Covering

F
C Female A
Athletes

Danee Pyee & Scott R. Stroud
University of Texas att Austin

difficult to aargue with tthe claim thaat female atthletes receive less covverage than
It is d
theirr male countterparts. In addition to considering how often n female ath hletes are
coverred, journallists must allso considerr how they aare portrayyed when th hey are
coverred. Sports IIllustrated, ffor examplee, is known for rarely pportraying feemale
athleetes on its co over, but, on
n February 8th, 2010, O Olympic skier Lyndsey Vonn was
featuured with th he caption “AAmerica's B Best Woman n Skier Everr.” Although this can be
seen as a great m moment for Vonn, and ffor female aathletes in ggeneral, therre were also o
thosee who took offense to th he skier’s positioning iin what somme have calleed “a
sexuaally provocaative pose.”

(htttp://www.sicoverrs.com/product.aaspx?pid=2320)

The ccontroversy y surroundin ng the pictu ure is two‐foold. First, th
here is disaggreement
over whether th he picture is or is not seexually sugggestive. On tthe cover, VVonn is
pictu
ured on a mo ountain in aa tuck positiion. As multtiple commeentators noted, male
skierr, A. J. Kitt, w
was featured d on a 1992 Sports Illusstrated coveer in a similaar pose.
However, accord ding to Nico
ole LaVoi, an n expert on women in ssports, the images of th he

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ortsandmeddia.org

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two sskiers differr in that Kittt is portrayeed “in actionn,” looking fforward dow wn the hill,
and w wearing his helmet. Vonn, howeveer, is clearly posed. She is obviously not
moviing down th he hill. She iss also facingg the camerra and is nott wearing heer helmet.

Thosse who find the picture to be offenssive argue tthat it is justt another off many
exammples of the journalisticc tendency tto portray feemale athleetes as sex o objects.
Because women n athletes reeceive less coverage, thee instances where theyy are
promminently feaatured are m more significcant. Portraayals that seexualize fem male athletess
reinfforce traditional genderr norms and d downplayy female athletic ability. Photos likee
Vonn n’s, they arg
gue, may selll magaziness, but they oonly work to o increase innterest in
her bbody, not heer athleticism m.

Thosse who are n not offended d by the imaage either ddo not see an ny sexual coonnotationss,
or doo not find th
he combinattion of sex aand women’s sports to b be problemmatic. Wendyy
Parker, a sports journalist, d does not see anything p provocativee in the Sporrt Illustrated d
imag ge, and she eeven points out that Vo onn is fully cclothed “from head to ttoe.” Then
theree are those wwho argue tthat it doesn n’t matter eeven if it is aa “sexy” pictture. Sports
Illusttrated has a predominaately male reeadership, sso it may bee a businesss‐boosting
ploy to promotee reader inteerest in female competiitive skiing.. Additionally, female
athleetes have a rright to celeebrate their bodies with hout being ttold how to “behave.”
As spports bloggeer Chris Chaase asks, “W Why can’t shee be both th he best skierr in the
world and really y, really attrractive too?””


Furth her Inform
mation:

Austin Knnoblauch, “L Lindsey Von nn’s Sports IIllustrated ccover shot sskis into
controversy.” Availaable at:
http://latimesblogs..latimes.com m/sports_bllog/2010/0 02/lindsey‐vvonn‐sex‐
sexual‐poose‐provocaative‐skier‐o olympics‐w winter‐sexuaally‐suggesttive.html

Chris Chaase, “Let thee Lindsey Vo onn Hype Begin: Vonn is Sports Illustrated
Cover Girrl.” Available at:
ports.yahoo.com/olymp
http://sp pics/blog/foourth_placee_medal/post/Let‐the‐
Lindsey‐hhype‐begin‐‐Vonn‐is‐Sp ports‐Illus?uurn=oly‐217 7525

Mary Jo K
Kane, “Sex sells Sex, nott Women’s SSports.” Thee Nation, Au ugust 15‐22,
2011. Available at: h http://www w.thenation.ccom/articlee/162390/ssex‐sells‐
womens‐spo
sex‐not‐w orts

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ortsandmeddia.org

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Wendy Parker, “A Trruly Warped
d Way of se eing Womeen Athletes,”” Available
at: http:///www.wen
ndyparker.org/2011/08 8/a‐truly‐w
warped‐wayy‐of‐seeing‐
women‐aathletes/



ussion Que
Discu estions:

1. Did Sportts Illustrated
d do somethhing ethicallly wrong inn running thhe Vonn
would it maatter what ttheir actual intentions
picture as they did? If they did, w
behind ru unning the pphoto were? If this covver actually iincreased innterest in
female coompetitive sskiing, woulld that mak e an ethicall difference??

2. What reaasons would d you give to
o defend thee decision too run the Vo onn photo?

3. Is the selection of co
over photos,, such as thee Vonn shott, an importaant activity
of sports journalists? Or are theese purely b business deccisions? Aree there moree
ethical issues than siimply coverring sports oonce sportss journalistss become
part of a business suuch as Sports
ts Illustratedd?

4. How wou uld you havee handled th he selectionn of the Vonn photo forr the cover iff
you ran SSports Illustrrated? What values woould guide yyour decisions?

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ortsandmeddia.org

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