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Models as ball girls: Sexism?
By Adetola Badekale
‘It’s sexist!”
“It contributes to building a clearly
discriminatory vision of women as simple objects of decoration and
entertainment.”
In hammering these words home, Spanish
politician, Soledad Murillo drove home a point he felt so strongly about. He
was sure tournament organisers had gotten it all wrong. Professional models
shouldn’t replace ball boys in an official tennis event.
The tasteful Cade de Campo indoor hall in
Madrid was venue of the Madrid leg of the ATP Masters Series event. Unarguably
the second biggest thing after the Grand Slams, the Masters Series attracts the
very best players on the ATP Tour, and cities like Cincinnati, Miami, Rome,
Paris, Hamburg, Monte Carlo and Madrid are just a few of the famous centres
privileged to host different legs.
Madrid, as the capital of a tourist haven,
like any other city in its class would thus love to issue statements of panache
with whatever it puts into a major tournament on its soil. To the organisers of
the Madrid Masters, their unique dimension to the dynamism quietly creeping
into tennis was the replacement of ball boys with models. Slim, curvaceous, top
of the range, catwalk models that is. All aged between 19 and 27 and 25 in
number.
Tournament official, Julio Neto
wouldn’t be drawn into the hardline posture of Murillo, politicians would
always find relevance in most issues, anyway. But he did reveal that the girls
knew nothing about the ‘tennis angle’ of the roles they were hired
to play. They had to be trained from scratch on when to run into the court to
retrieve balls, when players are to be supplied balls and every other thing
concerning the yellow objects and players. He also said the models were shown
what a set is, what a game is and how an ace is scored.
This then provokes a point. The ball boys,
traditionally one of the most visible and important actors in an official
match, were not axed for strictly technical reasons. This as well gives bite to
Murillo’s position.
But there is a simpler angle to this issue,
and it was there for all to see, even if not admitted by organisers verbally.
Everyday of the tournament, the models came out in simple black sleeveless tops
and knee-length skirts, sliced at the side. The kits were obviously supplied by
fashion outfit, HUGO BOSS, one of the tournament sponsors, that looks the only
reason that brand name could have been boldly inscribed on their vests. In the
broader picture, it is all purely a novel marketing stunt.
Before the tournament served off, Nieto
affirmed the models would help add beauty. But he also voiced a fear he managed
not to give away as such. “….the important thing is for them not to
disrupt the rhythm of the game or distract the players.”
But were players the distracted? Not
exactly. French Open winner, Albert Costa, one of the top attractions for
Madrid fans, in fact praised the idea, using the term
‘entertaining’ that had been used to discredit the concept by
Murillo. Costa saw the girls as soothing entertainment for a high pressure tournament.
Isn’t it conflicting then when he said he did not notice any difference
between the model ball girls and school children ball boys?
Evergreen Andre Agassi, who failed at the
semi-final to add a 60th title to his singles collection, admitted somewhat
frankly that it was difficult to concentrate on the ball, and that the skirts
looked like they were a little difficult to run in. He thought they ought to be
shorter maybe. But perhaps wary of receiving a query on getting back home,
quickly offered a balance - “…but I suppose I had an
advantage, I’m used to seeing beautiful things on court, because I play
with my wife.” (Steffi Graf).
That could well force Murillo into a rueful
laugh. But Agassi’s other statement does encourages his sentiment.
“I think it’s important for our sport to understand its product
clearly and I’m not quite convinced this is part.”
At 34, Agassi has had close to 20 years on
tour, winning everything there is, so he should know what is good for the sport
he has acquired legendary status playing, even while still active.
However, as conservative as tennis has
always preferred to appear, it should also realise that the dynamic world of
marketing and sponsorship, to which it so hopelessly depends, in this age,
would always drag it along, albeit against the wish of many within the sport.
Those models would probably never be
allowed into the All England Club for that sort of duty as Wimbledon continues
its embrace of tradition and uniqueness as the mother of all Grand Slams, but
then, we saw the ‘spectacle’ presented by Nike and Serena Williams
at the U.S Open.
Williams’ knee length boot and denim
worn to warm-up before each game at Flushing Meadows could have upset some
minds, and they are right to feel so, but is it not all a part of the growing
marketing craze? Nike merely enjoyed part of the mileage they knew they would
get by spending millions of dollars on Williams in the name of endorsement.
HUGO BOSS, in a sponsorship sense, got it
right. Yes the models were slower in retrieving the balls when not in play and
some of us were not comfortable each time they stooped low to do this, with
skirts sliced at the side and sleeveless tops not quite able to cover all the
details, but they were a delight to the TV cameras…or the men behind
them.
After each match, they lined themselves up
and posed for the cameras that were always coming back to smile back at them.
Meanwhile, you cannot miss the HUGO BOSS written on their tops.
When asked about the value HUGO BOSS might
have gotten globally from the stunt, tournament Director, Gerrad Tsubomiam,
estimated it was worth over $5 million of advertising spendings. Yet they paid
only a bit of the $3 million previous sponsors, Telefonica, had intended to pay
this year before they withdrew. How regrettable that turned out to be going by
the global interest the models generated for the one week tournament.
It is worthy of note, however, that the
idea is one-off. The ATP or ITF is not planning to adopt it, well, maybe for
now. And the four Grand Slams are run by protocol observing daddies and mummies
who would rather not rock the boat in the name of sponsorship.
But wonder what Murillo would have said if
the Madrid Masters was a WTA (women’s) event where the ball boys and
girls were rested for MALE MODELS. Sexist?
Badekale
produces sports on Cool FM
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