Good Looks
| What it Takes - Home | Human Interest Stories |
| Special Achievements | Playing With the Boys |
The easiest way for women to grab media attention has nothing to do with their athletic ability or athletics at all. It has everything to do with good genes and being able to fit into a itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini. The most popular issue of Sports Illustrated is the swimsuit edition, which is filled with bikini-clad supermodels instead of athletes. Occasionally, a female athlete will be found within these pages, but the athlete has to be good looking and references to their athletic achievements are slim. Most of these beautiful female athletes known for their good looks do have a considerable amount of talent, but in the world of the swimsuit edition talent is not a necessity.
The best example of this beauty athlete phenomenon is Anna Kournikova. This tennis player has never won a singles title, but her matches attract more attention than most because of her beauty. The Russian athlete had, at one time, a number of endorsement deals, was considered the most popular female athlete, and was the most downloaded female athlete. All of this attention went to a woman who has yet to win a title in her sport. Lately more and more female tennis athletes have gained attention for their looks and athletic prowess, such as Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. These women have won countless titles and are being recognized for them as well as their attractiveness. However, at one point in time it was all about Anna.
Female tennis athletes receive a lot of attention because
their uniforms are extremely form fitting, but this is
not the only sport whose uniforms have received a lot
of press attention. Beach volleyball
entered the Olympic stage in 1996 and has received criticism
ever since for the women who are required to wear a uniform
that does not exceed
a particular size, thus encouraging players to wear the
small bathing suit. The men are not required to wear
anything that bares their chest
or is form fitting at all. This controversy went to another
level at the 2004 Olympics when the beach volleyball
tournament turned more into
a beach party than an athletic event. Girls in small
orange bikinis would perform in between sets and a requirement
was made official
that the
female athletes had to wear more revealing uniforms to
participate. This message is telling girls that they
have to wear tiny bikinis and look
good in them, otherwise no one will want to watch them
play volleyball. It is understandable that this event
is taking place at the beach and
typically beaches are associated with bathing suits,
but this is an athletic event. With that said, these
women have worked
very hard to reach the
Olympics and to have someone dictate what they can and
cannot wear is absolutely ridiculous. One of the worst
things about this new requirement
was that it was specifically dictated to women. If the
Olympic committee wants the women to be barely clothes
then it is only fair that the men
received the same treatment. This is not the case, however,
in terms of the 2004 beach volleyball competition. 
As an athlete most people will know a lot about the sport
that they themselves participate in. In terms of other
sports, though, some athletes are not as up to date
so they depend on the media to serve
as an informative tool. When the media is concerned
with portraying good looking slim female athletes the message
to young girls is clear. Women
spent a lot of time rebelling against the norms that
history has befell them and their participation
in athletics is a form of that rebellion.
For the media to only portray the supposed good-looking
women is taking those leaps and pushing them back.
For more information on the women and issues discussed....
Anna Kournikiova Official Website