Sexuality, femininity garners exposure for self, sport

Bob Parsons likes the word salacious but when you talk about his Go Daddy commercials, please, do use something stronger, he prefers it.

“I love it,” said the domain registrar and site hosting company’s founder and CEO. “That way I know we have your attention.”

Attention, negative and positive, is exactly what Parsons is getting but more specifically it’s the star of his ad spots, 27-year-old Danica Patrick, who people can’t stop talking about.

As the company’s Go Daddy girl, we’ve seen the open-wheel star and now aspiring NASCAR driver in the shower, draped under a towel and most recently in her underwear.

Parsons, who sponsors Patrick’s No. 7 Nationwide Series entry, will tell you the commercials are meant to be funny, edgy and slightly inappropriate, but that Patrick is always playing it “straight” and never the girl willing to rip her clothes of to be a Go Daddy girl.

Patrick is one of a handful of female athletes choosing to use femininity and sexuality to further their careers and garner exposure for their respective sports these days. It gains the ladies attention and sponsorship opportunities they might not otherwise have, but at the same time, it opens the athletes up for biting criticism from fans and peers.

Former NASCAR driver Erin Crocker, who grew up with older brothers, said she would never get away with being photographed in scant attire and ARCA racer Alli Owens said you’ll never find her “half-naked in a fire suit.”

[continue reading...]