Allow women to decide what ring suits them

I love mixed martial arts (MMA) – that brutal sport where two highly skilled men or women lock themselves in a cage and try to beat the stuffing out of each other.

The UFC, the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, hosts UFC 243 in Melbourne next month and not all the Aussies care for this event.

The city’s mayor is concerned about the attractive girls who prance around the octagon with the round number on a board.

“It’s 2019, do we really still need scantily-clad women to wander around the middle of a fighting ring?” asked Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp.

Of course, she’s right. We don’t need the girls to announce the number of the next round – most bouts only have three rounds and it’s not too difficult to keep track.

We don’t even need a sport where half naked fighters punch each other in the face.

Just as we don’t need titles such as “Lord Mayor”, with it being 2019, as Ms Capp rightly points out.

The truth is that this is the job done by these girls. By removing their jobs you are making them unemployed, and making women unemployed doesn’t seem all that feminist to me.

I’ve spoken to a lot of the local EFC hexagon girls … uhm … in the interest of research … and they are proud of their job.

Just go and read interviews with UFC ring girls. They love it.

They are flown around the world, they stay in wonderful hotels and get paid a fortune to hold up a board in a pair of shorts and a top – which doesn’t reveal more than the outfits of the female fighters.

What’s more, ring girls have been able to use their experience as a springboard to bigger opportunities in the world of modelling and music. Of course I understand that a lot of women would not want to do this kind of job and I respect their opinion.

There is a fine line between appreciating the aesthetics of the human form and objectifying people. There are a lot of weirdos out there, I know, but I refuse to allow our society to be defined by their standards.

In the end it is those girls’ choice if they want a career as a ring girl. Allow them to decide. If you believe women can make their own decisions, Lord Mayor.

Dirk Lotriet. Picture: Alaister Russell

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