WorldCupWorldCupWorldCupWorldCup June 11, 2010 Jill Anyone else very, very excited about it? Who are you all rooting for? And also you’re welcome for these photos of World Cup players in their skivvies. And here’s the article about the cover story.
I don’t think it’s defensible to encourage the sexual consumption of pictures of male athletes when most of us would be (rightly) outraged at the idea of men treating female athletes in their underwear like sex objects.
I don’t think it’s defensible to encourage the sexual consumption of pictures of male athletes when most of us would be (rightly) outraged at the idea of men treating female athletes in their underwear like sex objects. Eh, not bothered by it. I think it’s perfectly defensible to appreciate the male form — to find it sexy and attractive. And I think there are different levels of social power at play that do really make oggling half-naked dudes different than oggling half-naked women.
Sarah, I feel the difference is that male athletes are also always praised and complimented for their ability and skill, and people don’t brush aside their talent and act like the only thing that matters is their looks. Which is what DOES happen with female athletes – too many people ONLY want to talk about their looks (either in positive or negative ways) and they often wholly ignore the athleticism and skill of the women. To occasionally focus on male athletes’ looks is not at all comparable to what many people do to female athletes.
I don’t think it’s defensible to encourage the sexual consumption of pictures of male athletes when most of us would be (rightly) outraged at the idea of men treating female athletes in their underwear like sex objects. Huh. Depends on the context, for me. I don’t care if some guy thinks that, say, Maria Sharapova is hot (she IS freaking hot, one cannot deny this all-important fact). I don’t get outraged when men check me out as I breeze by in some lace minidress on a hot summer day either – even though I agree with Jill in regard to power differentials. And I certainly reserve the right to check them right out in return. Especially if footballer legs are involved. I would have preferred a half-naked Luca Toni or something (but I’m not going to say that I am pissed that he’s not on Italy’s squad this year, because, well… Let’s not get into it here), and I would have GREATLY preferred if Ukraine and Russia had not BLOWN IT in the qualifiers (which would have meant a possible half naked Shevchenko or a half-naked Berezutsky brother), but whatever. I’m not bitter or anything. Not at all. *sulk*
Jill, it is beyond indefensible for you to post those pictures without a NSFW tag. I am enraged at your irresponsibility. Here I am, one hour from end of day and at any moment I could be asked to explain the goofy look on my face as I try to suppress my smiling and desire to giggle. You, with your cats and otters, are nothing but trouble. Shame on you. Normally, I would be indifferent between my rooting for USA/Brazil/Ghana/Italy and disdain for France, England and Portugal (yeah, I said it), but uhmmmmm, this year I believe it shall be Ghana all the way. Yes,yes, I am totally supporting Ghana.
Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon is such a great goalkeeper. I was disappointed to learn he is, at best, naive about politics, at worst a closet fascist.
Rooting interest in this order every four years: USA, Scotland (will we ever see them again?), any team from the Celtic Fringe, England, Netherlands. I may be out of rooting interests in this cup quickly.
Thomas, the Netherlands are supposed to be pretty good right now from what I’ve heard, so maybe you’ll have someone to cheer for after all. I would be supporting England, but to be honest, they’re not very good- don’t get me wrong, the players are talented, but they don’t work too well as a team. We do have a different squad to the last few tournaments though, so maybe this year will be better. She say, like she knows stuff about sport other than overheard snippets from dudes at work and Grandad yelling at the television. Gosh though, the rest of the world has much nicer-looking footballing gentlemen than we’ve got here in England. Wayne Rooney looks like Shrek (although he is damn good at kicking a ball).
Sarah, I didn’t interpret the post as treating the men as sex objects but rather an appreciation of their attractiveness and beauty. These people are incredibly skilled and also happen to be incredibly attractive. No sense sweeping either of those facts under the rug. I look forward to the day people appreciate all people for all of their skills and qualities, not the double standard we have today between men and women who are fortunate enough to posses both skill and beauty.
I look forward to the day people appreciate all people for all of their skills and qualities, not the double standard we have today between men and women who are fortunate enough to posses both skill and beauty. The sad news is that people like looking at beautiful people and often treat them differently. See the ‘halo effect’ http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.php?DocID=299
I feel Sarah on this, especially when it comes to black male athletes (and black male musicians). I’m not saying I don’t enjoy looking at it, but I’ve become more critical about these images after reading this article on D’Angelo: http://www.spin.com/articles/dangelo-what-hell-happened
“you’re welcome for these photos” ?? thanks for assuming that everyone here reading the post is attracted to male bodies. (oh, and have a happy pride month.)
thanks for assuming that everyone here reading the post is attracted to male bodies. (oh, and have a happy pride month.) I wasn’t assuming that. Man alive, people can get mad about ANYTHING, huh? This is so ridiculous.
I think that they do have some interesting points, though. It’s hard to hear, but they are valid perspectives.
Jill, i realize this is your site and you can post whatever you like. But to imply, on a feminist blog, that people are in effect being too sensitive and over-reacting? I find that ironic, given that this is the way many of us are treated when attempting to advocate for ourselves in non-feminist spaces.
“@Anna – This year the defeat of France is far more important than the defeat of England.” Haha! No worries there on my end at least. I am confident that France is going dowwwwwwn.
Go Landon Donovan! Er, wait, maybe that’s not the point of them being in their drawers. Go USMNT! And yee-haw for the female (and/or gay male, or really anyone who likes looking at pretty dudes)-gaze getting its turn!
In regard to the some of the ideas that have been written here about the USA-centricity of blogs – I just thought I’d let you know that in Australia ‘rooting’ is slang for sex. There’s always embarrassed laughter here when an American makes that mistake. The word we use here is ‘barracking’ BTW. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. C’arn the Socceroos.
A lot of France-hate in the room, I’m not keen on Domenech either but are you all from Ireland? They just need to tighten the screws. For this World Cup, I like Cote d’Ivoire (Les Éléphants would be a bigger deal if Drogba were healthy), Cameroon (Les Lions indomptables), the United States, and France (the players, not their burned-out coach). England, Italy, Spain, or Brazil – I hope none of these four teams are in the final and that their World Cup aspirations are trampled in spectacular fashion. I was really impressed with South Africa today though.
I was very disappointed there were no Socceroos in their shorts in the photo spread. As a FEMUHNIST I cannot condone perving at pictures of spectacularly fit and beautifully muscular young men (who remind me of Michelangelo’s David) in their undies. But if they’re wearing shorts, it’s definitely OK. The photos in the rest of the shoot remind me of that photo of Serena Williams in the gold jumpsuit – every muscle tense and about to pack a punch to the ball. And that one of Hilary Swank doing a long jump. Utterly beautiful.
(Slobber) (and this week I’ve mostly been crushing on the females, too…but DAMN–and when I say damn, I am referring especially to the Brazilian) I didn’t really get the comments about the gym, though? Is it to meet hot guys working out? Or to get a hot enough body to be “worthy” of a major football star? Or to “atone” for your dirty lustful thoughts about same? Also: ALLEZ LES BLEUS all the way, the rest of you connards are just scared!!!
Victoria – there was no assumption that everyone on this site enjoys looking at male bodies exclusively (I don’t even enjoy it exclusively myself – and I’m straight, perhaps I need to object as well?). There was the assumption that many readers of this site would rejoice at the chance to look at some of the most talented and hot footballers on the planet. The assumption was correct. Spain better not get trampled. *cough*
Oh, duh, I know…it’s to get a body like a major footballer. Sorry, I forgot for a second that you can see someone’s hot body and feel more “want to be like” than “want to be with”. Also: the Italians have a well-earned reputation for diving. So they’re the only team I’m rooting against…and 2006 has NOTHING to do with it, because Zidane fucked that up all by his lonesome the little idiot…if France drops out I will root for Cameroon, or the US if both France and Cameroon drop out and they are still there.
I would say that the commenters talking about the objectification of these pooooor men who were forced to pose in their underwear ridiculous, but you guys have really brought this environment on yourselves. Enjoy it!
Jill, you are the worst feminist ever. You’re racist, homophobic, sexist, and whatever the word is for hating fat people. Oh wait, this is your site and I’m just “getting mad” so I’m sure my opinion isn’t valid.
Thanks for the dose of eye candy Jill. And i know I can’t be the only one who was a little shocked by Vanity Fair putting them on the cover. We are just so used to the female form being paraded around like a sex platter that its shocking to see that not only do many people do view the male form as such but don’t mind exploiting it as well.
I think Jade needs to practise her sarcasm. When female athletes are being put on display to entice the male gaze towards their sport, they are commonly photographed in a pornulated style. Are these photos pornulative? Can the human body be presented for display in a way that is not exploitative and demeaning? Good subject for a debate. Perhaps without the “Jill is betraying feminism” accusations.
I can’t tell either, Jill, but you should be proud. To be the Worst Feminist Ever is quite an accomplishment, especially when you have such strong competition. Such as…women who call other women the worst feminist ever and then cry about not being liked. Congrats! Your prize is a free Vajazzling and World Cup calendars for the rest of your life
Congrats! Your prize is a free Vajazzling and World Cup calendars for the rest of your life Oh my goodness. That is the most awesome response ever. I am totally going to start awarding people free Vajazzlings for their dipshittery. Awesome.
ok, so my phrasing was wrong. it was wrong of me to assume Jill’s intentions when she said inferred that we should thank her for posting the photo. so rather than assume her intentions, i’ll just say that i interpreted her comment as insensitive and erasing of people who aren’t titillated by such images. this isn’t about prudery, it’s about me not liking a binary where women liking to look at pictures of men is assumed and presented as the norm. (and yes, i know that not all readers of the blog are women, so i take responsibility for that assumption on my part.) if having this point of view makes me too sensitive, so be it.
Claudia – great idea! We can have three different colors of crystals to use for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in truly spectacular comment threads 😛
@ victoria Does titillation have to enter into it? Their bodies are rather pretty and sculptural. So are the bodies of many female athletes. You can enjoy looking at them without wanting to sleep with them.
We tend to see sexuality when we want to, and avoid sexuality when we don’t want to see it. So I (and many other people) can look at those pics and say “wow, nice bod; I wish I looked like that. Must be nice. Sigh.” I mean, aren’t men allowed to enjoy looking at Michelengelo’s David, nude though he may be? David, and these pictures, are in the same category: very nice to look at (for various reasons) but not arousing. That’s not because they are per se unarousing, but because I just don’t happen to get turned on by men, even really good looking ones. Some people also find these pictures arousing as hell–all power to them. In the end, so much of this is internal to the viewer, that absent some sort of REALLY obvious photo play, it is very difficult to blame the photo. It’s one entirely anecdotal datapoint, but I don’t mind it at all. Besides, they’re wearing a lot more than Michael Phelps does, right?
Well, I’m definitly NOT for France! They are just so terribly loud whenever they win! I just don’t want to live something like world cup 1998 again… Otherwise, I’m Swiss, so I hope the swiss will do better than they did two years ago. But let’s face it, they’re bad! But why not Germany? They did well this evening, and I’ve a lot of German friends who are really funny when they’re partying for their Manschaft…
