The Great Debate
"I'm going to bring my shoes and uniform and tell them I don't compete in just a sports bra."One of my weightlifting friends has been invited to do an interview and photo shoot for a fairly prominent fitness mag. She will receive no pay; just get an opportunity to tell her story, promote the sport of weightlifting, and also dispel some myths and misconceptions.
However, there is that issue. You know, if you are a hottie and an elite athlete, chances are good they will want you to show a little skin or be photographed in a possibly provocative pose. This person has been there and knows the drill. So many of these rags, and publications that are not rags (Sports Illustrated are you listening?) sometimes border on soft porn in their portrayal of fit women or female athletes. My friend is not about to cave in to pressure for any pictures that will portray her as anything other than a proud competitor, who just happens to be a woman.
So what do you think? This is an issue that really tugs at my soul.
It is really cool to see the physicality of great athletes, male or female, as seen in this picture, taken by Rob Macklem (from the training hall at the 2007 Weightlifting World Championships). Wow, this dude is a lean machine getting ready to get his game on. There is nothing remotely suggestive in this image. In my opinion, there aren't enough cool pics like this of women that simply show them training or competing. And then there are the pictures of famous female athletes who have chosen, for whatever reason, to pose for photographs that are specifically intended to be sexually provocative, or they are just outright nude.
I'm not sure what to think. Mostly I guess I think it sets women back more than it moves us forward in our quest to be treated with respect and equitably in this working and sporting world.
Anyone else care to chime in?
Comments
I would much rather see a candid photo of a women's physique then all the posing. I think back to Brandi Chastain with her talking her shirt off in the excitement of the game. Everyone jumped all over that giving her a hard time, when I think it was truly a pure reaction to victory! Now that was a great photo of a women athlete in action.
I take it personally when a certain group that I'm affiliated with puts mostly the "hot" chicks photos up. It really gets to me, it's nothing against the women it's directed at the persons deciding to put up photos consistently of women who fall into a certain category. Now, most of the photos I'm referring to are in action photos which makes it a little better. I often wish these women who find themselves in this situation would take a stand like your friend. It can be humiliating. I have no shame, I put my pictures, up and I know I don't fall into the "hot" chick category. I'm athletic and proud of it! So I guess what I'm saying is that it's a double edged sword, or a touchy issue. One that I feel needs to be handled with care.
The cover -- and much of the contents -- of every Men's Health magazine seems like so much soft-core gay porn. (How many thin, buff, oiled up men do you need?) The (very impressive) picture of the lifter you posted reveals more details about his private ... something ... than I really would care to know, honestly.
Honestly, I don't see much of a double standard on this one. Athletes use their bodies like tools, we size each other up before competitions by checking out who is leanest, who has the biggest quads, the broadest back, who looks like s/he is in the best shape. A lot of times, we're impressed by that. Enh.
But the bottomline for me is that there are consumers for this and people willing to supply the product. So as much as I want to say "PLEASE STOP LOOKING/READING THESE RIDICULOUS, PORNOGRAPHIC MAGAZINES THAT ARE BRAINWASHING YOU!!", they are just expressing their desires and I shouldn't get in the way.
It seems to me that every time an athlete is featured in the way you've described, it means less space devoted to the ultra-thin, semi-anorexic chic we've been force-fed for decades. Ultimately, each athlete who is asked to pose for the media must decide for him/herself what is appropriate. But I'm all for more space being devoted to the powerful and gorgeous bodies of athletes, both male and female. I'm not gonna lie. I love looking at them, ESPECIALLY when there is some skin showing.
One thing I've noticed (not judging) is that women a half generation or so younger than we are often are more comfortable with being more provocative, for lack of a better word, than the same aged women 15 years ago. One 20-something under my guidance wore something so scandalous to practice that I had to scold her. "Girls my age think it's okay to manipulate men", she told me.
Granted this attitude is probably because a bunch of things: they're young; they're still enjoying the benefits of being young; other people have fought a lot of the important battles for them; they may not have had jobs or promotions kept from them for reasons of gender; yet. And the second biggest demographic group is the kids of baby boomers, who are generally in their 20's, so fashion is catering to things only 20-somethings can get away with.
I grant your point about pictures that are iffy, and I have mixed feelings about the organization Jen mentions and the "hot chicks" photos there. But I think a lot of young women wouldn't see a conflict.
i think that your example picture is somewhat suggestive. i think what tends to happen is that we tend to expect these near soft-core porn shoots from female athletes at this point, and we more often than not project those expectations onto any image of a female athlete that is showing more skin than normal. i'm pretty much as unpuritannical as i can be, but i think our society is a bit oversexed, and this is a result.
as for the outside magazine comment, it really depends. if you're showing a picture of kelly slater (surfer) or michael phelps (the swimmer) shirtless, it's not really scandalous...thats the uniform for their sport. if they were in g-strings...that's a different story.
Anyhow, I have to admit that seeing women in action that have a athletic bodies has inspired me. It gave me something to aim for. I don't think I'm ever going to get that "ripped" for lack of a better word. Yet, seeing them made me think wow that's a body of action!
I agree with with anonymous when you say it gives you mixed feelings. In my first reply I mentioned my affiliation, it's that focus I take issue with.
After I wrote that I went to the main page and took a look and I would say that there is an attempt to "see" other people.
Now, if we are talking about SI and other womens fitness mags, in my mind they are mostly posers and just taking women down the same road as our Top Models.
What's is funny to me is that I don't find the picture on IM's page suggestive at at all. He's just doing his thing and you can tell that. Also, I hang out with male cyclist and so you just get used to seeing guys in tights.
That being said, let's be the change we want to see. Big props to folks like Jen and Ironmaven for featuring women actually doing stuff.
I don't necessarily need to see naked rugby players, but I do think an environment where a male athlete can be depicted in this way and still be respected as an athlete is probably also more respectful of female athletes...vs. an environment where women appear in bikini shots and men appear in sport uniforms.