the Naperville product who was the league's No. 1 draft pick out of Tennessee. "I'm the type who likes to put on basketball shorts and a white T, but I love to dress up and wear makeup. But as time goes on, I think [looks] will be less and less important."

In its 12th season, the WNBA is still working to become a more profitable league with an expanded fan base.

The average attendance was 7,742 per game last season. The Sky averaged 3,709 over 17 home games in 2007, compared with the 21,987 fans the Bulls averaged for 41 home games this season.

Marketing players is perhaps more important than ever, and the WNBA realizes that it's still a tough sell.

"It's all contributing to how to be a professional," league President Donna Orender said of the orientation classes.

"I do believe there's more focus on a woman's physical appearance. Men are straight out accepted for their athletic ability. That's reality. I think it's true in every aspect of the work force. This is all about a broader-based education."

Sadly there is still quite a disparity in wages and media coverage between male and female athletes. The ever present perceived negative stereotypes are also reasons why the WNBA has set this course in an attempt to market the female athlete for their physicality rather than their athletic assets.

Seems a shame that when men whose looks might normally never get them to first base with a beautiful woman are constantly besieged by females while attractive female athletes are still regarded as oddities and must use their sexuality or its enhancement to gain a foothold in their chosen career.

Anna Kournikova has marketed her sexuality over her tennis achievements, successfully. Anna Kournikova was the poster girl for female athletes who market their sexuality in lieu of their athletic credentials.

But far more accomplished female athletes are also marketed on the basis of their appearance.

Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 and Sports Ilustrated put her on their cover in a white tennis outfit under the words "Star Power."

She appeared in Sports Illustrated again in 2006, this time wearing a variety of string bikinis on a beach for the magazine's swimsuit edition.

And the newest sex symbol in the world of female athletes is none other than race car driver Danica Patrick, the first woman to win an IndyCar event. She made a name for herself posing in FHM in a red bustier atop a yellow Mustang. The WNBA understands that the only way to build a market is to attract young men to the games. The female fan is simply not making the impact they had hoped. The obvious answer is to “sex up” the ladies.

The newest young star for the WNBA is Candace Parker. She is the total package, looks, talent and charisma. Looks being at the top of the list it seems. The league hopes that she will be the answer to the WNBA’s image woes. The hope is that the single guys who watch the NBA will begin to notice the cute player on the Sparks team and start watching the WNBA.

The Sparks sold seven times the number of season tickets in the first week after the draft as they did last season, and individual game ticket sales are up 272 percent.

Parker's rookie salary (around $44,000) will be a fraction of what she will make from endorsing Adidas and Gatorade.

Marj Snyder, chief of programming and planning for the Women's Sports Foundation, says the paucity of media coverage given women athletes results in misplaced priorities.

"The problem is if only 8 percent of the coverage is on women, and the vast majority of the time we're talking about who they're married to, what clothing they're wearing, what kind of parents they are, there's not much room left to say, 'What a great athlete,' " Snyder said.

Gives a whole new meaning to putting your game face on, doesn’t it?

tags: sex  sweat  sport  female  athlete  

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