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The soccer field is
surrounded by corporate logos,
those familiar giants of
prime-time athletic patronage.
Today the women's teams
are fighting for the World Cup,
and America is watching.
In the upper left hand corner
of the television screen
we can regularly check
the time remaining and the score,
and here, too,
they have not missed a chance
for advertising revenue.
The ESPN logo is fixed,
but at right,
the place of honor rotates.
Gatorade. . .
Fujifilm. . .
Bud Light. . .
Adidas. . .
Monistat.
Monistat? Time out!
Is today's score really brought to us
by a cure for vaginal yeast infections?
Something feels wrong.
I don't like seeing my private parts
hung up on a scoreboard
just because the players are women.
It makes me feel
we're not an audience,
we're not athletes,
we're not people.
To an advertiser,
we're just millions of captive vaginas.


© Ellen Azorin