naked ruggers!

Recently, the Oberlin College Women's Rugby Team created their second calendar, depicting pictures of the team playing rugby. Oh yeah, and they happen to be mostly nude while doing it. No 'naughty bits' are exposed at any point, and larger non-college rugby teams have been doing these calendars for years. However, these women seem to have stirred up a bit of controversy...

“In a society that brands female competitive sports athletes as masculine, this calendar parodies the standard beauty myth, by juxtaposing the concept of the seductive and submissive pinup with images of women who assert themselves not only as strong athletes, but also as empowered women.”

I've played my share of rugby — I came out on a rugby team, and it was like my own platform 9-3/4 to the lesbian world. Our team talked about doing a nude rugby calendar to sell as a fundraiser, just as these teams have done. We were sick and tired of all the "Feed Shane" images of women. We wanted to see muscles and abs that rippled, not skin and bones.

Besides, naked is nothing new to the average rugger. Have you ever done a Zulu? Like swimming and wrestling, rugby is a sport that seems to attract people in a hurry to get naked, usually just for some harmless fun. The flip side, of course, is that some people think any nude shot of a female athlete is just wrong and degrading.

Having posed for nude photos in college to promote women's club hockey, and to fundraise for the Vagina Monologues, this is nothing new to me, and I say all power to them...but I'd like to know what you all think. Let's start some dialogue people!

Essin' Em

Read the article and voice an opinion at AfterEllen.com