Ring girls: Important tradition or antiquated sexism?

[Jloro]

bruh we need them

[alexguiness]

Once again I arrive, saving this thread from ******ry and femi-**** extremery:

How can anyone be offended by this? ^^^^^

Delicious.

[North Star]

Man oh man... I feel sorry for the OP. My wife is a fight fan and said she would love to be a ring card girl! Her reasoning is that she'll be paid well and have the best seats in the house for the fights! It's not like it's a hard job to boot!

And what is up with a person that they should criticize another for making their living? It's not like they have collars and leashes on these ladies, or unlock a cage for them to walk out of and return too. Now that would be something worth arguing over, not just the tradition of ring card girls.

Does the OP's wife hates pageants and the like as well?

[-Johannes-]

Why would anyone view anything a woman CHOOSES to do as being degrading?

I hate when uptight b*tches get all pissy about trivial things like this. The ring girls choose to do this, they're not forced to be eye candy. I bet ring girls enjoy their job more that the TS' wife.

[SplitSecond]

Why would anyone view anything a woman CHOOSES to do as being degrading?

I hate when uptight b*tches get all pissy about trivial things like this. The ring girls choose to do this, they're not forced to be eye candy. I bet ring girls enjoy their job more that the TS' wife.

seriously, what do these guys think beyonce or shakira or any other female singer nowadays is doing? they aren't forced into strutting their stuff, no, they are the architects

our innocent minds clouded and our poor souls corrupted, we are being strung along by our weakness, we are the true oppressed and exploited

damn you beyonce! damn you to hell!

[- Ram Raid -]

Every time a ring card girl flashes on the screen my girlfriend gets p*ssed off (especially as I shout "Ay Papi" if she's a Latino!). For her it's more of an issue. She lives the consequences of sexism on a dally basis. Whereas as a white Western male between the ages of 18 and 55 the world generally thinks that the sun shines out of my arse.

The way that the sport is organised and the roles that are readily available to women within it embeds definite gendered social relations. So the femininity on display accommodates male's interests and desires. The fact that the women are being compliant in their own subordination doesn't make them any less objectified though.

It really comes down to what versions of femininity are permitted to thrive within the sport. Women have participated in boxing bouts since before the gloved era but there have often been periods of historical exclusion (it wasn't too long ago in New South Wales that a female boxing could be fined $20,000 and imprisoned for 6 months) and they have always taken up a marginalised role. Female boxers are seen largely as violating gendered stereotypes and are therefore not to be taken seriously. They're often seen as parodies, like Christy Martin or gimmicks like Laila Ali.

Despite an increase in female participation in the sport at club and amateur level there's still a pervasive tendancy in the pro game for women to provide a sexy sideshow whilst men get down to the real labour of fighting. So I can see why some would take issue with ring card girls because their presence isn't just offensive in itself it's also indicative of a wider issue.

Take Nicola Adams for instance. An Olympic gold medalist whose watched her male counterparts sign lucrative contracts and fight regularly in front of tens of thousands whilst being broadcast on Sky and making the back pages. Katie Taylor had amassed 17 amatuer gold medals and can box better than the majority of registered male boxers yet for both of them it made more sense to remain amateur.

I personally appreciate the particulary delights that ring card girls bring to boxing but if it was stopped tomorrow I'd fully support it. I dare say that it would go some way towards women boxers being taken more seriously within the sport.

[SplitSecond]

Every time a ring card girl flashes on the screen my girlfriend gets p*ssed off (especially as I shout "Ay Papi" if she's a Latino!). For her it's more of an issue. She lives the consequences of sexism on a dally basis. Whereas as a white Western male between the ages of 18 and 55 the world generally thinks that the sun shines out of my arse.

The way that the sport is organised and the roles that are readily available to women within it embeds definite gendered social relations. So the femininity on display accommodates male's interests and desires. The fact that the women are being compliant in their own subordination doesn't make them any less objectified though.

It really comes down to what versions of femininity are permitted to thrive within the sport. Women have participated in boxing bouts since before the gloved era but there have often been periods of historical exclusion (it wasn't too long ago in New South Wales that a female boxing could be fined $20,000 and imprisoned for 6 months) and they have always taken up a marginalised role. Female boxers are seen largely as violating gendered stereotypes and are therefore not to be taken seriously. They're often seen as parodies, like Christy Martin or gimmicks like Laila Ali.

Despite an increase in female participation in the sport at club and amateur level there's still a pervasive tendancy in the pro game for women to provide a sexy sideshow whilst men get down to the real labour of fighting. So I can see why some would take issue with ring card girls because their presence isn't just offensive in itself it's also indicative of a wider issue.

Take Nicola Adams for instance. An Olympic gold medalist whose watched her male counterparts sign lucrative contracts and fight regularly in front of tens of thousands whilst being broadcast on Sky and making the back pages. Katie Taylor had amassed 17 amatuer gold medals and can box better than the majority of registered male boxers yet for both of them it made more sense to remain amateur.

I personally appreciate the particulary delights that ring card girls bring to boxing but if it was stopped tomorrow I'd fully support it. I dare say that it would go some way towards women boxers being taken more seriously within the sport.

they should let there be ring card men for equality

orlando cruz would jump at the opportunity

[Barcham]

One of my ex-girlfriends used to be a ring girl for local MMA fights here in Montreal at the Bell Center. She was also a dancer at a downtown men's club. Most all of the ring girls in Montreal and just about all the babes walking around in various beer company outfits during the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal tend to be dancers from local strip clubs.

She used to get a good laugh out of people saying how badly she was exploited by the men she danced for and who looked at her. It used to send her into hysterics every time she finished her shift with $750-1000 in her purse when she came home. Like all the beautiful women I have known, her attitude was that it was the men who were being exploited and simply were not bright enough to realize it.

[- Ram Raid -]

they should let there be ring card men for equality

orlando cruz would jump at the opportunity

I'm not aware of any female boxers who have jumped at the opportunity so I recon Orlando would stick to sitting on a corner stool between rounds.

I'd find it pretty funny if during the few female bouts that are promoted a perma-tanned male model with designer stubble and ever so slightly plucked eyebrows was paraded around the ring in his swimwear.

A good portion of the audience would hit the roof!

[Mikhnienko]

Lulz Americans