Fight over sex DVD
A CONTROVERSIAL DVD that asks AFL players whether they think it is appropriate to watch a mate and his girlfriend have sex has divided women's groups.
While some derided the scenario as base and demeaning, at least one academic applauded the sport's administrators for "working with all the possible realities" of its players' lives.
The interactive DVD is being produced as part of the league's push to improve athletes' respect for, and attitudes towards, women.
While the script has not yet been released, three draft questions, which will form the basis for scenes illustrated in the DVD, have been revealed.
They include a scenario in which a mate's girlfriend calls a player into her room under the mistaken impression he is her boyfriend.
"Do you: (a) Go and hop into bed and pretend to be him; or (b) Walk away," the draft question asks.
While the DVD, which is being shot at the MCG and in a private house in Melbourne, has won the support of Collingwood president Eddie Maguire, it received a much cooler reception from a number of women's groups yesterday.
Women's Forum Australia director Melinda Tankard Reist said while the AFL's intentions were noble, the DVD went the wrong way about achieving its goals.
"It's just another sign of how demeaning and exploitative attitudes towards women have become so normalised and entrenched in society," she said.
"It's a sad commentary on male-female interaction in the year 2008 that AFL players need an interactive DVD to teach them maybe it's not a good idea to take advantage of a mate's girlfriend who thinks you're her boyfriend. Have things really sunk this low?"
What Women Want founder Justine Caines questioned how often the players would find themselves in scenarios outlined in the draft scripts.
"To me they trivialise the seriousness of the crimes that have been committed against women and the example that these elite sportsmen should be setting as role models," she said.
But Catharine Lumby, who previously headed a research project into the NRL's relationship with women, was in favour of the DVD.
"I think the AFL is doing the right thing - it's not just footballers, but all young men who need better education . . . to think through the way they manage sexual encounters," she said.
"What they're doing is covering all bases - if you design a DVD that doesn't speak to the realities of young men's lives . . . it's not going to have any impact. They'll just say, these people don't know what they're talking about."
Women's Electoral Lobby spokesman Sarah Maddison was in support of the DVD. "I think it's pretty telling the AFL feels they need to pitch it at this level," she said.