How was your Christmas day? I spent mine with the Laker Girls.

Actually, I was at the annual home game in Staples Center, where the Lonzo-less Lakers lost to the Minneapolis Timberwolves. The game was all right. But I was riveted every time the Laker Girls took the floor in their spangly, skimpy Santa gear for the two-minute routine. And then left to tepid applause.

It made me wonder: what’s it like to be a Laker Girl in this post-Weinstein era? As they shook their sexy Santa booties, I thought about the irony of feminism: that women should be free to dictate how they earn their money, and yet it’s hard not to wince when they’re showing off their stripper moves to a family-friendly audience.

After the game, I wanted to know more about these women, so I hit the website.

What I found surprised me, but it probably shouldn’t have: Alyssa, Brynne, Cameryn, Chandler, Jade, Makayloa and their teammates were, predictably, presented as All-American, girl-next-door types with a fondness for Disneyland, ice cream and dogs. And Justin Bieber.

But with one exception, they were all pursuing (or had graduated with) college degrees in fields such as psychology, child and adolescent development, international studies, special education, sociology, communications, physiology, even criminal justice – and they had attended a range of institutions of higher learning, from community colleges to Arizona State University to UCLA.

Much like sex worker Christine Reade in Starz’ The Girlfriend Experience, these women find independence in what are seen as traditionally sexist, objectified occupations. In order to pursue an education, they’ve chosen a path that opens them up to uninformed criticism from people — myself included — to make snap judgements to the contrary.

So I couldn’t help being reminded, as I watched that Christmas night spectacle unfold, of my first job as a 16-year-old in Houston. I was hired to be a greeter at Palais Royal, a local, family-owned department store. Part of my job was to sign people up for store credit cards, which was a 10-minute transaction if you already had a credit card. For every new card, I got an extra dollar on top of the $3.25/hour minimum wage.

For the holiday shopping push, the store had me don an outfit similar to what the Laker Girls were wearing on Christmas night: a green velvet mini-skirted confection, rimmed with white faux fur, and matching Santa cap. High heels completed the sexy elf look. In the beginning, I did a brisk business signing up a few people – mostly men who just wanted to chat me up – a day.

I soon realized the women were avoiding me at all costs. I needed a strategy that let them see me beyond the costume. It started with the word “no.”

I noticed that when approaching these women, their first inclination was to say “no” to whatever it was I was offering. They didn’t want to be bothered by this frothy creature when they were busy doing their holiday shopping. So I came up with a question I wanted them to say “no” to.

“Do you have a credit card in your own name?”

Now, this was the late 70s, when women’s lib was still a bra-burning lefty hippie idea that hadn’t reached mainstream status. So the idea of a woman with her own MasterCard was pretty radical and foreign. Why did she need one when she could just use her husband’s?

I sold them on the idea of financial independence. On establishing credit in case of divorce or death or just because it was a good thing to do. I sat with the women and filled out the forms one by one. And often, their husband’s credit enabled many of them to start forging their own FICO scores.

That Christmas, I pocketed an extra $200 from all of the credit card applications I brought in. I set a store record. But more importantly, I hope some of those women went on to live better lives all thanks to a sexy elf. Externally, I didn’t look like a feminist in my green faux-velvet mini, but my approach turned into a feminist result, both for my customers and for me.

Similarly, let’s hope the Laker Girls can convert their stealth feminism into a force for more good. One opportunity they may have was just announced in the New York Times: a coalition of some 300 Hollywood women — including actresses such as Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera, and executive producers such as Jill Soloway and Shonda Rhimes —have created Time’s Up, “an ambitious, sprawling initiative to fight systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood and in blue-collar workplaces nationwide.”

According to the Times, the initiative includes a legal defense fund, backed by $13 million in donations, to help less-privileged women protect themselves from sexual misconduct; suggested legislation that would penalize companies who tolerate harassment; and a drive that pushes Hollywood studios and talent agencies to reach gender equality among their executives.

And when you see women walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes on Sunday dressed in black, know that it’s in solidarity of women and of affording them the opportunity to speak up without penalty about their experiences of sexual harassment.

Maybe it will inspire the Laker Girls to elevate their feminist cred.

Linda Ong is chief culture officer for Civic Entertainment Group, and formerly the CEO and founder of omnicultural branding and insights firm TruthCo.

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