Laker Girls’ Appeal Isn’t for Everyone

The “girls” may truly be dancers, but the Laker Girls are not about dancing, they are about sex (“The Bod Squad,” Dec. 13).

They debase themselves and all women by the striptease outfits they wear and the pseudo-striptease moves they make. It’s laughable to call the Laker Girls a “family” act. They are a balding-middle-aged-men-titillation show. It is sad to see young boys in the audience learning from the juvenile hoots and catcalls of their dads that women are simply sex objects.

If the Laker organization wants to provide excitement and great dancing, they should look to the Sparks Kids, the dance group for the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks women’s basketball team. The Sparks Kids are a very diverse, high-energy group of boys and girls of all shapes and sizes who wear baggy pants and dance like you wouldn’t believe. They are wonderful to watch, the audience loves them, and female fans don’t have to cringe when they perform.

The composition and attitudes of the basketball audience has changed in the 20 or so years since the Laker Girls were formed. Sex objectivism is passe!

KATHRYN TARBELL

Fountain Valley