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[Ripclawe]

http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/...all21.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/21/ixhome.html

The organisers of an international tennis tournament have refused to sack models hired as ball-girls after the Spanish government claimed that their employment demeaned women.

Soledad Murillo, an official from Spain's labour ministry, sent a demand to the director of the ATP Masters Series, in which Tim Henman, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer are competing, ordering that the 25 models be withdrawn on the grounds that their presence "contributes to fomenting clear discrimination towards women who appear as simple objects of decoration and amusement".

The recogepelotas, or ball-girls, are mostly in their twenties and were selected from 80 candidates from Spanish model agencies. They wear T-shirts and skirts split just above knee-length and are each paid £600 for the tournament.

A Spanish pressure group, Consumers in Action, has lodged a court case against Hugo Boss, the fashion company that hired the models, "for attacking the dignity of women".

One of the models, Jayone San Jose, said: "We are doing something normal. We are not wearing provocative necklines, neither short skirts nor are we showing our backsides." Another, Nereida Coig, said: "It's jealousy. It would be an injustice if our work was stopped because of politics."

The row does not seem to have affected the tennis players too much. Agassi, who is married to the tennis player Steffi Graf, said: "I don't find women on court distracting. I often play with my wife. But I think that the skirts should be shorter."

The boys from tennis schools who have traditionally worked as ball-boys in the past were not so pleased. "You see how badly they move," Pedro, an unemployed ball-boy told La Razon newspaper. "We would have done it much better."

 

[Bob White]

 

[AntoneM]

hawt!

---edit---

only in Europe would you get punished for being too hot, that's why all hot Europeans (male and female) should move to the US.

 

[LakeEarth]

I dare you NOT to make a "you can play with my balls!!" joke GA!! I DARE YOU!

 

[Escape Goat]

hahhahahaha, balls

 

[Trevelyon]

"One of the models, Jayone San Jose, said: "We are doing something normal. We are not wearing provocative necklines, neither short skirts nor are we showing our backsides."

You should be. :mad

 

[golem]

balls models!

 

[Trevelyon]

^^

:lol :lol

 

[dskillzhtown]

I just hate that the local kids who actually have a love for tennis can't have th thrill of there lives working on the court. I mean, wtf is having models on the court going to add? I am thinking taking that chance from the kids is more of a negative than having models on the court is a positive.

 

[Gek54]

Best thing to happen to tennis since that corn cove girl.

 

[ralphwiggum]

The row does not seem to have affected the tennis players too much. Agassi, who is married to the tennis player Steffi Graf, said: "I don't find women on court distracting. I often play with my wife. But I think that the skirts should be shorter."

+1000 respect for Agassi

 

[megateto]

Ahí, ahí, super ministra¡¡¡

Go, go, superminister¡¡¡¡

They have a point, but I'd rather prefer them to worry about more important things.

 

[Lucky Forward]

 

[Funky Papa]

I must confess we had some good laughs at work with all this (then the jokes about "picking balls" began)

 

[Rei_Toei]

WTF is happening in that picture, Lucky Forward?

 

[Pochacco]

WTF is happening in that picture, Lucky Forward?

That's Kramer from Seinfeld.