Powder Puff

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Junior and senior girls face off in a high school powder puff flag football game
Junior and senior girls face off in a high school powder puff flag football game

Powder Puff is a reference to the division of an otherwise male dominated sport reserved for females regardless of the age of the participants.

Powder puff football games are an annual tradition at many high schools and universities in the United States and Canada. The game usually pits girls from the junior class against girls in the senior class or cross-town school rivals in a flag football or touch football contest. Boys from the classes will dress in drag and be the cheerleaders. Funds from the ticket and concession sales for the game typically go to charity or to a dance afterwards.

The term originates from the powder puff used in cosmetics for powdering. Typical female behavior at the time the term originated included repeatedly taking out a powder puff and a small mirror to powder themselves in public.