SOCCER: Sporty or Feminine?

This is a fashion ad done by Bebe, the model is dressed in extremely feminine attire with a turquoise dress, hair piece and heels. However the model is not in a location you would expect with this kind of appearance. She is sitting in the middle of a soccer field with a soccer ball balanced on her feet and even the ball is decorated with stars and glitter.

Even though this is a fashion ad and not an advertisement for the sport of soccer itself it still bounces between the line of being ultra feminine and sporty. To many, the idea of a woman being both sporty and feminine seem like polar opposite traits however there are plenty of women that play sports and enjoy dressing up. Women are expected to always look their best and therefore playing a soccer game in the outfit the model is wearing is not far from the vision that has been put upon women. This is why women feel the need to put on makeup before playing even knowing it will come off mid-game. Women play sports because they enjoy what they are doing and should not have such high expectations of trying to look their best because unfortunately even during the game there are people still critiquing the way she looks. Women should be able to play hard and not worry about how others are perceiving the way they appear.

SOCCER: The Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of

This is a Nike campaign for the Women's U.S. soccer team. The copy reads: "The greatest team you’ve never heard of has together missed out on 13 proms, 74 birthdays, 21 Thanksgivings, and 989 boyfriends. And they don’t regret it. They know why they give up these things. They know that game-changing slide tackles and goals and championships and having a second family and doing it all for each other are the rewards. They know to put team above all else. They are the Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of."

The campaign reinforces the idea that women's sports are not given the attention they deserve. Men's soccer, football, baseball, and basketball are constantly in the news and given massive amounts of media attention. This is partly because these sports have enormous fan bases and therefore the media directs its focus off what sports teams and topics their audiences want to hear about. Nonetheless there should be an equal amount of attention directed at women's sports.

The women on this soccer team work hard to achieve their goals and they do it for the love of the game. They love soccer just as much as the men on the Men's Soccer team do and therefore should get as much recognition. As the copy states these women choose to give up important things in a girl's life all because of their dedication to the sport. All the effort they put into it and yet they are "the Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of."

SOCCER: Celebration / Sex Appeal

This is an image of a woman playing soccer however she is not wearing a typical uniform scantily clad in only her underwear. This once again proves the objectification of women in sports exists. The woman is wearing as little as clothing as possible and is in the middle of playing an intense soccer game. Women are supposed to be sexy and play just as hard. I find this image interesting because the moments that caused the biggest stir were when women soccer players like Brandi Chastain (pictured) were in the midst of celebrating took off their jersey revealing their sports bra underneath. These acts of celebration drew attention both positive and negative, yet it is perfectly acceptable to create a photo shoot with a woman wearing even less than those women players were wearing. A sports manager who manages some women from the WNBA commented on such incident stating, "I bristle when people criticize women for flaunting their sexuality in sport, because men have done that forever. I thought it was uplifting."