Seriously?

Ok, so my husband works in the sports field and yesterday he came home from work and said to me, "You are not going to believe what's on the cover of Triathlete Magazine." Then, he showed it to me and I gasped. Why, oh why, is the woman on the cover posed with her hand on her bathing suit bottom and why is this sports magazine that claims to empower athletes over-sexualizing female athletes?? Truth be told, that's really a rhetorical question because I already know the answer. I went out to the world wide web to find some "expert" opinions to share with you.

According to an article by the National Women's Sports Foundation:

"In response to the athletes who choose to expose their bodies on magazine covers and centerfolds, Mary Jo Kane, director of Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, said that it's their decision to do so, but for those who choose to show off their bodies for the sake of gaining respect for women in sports, this action trivializes and marginalizes women in sports. One of the major questions in this central discourse becomes why do athletes pose in these magazines and why is Nike promoting this type of campaign? If consumers are buying products because it is marketed in this way, they are feeding off of sexualized images of female bodies. In the marketing strategy, consumers receive a false assumption that suggests certain products can make the consumer equivalent to the model shown in the ad. The ad exposes a sexuality that lures consumers into buying the products because it's a physicality to aspire to. Similarly, athletes pose to lure viewers, specifically male viewers, into what they are doing – to bring attention to their sport. But the notion doesn't reflect their sport or their athletic accomplishments. Instead, it eroticizes their bodies and undermines their efforts to publicize female athletic strength and prominence in their sport."

And, here is a quote from Pat Griffin who is part of the social justice education program at the University of Massachusetts. "When it once was enough to feminize women athletes, now it is necessary to sexualize them for men," putting them in their place and making them non-threatening, Griffin said. "Instead of hearing, 'I am woman, hear me roar,' we are hearing, 'I am hetero-sexy, watch me strip.'"

So what can we do about this? Write a letter to the editor of these types of magazines and let them know how you feel! Here is the contact info for Triathlete Magazine:

Online Editor Liz Hichens: Lhichens@competitorgroup.com
Triathlon Editorial Director: T.J. Murphy, Tjmurphy@competitorgroup.com