Female Athletes as Models

While more and more women’s Olympic and professional sports are being introduced, some female athletes are starting to disrobe. You may ask yourself, why are these woman doing this? The reason is simple: it makes them more well known and liked by the public. One recent example of women trying to become more well known by disrobing is the Australian Woman’s soccer team creating a calendar. The calendar featured the team in full frontal nudity. Why would athletes choose to do this? Another example of women choosing to disrobe is Canada’s Waneek Horn-Miller who is a water polo player for Canada. She posed naked on the cover of the Canadian Time magazine with a water polo ball placed strategically to cover the lower half of her body. More and more female athletes are choosing to take off their clothes and smile for the camera in order to market their names and draw attention to the sport, while modeling may help their careers it can also be met with a backlash from the public and people who admire the female athletes.

Jenny Thompson, an American swimmer is one of the most decorated Olympian athletes to date. In her Olympic career, in which she participated in 4 Olympics from 1992 to 2004, she held 8 gold medals, 3 silver, and 1 bronze medal. Beside these achievements she has 85 international competition medals; 14 World Championships, 34 Pan Pacific Championships, and 17 short course World Championship medals, making her the most successful swimmer in history. All of these accomplishments earned her a listing in Sports Illustrated where she was named one of the ‘Greatest 100 Female Athletes’ of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated. This was all overshadowed however when Jenny posed for Sports Illustrated wearing red boots and a blue bikini bottom with her hand covering her breasts. Thompson said she posed in this manner to show young children that a woman could be muscular. But to be honest, how many young woman buy Sports Illustrated? Thompson gained a lot of exposure for both herself and her sport by posing topless. This added attention may have increased the number of spectators for the women's swim team, but was it necessary to be photographed so scantily clad?

Serena Williams became the #1 ranked player in the world on July 8, 2002 for her outstanding tennis skills. Throughout her career she has won in the US Open, French Open, Australian Open, Italian Open and she even won the 2003 Wimbledon title for two years consecutively. When she's not winning singles tournaments, Serena is beating her oponents with her sister, Venus Williams as her doubles partner. Sometimes the strength in her matches are not as well covered by the media as the revealing and unconventional tennis outfits worn by the fashionable player. Other than this media attention, Serena holds endorsement deals with McDonald's, Nike, and Wilson Racquet Sports; which have all added significantly to her tennis championship earnings. Serena has been mending injuries over the past years, she has been making even more money than when she was winning major tournaments. While recovering, she has been modeling, acting, and creating her own clothing line. She says if she was not a tennis player she would pursue acting or fashion design. The modeling that she currently does and the non-traditional uniforms she wears are from her point of view intended to make her and woman’s tennis more popular to fans.

Amy Acuff is an accomplished American high jumper who competed for UCLA and participated in three Olympic games. This gifted athlete broke national high school and collegiate records and finished 4th in Olympics in Greece. She has also amassed 5 NCAA and 6 US indoor and outdoor championships thus far in her illustrious career. Although Acuff is clearly a very talented athlete, she is known more for her modeling career than her athletic accomplishments. Acuff is one of the most photographed female athletes, causing her to be known for her looks rather than her athletic ability. Acuff has appeared in several male publications such as FHM, Maxin, and even Playboy (Wikipedia, 2003). Acuff posed nude in Playboy with 11 other female Olympians for the “Women of the Olympics” issue. Acuff explained to the media that she was posing in these magazines in order “to help showcase women as athletes.” Acuff said, “I see the body as a miraculous machine, and I don’t see sexuality when I see a woman’s body. I see strength, athleticism and beauty. … I don’t see it as shameful. We’re promoting pride in our bodies.” However, this is not necessarily the message that is sent to young girls when they see a successful female role model in provocative poses and little or no clothing. The media’s preoccupation with looks rather than athletic ability was visible in the US media build-up towards the Sydney Olylmpic Games. The most photographed female athlete was not Marion Jones, the track and field competitor who was favored to win 5 gold medals, but Amy Acuff, a 6ft 2in blonde, part-time model high jumper whose ambition, as it was reported, was not to win an Olympic gold medal but to work on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition "because people get a lot of attention for that" (Women's Sports Foundation).

Anna Kournikova is a professional tennis player from Russia. Although Anna has yet to win a professional singles tournament, she still manages to make more money than many very successful tennis players who lack her model-like features will make in their entire careers. Anna reportedly makes more than 10 million dollars a year in endorsements despite her rather unsuccessfull tennis career. Kournikova’s sponsors include Lycos, Adidas, Omega watches, Berlei lingerie, and Yonex. Even after being eliminated from tournaments in the first round, she receives more media coverage than many of the athletes who progress to the final rounds. During Wimbledon 2000 there were 20 pictures of Kournikova in British newspapers for every one of the singles finalist Lindsay Davenport. Despite her less than admirable tennis performances, Anna’s name is more well-known to the public than many talented players. This fame is clearly due to Kournikova’s extensive media coverage as a result of her appearance rather than any of her tennis accomplishments. Anna posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in 2004, and she was named the Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM magazine in 2002. When asked about her revealing photographs in these magazines, Anna told reporters, "it's true I always try to be as seductive as possible, but I wouldn't be here if I couldn't play tennis." Anna has also appeared in a movie, thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at a Yankees game, appeared on many late night talk shows and sitcoms, and walked the red carpet at an MTV awards show. The internet is loaded with millions of pictures of this tennis beauty, many depicting her in provocative, semi-nude poses. Kournikova’s name is searched for online more often than both Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan combined (CNN Money).

Danica Patrick is a 23-year-old indy car driver who competes as the only woman in a field of men. Although Danica has yet to win a major racing event, she is a favorite for being a pioneer in a stereotypically male sport. She was the first woman to lead a lap in the Indianapolis 500 in 2005. She went on to finish that race in fourth place, posting the fastest time for any female driver on that course. While Danica's effort to break the gender barrier in her sport is admirable, she has still succumb to the pressures female athletes face to display their bodies. Patrick has posed for men’s magazines in order to further her popularity and career and affirm her femininity. She was photographed in stilettos and leather lingerie on the hood of race car for FHM. Danica gets more media coverage than men despite losing races simply because it’s seen as an oddity, drawing even more attention to herself for reasons other than her driving skills (NPR).