Provocative? I think not

An article on Yahoo recently got my attention and I had to blog about it. The article was on Lindsey Vonn, a woman skier competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics, on the cover of this month's Sports Illustrated magazine. The buzz she caused was over her pose in the photo. Personally, when I saw the cover I didn't think anything of it. Instead I thought, "finally a woman on the cover that isn't wearing a skimpy bikini!"

The argument was that Vonn is an athlete, not a sex object, and the photo objectifies her to just that. On the site womentalksports.com they make mention that, "When females are featured on the cover of SI, they are more likely than not to be in sexualized poses and not in action-and the most recent Vonn cover is no exception."

I agree that SI does a horrible job at the way they portray women, but I'd have to say that this time, although the pose may be somewhat suggestive (even though I didn't get that impression at first), SI is moving slowly to accepting women in sport and perhaps more women athletes "in-motion" on their covers.

For those of you interested in seeing the February Sports Illustrated Cover, here is the link:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Let-the-Lindsey-hype-begin-Vonn-is-Sports-Illus?urn=oly,217525

May I also make mention that in 1992 SI featured A.J. Kitt, a male skier, on their cover in exactly the same pose as Vonn's. Do you think that people thought his photo was provocative? I think not.

Click on the link below to see Kitt's cover: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9313/index.htm

References:

Chase, Chris. (2010, February 3). Yahoo Sports [10]. Let the Linsdey hype begin: Vonn is Sports Illustrated cover girl. February 4, 2010: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Let-the-Lindsey-hype-begin-Vonn-is-Sports-Illus?urn=oly,217525

Jessica Canizales KIN 338I. S4