There has been a great deal of talk around the MMA sites lately about the progress being made by females in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. My man Zak Woods at Watch Kalib Run actually sums it up quite nicely here.
While all the things the article discusses are very much true and MMA deserves a hat-tip for moving forward faster than many other sports, let's not go patting ourselves on the backs too quickly.
After all, we still have ring girls like Arianny (left) and Logan (right) parading around in their skivvies to the delight of many and before Fight! Magazine can get to a full-length article each month, they have to get through a cheap excuse of an interview and three pages of Miesha Tate's ass in short shorts.
Believe me, I love that we saw the first female referee on a UFC card over the weekend at the Ultimate Fighter Finale and that female fighters not named Carano are starting to get some attention, but let's not kid ourselves either.
The inclusion of Kim Winslow into the referee pool is great, but until we include some dude with washboard abs wearing a Speedo and carrying a Round 3 card at fights, we can hold off on the handshakes and hugs.
For every male mind out there that wonders why the UFC Ring Girls are at preliminary fights on The Ultimate Fighter and who want to see Cyborg and Gina Carano throwdown because it's going to be a serious slugfest, there are far more guys out there who are stoked to see the pretty girls in the booty shorts holding up those cards, reminding them what round it is because counting is just too tough.
Seriously - can you give me one reason besides showing a bikini-clad chick on television that "the beautiful Arianny" and "the lovely Logan," as Mike Goldberg refers to them are anywhere near the UFC Training Center during filming of TUF? Everyone else in the room is tied to the fight game and knows what round it is, but we've gotta pander to the guys sitting on their couch waiting to see the half-naked girl...
And that is why we shouldn't be giving ourselves a pat on the back just yet.
Gina Carano is still "the face of female MMA" mainly because she makes the Top 20 of Maxim's Hottest Women issue and was "Crush" on American Gladiators.
Guys aren't turning up to her weigh-in to hear her thoughts on the fight or world issues; it's because she has a difficult time making weight and tends to get naked behind a towel every time. At least she doesn't blame "women's problems" like some people cough Cyborg cough ...
We're getting there, we're just not there yet.
Photo: Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images
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Freakin' thank you!
ReplyDeleteNo problem Kat!
ReplyDeleteFirstly that's Edith on the right, not Logan. Also not to be rude but are you gay? Why do you want to see dudes parading with the round cards? How does that bare any significance to Women's MMA?
ReplyDeleteThere's also plenty of Women who tune into see the fighters bodies and stuff like that. So what? And the ring girls don't really have any bearing on Women's MMA, this whole piece seems a bit silly.
Men and women are not the same. Even the word equal doesn't assume that they are. Women are more beautiful to look at than men, even by the standards of women. Women (and some men) like to look at men too, but there's no comparison past present or future who the easy-on-the-eyes champ is. I bet that the vast majority women wouldn't give up their sex appeal any faster than men would give up there nuts.
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