Amanda Beard in the Public Eye

For my Awareness Assignment I focused on one Olympic Athlete that is consistently in the pubic eye. Amanda Beard is a beautiful, strong, and athletic person with much respect in the swimming industry. She is an Olympic medalist, a mother, wife, and inspiration athlete. Within her time in the public eye she has be on the cover of numerous magazine, done hundreds of interviews, and been on National television.

After doing some research I found out that not only is she a public figure, she done a good amount of advertising for different companies. For instance, she posed nude of the cover of Playboy because she has a past in modeling. Not only had she posed nude for one magazine she has posed nude for several. This type of public display allows fans and the public to criticize her motives as an athlete and feminine figure.

In class we have been speaking about the challenge of women being sexualized, trivialized, and marginalized in the media rather than being portrayed as strong, powerful, and athletic. It is interesting that Amanda Beard is all of the above, but not only is she as astonishing athlete she is drop dead gorgeous, has a perfect body, and the an immense amount of sex appeal. This is why she has had the ability to be displayed on the cover of magazines in such a sexual way. But when you look at a photo of Amanda Beard, you do not realize she is an Olympic swimmer, that she has won a multitude of medals for her athletic abilities. What you see is her breasts being exposed, her beautiful face glowing, and her feminine appearance. I can guarantee if she was on the cover of a magazine right now a large portion of the public would have no idea who she is.

The other day I opened an application on my IPhone, "US Weekly" and to my surprise there was an article written about Amanda Beard and her decision pose nude. She was interviewed about her nude photos in the public eye and she apologized for her offense to her fans. She mentioned how she wants the world to see her as a hardworking wife, mother, and athlete. Not just as a sex symbol. She believes that valuing her athletic career is important and spending more time relating herself to her athletic traits will only benefit her in the future.

I just thought it was a coincidence I decided to do my Awareness Assignment on Amanda Beard, and then about a week later she did an interview with Us Weekly Magazine to express her side on posing nude versus posing athletic. And to top it all off, all of this directly related to our class discussions.

Chelsie Kurz
Kin 338I
Wednesday 4-645