Mia Hamm - former U.S. women's soccer national team forward
Maria Sharapova - #3 best women's tennis player in the world
Danica Patrick - most famous female NASCAR driver
Some interesting commentary on our cultural perception of female athletes by comedian Daniel Tosh:
What's the story being told here? To me, the "story" being presented is this: in order for female athletes to be successful, it's more important to be sexy and attractive first, and talented second. If you're attractive AND talented, then you have what it takes to be a role model for the sport (whereas men's sports seem to be based solely on talent). Maria Sharapova, Danica Patrick, Hope Solo, Lindsey Vonn, and others have all been highly sexualized in advertisements, photo shoots, and the media in general. Most of the pictures of these female athletes are suggestive (poses, attire, everything). When you type in "female athletes" to a google search, about half of the results on the first three pages deal with "top ##" lists of sexy female athletes.
But this tells a very limited side of the story of female athletes. Billie Jean King, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Cheryl Miller were all incredible athletes and (to my knowledge) were never represented in such a sexual manner. They didn't feel that they had to expose or degrade themselves in order to become successful athletes and draw attention to their respective sports. Unfortunately, young girls are looking to this new breed of "successful" athletes (Sharapova, Patrick, etc.) as role models for sports and may get the wrong impression that success in their sport is somehow inherently tied to beauty and sexuality. And, men may become more attracted to the "aesthetic qualities" than the competition itself (*cough cough* Legends Football League *cough cough*). It can also lead to situations where women are discriminated against within their own sports due to beauty or marketability.
For every Danica Patrick there are hundreds of thousands of young ladies who are competitive athletes and outstanding mothers, daughters, and citizens...who don't necessarily want to be sexy or racy. We hear plenty about male athletes who make a difference in the community...so let's have less photo shoots and more stories about female athletes who are changing the world and making a difference (and working to change the biased, sexualized perception of female athletes...and women in general). Title IX has done plenty to level the playing field between men and women. But instead of empowering themselves, some of these women have given in to pressures and objectified themselves. Now, girls need the role models within women's sports who will deliver the right message: that women can compete in whatever sport they wish regardless of their gender AND other inconsequential factors (such as beauty).
Well put.
ReplyDeleteThose girls could kick my butt
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. Perhaps some of these women feel the need to do provocative photo shoots because they want to feel sexy and feminine while still being powerful athletes. Maybe they don't want the public to see them just as an athlete and more as women.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to point out that with the exception of the LFL, none of these athletes seem overly sexy. 99% of the time they dominate their sports, and 1% of the time they take a sexy photo shoot. It doesn't seem that their sexiness is a key factor in their fame.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that the non-BYU appropriate things you mentioned tell a different story though.
I like this. Being a female athlete myself I think that there are so many female athletes that are successful in their athletic career and have done amazing things, but the only ones that get advertised are the attractive ones. So it's a bummer that it seems to be that way but I've noticed it too. You can be talented and a great athlete, but it is an advantage to be physically attractive. And you could blame it on society because society expects to see beautiful women in advertisements. Why do people care more about beauty? It's too bad and it needs to change.
ReplyDeleteLike the comment above, any of these girls could destroy me at anything athletic related.
ReplyDeleteOftentimes the most dominant female athletes are not the most attractive ones, but it is the more attractive ones that appear more successful because the media would rather highlight them. For example, statistically nobody knows a thing about women's pole vaulting, and yet many people can at least recognize a picture of Allison Stokke, who was not a dominant athlete by any means.
ReplyDeleteI loved this one. Good point that I never really thought about. Guys I know go to women's volleyball or soccer games because they want to see girls in short shorts or spandex with nice legs.
ReplyDeleteFemale athletes definitely have a hard time succeeding in their respect sports.They always seem to looked at as sex symbols first and athletes second.
ReplyDeleteThis is completely true. Why? Because sex sells and these female athletes provide a great marketing platform for a litany of products and services. (Danica Patrick and GoDaddy.com)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. Not at all what I was expecting when I clicked on it, but better.
ReplyDelete