Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Sexy Female Athletes In The Media

Female athletes who choose to pose provocatively in the media are scorned and criticized. Criticism generally does not come from men but instead from other women. Many women argue the women are degrading themselves and contributing to the objectification of women in the media. I believe female athletes have a choice of whether or not to pose provocatively in the media. I support those female athletes that choose to pose provocatively. I support it because i view it from a business perspective. Female athletes are in the business to make money for themselves. They are trying to sale a product and the product is themselves. Sex sales in the media. Posing provocatively in the media is a way for female athletes to basically advertise and market themselves. When companies sit down and come up with advertising and marketing strategies, do you think their primary interest is the greater good of society? NO. Their primary interest is what is going to make them money? If being sexy makes a female money, i think that she should do it. Most female athletes make more money from posing provocatively in the media than they do from their sport itself. Anna Kournikova is a female athlete who was not a really successful tennis player, however she has become extremely famous and wealthy from posing provocatively in the media. This may not be the best thing for society, but lets face it from an individual perspective, most women if offered the chance to make a lot of money by doing a few sexy photo shoots would do it. I think it is wrong to criticize female athletes for doing what most women would do if given the opportunity.
C. Callier-Henderson
(Kin 338i S.3201)

3 comments:

Kerrie Kauer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kerrie Kauer said...

I think that if women are wanting to make a change in how women are viewed in the public eye they need to stop playing the victim. I think they need to stop pointing the finger outwards toward media and society and turn it towards women. I agree that women do pose in certain ways in order to make money. It only makes sense to anybody to make money. That is what everything revolves around. I think that if women in sports want to be respected they need to become unified. Until they have a unified idea, their efforts to make change will become tangent to the overall goal. I agree that the proportion of women photographed is way too high in provocative positions. But until women start making sacrifices like their predecessors did they will not get anything done. Billie Jean King took massive risks and pay cuts in order to make headway for the Title IX. The 1996 United States women's soccer team boycotted the olympic games in atlanta until they got the demands they felt they deserved. In the arguments today, there is a lot of complaining going on but nobody is stepping up to the plate to get things done.

Richard G.
KIN338.S6

Kerrie Kauer said...

I agree that it is a woman's choice and that she should be at liberty to do what she chooses. If a female athlete wants to market on her body to gain further success or just her body for that fact, so be it. I think it takes a lot of courage to be able to do something like that. This is especially true knowing that an individual may receive hardship for their decision. Grant it, many of us are not born looking as good as these athletes. Many of them work hard. If we are seeing the athletic accomplishment, great. If it is purely aesthetic, well, let us appreciate that as well. If anything, there is a person who is able to show themselves in a light in which some of us may not be able to.

-Dennise Gallegos
KIN 338I, Section 6