Sex Appeal to Market our Athletes

¶ … Sex Appeal to Market our Athletes?

Women are performing very well in sports. Since women have become part in the world of "sports" and/or athletics, the capabilities of women are becoming continuously noticeable. However, the skills of the women in various sports categories are not the only thing noticeable nowadays because the kinds of clothing and the concepts of advertisements involving women are also becoming conspicuous.

Women are very good in sports, but it seems that their ability to play excellently are not the only thing that people loved watching but also the scantily uniforms being designed for them. Many would have recognized the fact that the physical attributes of the female athletes are more highlighted today than their skills.

The media is helping a lot in this aspect. Various forms of media (print and broadcast) are focusing on the body sizes and sexy outfits of the female athletes that it sometimes looks like the media are sexually exploiting the female athletes (Phillips, 1997). At first, the female athletes were so conscious about it, but when it appeared that they are becoming more famous because of the media, they started enjoying the limelight. Female athletes started having various offers of commercial endorsements for skimpy outfits, wines and other commercial products that often use their bodies and faces as a main attraction and not their sporting capabilities.

Moreover, the scantily uniforms are often distracting the viewers and other sporting officials in a manner that it negatively affect the whole sporting activity (Phillips, 1997). The people may come watching the whole sports activity, but they may lost focus and watch the movements of the female athletes instead - the way their clothes fit their bodies, the way their legs are showing off every time they do some stunts, the way their bosoms and butts become prominent because of the tightly-fitted uniforms and many more. These are the "scenes" that others enjoy watching and not the whole activity itself.

Because of this, it is strongly argued that women athletes are being highly "sexified" and trying to sell themselves to the public, essentially losing who they are and what their capabilities are. The uniforms that women athletes used to wear nowadays coupled with the commercialization of their physical attributes are the major reasons why women athletes are considered to be highly "sexified."

Counter Argument

The Counterclaims

Women uniforms are designed for comfort and convenience. They are asked to wear skimpy bikinis for swimming categories, short shorts for track and field or long jump and many other forms of uniforms that may look sexy yet suits very well for the sporting activities.

It should be noted that women's uniforms were not the skimpy or tight-fitting before. It just changed gradually from old-styled "knickers and long-sleeved blouses worn by early female athletes to the now colorful, individualistic styles worn by athletes such as Florence Griffith-Joyner" (http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/body/article.html?record=877,2005). Many are now questioning about the real purpose of wearing such tight or clad-fitted uniforms. However, the fact remains that these uniforms - however tight or clad-fitted they may look like - are designed and to suit their purpose, and that is to provide convenience and comfort while doing the stunts elated to the sporting events.

There are rules and guidelines to be followed when designing the uniform for a certain female athlete. The uniform will always be based on the "performance-related rationales" of the particular female athlete. There are different considerations when assessing the type of uniform fit for the female athlete. This may include:

The psychological benefit of the uniform such as "comfort, drag reduction, and performance enhancement" aspects.

It should be noted that the garment or the texture of the cloth plays a detrimental part in ensuring that the female athlete can perform well in her chosen sporting event. Tight-fitted uniforms have its own purpose and it has always been a decision of the female athlete to use such style of uniform because it gives them an edge over the competitors. Like for example in swimming, track and field events and even on gymnastics, the tight-fitted uniforms are really a plus factor. Others may opt to wear loose clothing for a different purpose, but if ensuring a winning piece at the end of every sporting performance, the tight-fitted uniforms are the better option.

Loose clothing may be worn to reduce restrictions and skin irritation whereas tighter clothing may be worn in sports where reduction in air or water resistance is important." (http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/body/article.html?record=877,2005)

Safety issues are also one of the considerations why today's female athlete's uniforms are designed that way.

It is a common notion that wearing garments that cover the most part of the body will protect the athletes from getting more bruises and abrasions in different sporting events. However, there are some female athletes who get more bruises and abrasions if the majority of their body parts are covered, specifically in doing some sporting stunts. Knee pads, elbow pads, helmet, ear plugs and others are enough to protect the "uncovered" body parts while the tight-fitted uniforms serve its purpose of protecting the most private body parts while ensuring that the female athletes can move and run around easily.

In a study conducted in a collegiate inter-basketball tournament, it was proven that shorts and tighter uniforms are better than any jeans or pants. This type of uniform is safer to use than any other type of garments.

A source: (Feather, et. al., 1996)

Being in uniform did improve their perception of their bodies and the need for being measured for their uniform was necessary. How the female athlete was perceived on the court correlated with how well their uniform fit which improved their performance." (Feather, et. al., 1996)

The third consideration will be for both the heavy and light female athletes who may found discomforts when wearing heavy uniforms that may of course hinder their performance.

In certain sporting activities like weight lifting, long jumping, and some water sports activities, wearing heavy and full-body clothes can surely affect the performance. It may hinder ease of jumping or add more weight to the supposedly light objects to carry.

Yes, others may view today's uniform requirement "exploitive when females are required to wear form-fitting uniforms when the same is not expected of male athletes in the same sport" but it is also good to note that "cultural differences related to the acceptability of exposing the body in public" is also considered. Other female athletes are not comfortable wearing sexy or tight looking uniforms but others do. Hence, it will always be the dependent on the preference of the team coach or of the female athlete herself to choose the kind of uniform she will be wearing.

It is important that uniform guidelines for the female athletes do not discriminate by gender, race, or other inappropriate distinction. In general, to the extent justifiable, uniform choices should give the athlete maximum flexibility in choosing a garment that makes her feel most comfortable and perform at the highest level." (http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/body/article.html?record=877,2005)

The aim of the female athletes is to play and play effectively. They are not concerned with what others are thinking or what others may feel towards the kind of garment they feel like wearing. Naturally, any female athlete would want to wear the type of uniform where she will be comfortable with. She will be wearing a uniform which she thinks will help her outperform the opponents in a very fair and clear manner. A female athlete will naturally choose to wear uniforms where she thinks she can be most effective with as an athlete, and not for anything else.

Rebuttal for the counterclaims

With the body-hugging uniforms that female athletes now wear, they have become the target of commercialization and sex exploitation. Female athletes wearing skimpy uniforms are used as product endorsers not because they are good in their respective sports but because of their physical attributes and that they look good in their uniforms.

With the new tend in female athletes' uniforms, other may feel discriminated thereby limiting the female groups from becoming an athlete or from joining a certain sporting events. They will think that sports will only for the females with gorgeous or voluptuous body. More so, some will fear being focused on by a camera because they will think that they will not look good in print and their forms of media. These cause discomfort and ill feeling among selected female athletes.

By requiring uniforms that expose the body, participation opportunities may be taken from those individuals who cannot wear such garments." (Feather, et. al., 1996)

It should be noted that sports is for everybody. The sports complex and other sporting venues are the place where the female athletes show their skills in their respective categories. It is the place where they interact with other athletes and with the crowd. It is the place where they are suppose to be shining as an athlete and not as a reflection of any body size nor of a body image. They are there to play and not to show off their bodies.

Female athletes with larger body size will find discomforts in the tightly fitted uniforms. This then presents problem to safety. The female athletes who will not be at ease to the required uniform could not focus on the game she is playing. She will, from time to time, try to rearrange, pull or push some parts o the garment where she thinks she needs to be covered. With such attention that will be given to the garment, how can it be assured that the athlete will be safe in performing on her sporting event?

Lastly, female athletes who have larger body size will not be motivated to join any sporting activities anymore because of the fear for negative judgments from the crowd and the media. The sports arena is becoming more of an area for the body image issues. Teenage girls who are uncomfortable with wearing shorts or small skirts are hesitant to continue playing their sports.

A bipartisan report produced from a Senate inquiry into women's participation in sport found that teenage girls were leaving amateur sports because of body image issues exacerbated by uniforms." (Burke, 2006)

The Argument

Assert point 1. Many female athletes today are famous and are continuously becoming a household name not for their sporting abilities but because of their beautiful faces and good body image.

Yes, granted that the female athletes have climbed themselves up to the ladder of success. They forced themselves to continue playing and earning medals of success for the love of sports. However, such success always ends up with the female athletes commercializing their physical attributes to earn more. Those with better physical attributes tend to be the crowd favorite. Those who looks sexier in the uniforms tend to receive more offers of products endorsements. Those who wear tighter and skimpier garments tend to receive more focus by television and media companies.

This is not the case among male athletes. For the male athletes, they don't have to wear shorts and/or tight-fitting uniforms to be noticed. Their skills and abilities in sports are highlighted better than the female athletes. Yes, at some point in time, face value of the value athletes also matters, but the fact remains that they do not have to wear any revealing clothes to be noticed.

There is a double standard when it comes to male and female athletes. Can anybody tell me why Anna Kournikova is a household name? It has nothing to do with her tennis skills, which honestly are really not very good. It has a whole lot more to do with that face and that body of hers. She is using her assets to her advantage. This probably takes away from those women who may not look like her (who does?) but are equally talented, if not more so." (Gitlin, 2000)

It may be argued that there is nothing wrong with having beautiful faces or of voluptuous body for an athlete. But what is wrong is the concept that the female body and face becoming more revealing because of the tight or clad-fitted garments that are designed as their uniforms. Through the scantily designed uniforms, the female athletes are admired not of their skills and abilities but because of their bodies. Much worst is the fact that they have become the common target of "desires" for the men population, again not because of their skills and abilities in their chosen sporting events but because of their revealing pictures and images.

A it is really hard to believe that female athletes are taken more seriously when it is evident that the polls and surveys existing nowadays such as in AskMen.com, which is less mature and only slightly more clever than something that can be found in Teen Magazine are focused on the sexy images of the so-called "known" female athletes. The "Beauty Pageant" displays pictures of Kournikova, volleyball player Gabrielle Reese and boxer Mia St. John, accompanied by lewd comments and the opportunity to choose the male's favorite chickie/female athlete. "(Gitlin, 2000)

Why and how are these images existed? The media contribute greatly for this. Nowadays, the media have increased its focus in giving more highlights to the physical attributes of female athletes. These highlights are done in a way that the body images are given more importance at the expense of the sporting achievements. Thus, the female athletes are portrayed more with the idea of titillating factors of the naked or scantily clad bodies than as a real sportswoman (Phillips, 1997).

There are different studies conducted that female athletes struggle greatly to become renowned but results also reveal that they struggle less if they can attract the media much more than any other athletes.

The best strategy, as believed by the female athletes, to attract the media is by wearing noticeable garments that will help in "exposing" or highlighting their bodies. More so, to get the media's attention in a longer term basis, female athletes need to maintain their image by wearing the same type and/or style of uniforms. The more noticeable the garments are, the longer the camera will be focused on them.

When compared to the male athletes, personification of the female athletes is entirely different. For the male athletes, their performance is much important, while for the female athletes, their physical appearance gets to have more comments.

Women were often photographed in inactive shots, in relationship caricatures or as models; men were more often shown in active poses, less in relationships and never as models" (Phillips, 1997).

With such idea, the male athletes become the image for activeness, toughness, aggression and good sporting abilities, while the female athletes are more of an image for sexy bodies, facial attributes and an item of beauty. It can be easily perceived that because of this, the image of the male athletes are more related the sports where they perform, while the female athletes are just a passing item to be admired for their physical attributes and not because they also do well in sports.

A the writing that described women's and men's sport reinforced a gender dichotomy. Women were stereotyped by their physical traits, their clothes, their emotions and their relationships; men by their courage, aggression and toughness... These socially constructed images lead to a gender hierarchy in which women's sport is not taken as seriously as men's." (Phillips, 1997).

Assert Point 2. With the scantily uniforms being used by the female athletes today, they are more exposed to sexual exploitation.

Female athletes who are used to wearing skimpy and/or tightly-fitted garments do receive numerous offers for product endorsements like wines, cigarettes, men's cologne and the likes. These products may be entirely different but there is one common denominator - and that is the concept that the product itself is specifically designed for men but the use of the female athletes as endorsers aroused the idea that the females are just the "males' materials."

The female athletes are the common subject of sexual exploitation because they allow themselves to be the subject of such acts. They choose to wear garments that are exposing even the supposed to be private parts of their bodies. They pose on camera shots and commercial advertisements which are not sporty in concept or in nature. They allow themselves to be commercialized not on the aspect of sports or of them being athletic, but on the aspect of their sexy bodies. This is enough reason to believe that the female athletes who are fond of wearing scantily uniforms are losing their own image as an athlete. They are now comparable to the runway models or commercial athletes whose physical attributes is considered an asset, instead of what is in their minds or what they can do.

Assert point 3. The female athletes who are wearing scantily uniforms are not putting their self-image as an athlete to a losing end, but also they are promoting wrong connotation to the aspiring athletes. With the way female athletes wear their uniforms, they are subjecting their admirers and fans to have the wrong perceptions of body image.

It should be noted that there are younger generations avidly watching the athletes - females or even male ones. With the falsely constructed image of the female athletes wearing skimpy and tight-fitted uniforms, posing like a model in a sexy fashion, they are promoting the idea that what they are doing are what and how female athletes should be.

Girls and women are constantly bombarded with images of female athletes cum models on television, magazines or other forms of media. Nowadays, most of the teenage girls wanted to be skinny and wear skimpy shorts and skirts like the female athlete models and starve themselves in order to attain the body shape and size of the female athlete tuned models (Mendelowitz). Skinny athletes having atypical body size and ideal shape affecting numerous women worldwide obsessed with having the figure of a runaway model (Zimmerman).

A survey by Glamour revealed that out of 33,000 female respondents, 85% felt dissatisfied with their bodies (Zimmerman). According to Murnen, body-image researcher, the promotion of skinny sexy ideal athlete has created a situation where majority of girls and women don't like their bodies leading girls to participate in very unhealthy behaviors such as eating disorders to try to control weight (Hellmich).

Eating disorders composed of anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are on the increase among teenage girls and young women ("Eating Disorders"). Anorexia and bulimia affect nearly 10 million women and 1 million men primarily teens and youngsters while 25 million people suffer from binge eating disorder in U.S. The average age of people is dropping rapidly as young as elementary school students, with peak onset among girls' ages 11-13 years of age (NEDA).

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss while bulimia nervosa is characterized by a secretive cycle of binge eating followed by purging while binge eating disorder is characterized by uncontrolled, impulsive, or continuous eating beyond the point of feeling comfortably full ("Eating Disorders").

The fashion industry's promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin and skinny to be able to wear such tight or clad-fitting garments is damaging to young girls' self-image and to their health. Young girls aspire to look like the female athletes and tend to engaged with eating disorder. When those athletes are unhealthily underweight, it adds pressures to girls to starve themselves to look the same. These skinny athletes portray to be dangerous to women especially for teenage girls (Palmer).

One study shows that a disturbing number of schoolgirls are missing meals so they can be thin like the female athletes. More than four out of 10 girls aged 14 and 15 admitted to skipping breakfast and not eating anything at all before they go to school and also misses lunch because they want to look like the athlete-models ("Girls Skip Meals").

In Britain, an estimated 60,000 people have eating disorders affecting 9 out of 10 are females. According to the British Medical Association, media's obsession with skinny female athletes turned models has contributed to the growth in eating disorders among young girls. The link between the images of skinny athletes seen in TV and magazines and the rise in conditions of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia directly affects teenage girls and women ("Models link to teenage anorexia").

The unmistakable signals emerging from skinny athletes have a significant impact on young people. These women are bombarded with signals indicating that skinny is sexy and beautiful, however when they overdo it could put risks into their health and could even be fatal (Wulff). Psychologists and eating-disorder experts are alarmed with what fashion industry has gone in pushing a dangerously skinny image models that women and very young girls may try to imitate (Hellmich).

These athlete-models are used as bait to lure women into feeling physically insecure bringing more cases of eating disorders (Zimmerman). Testimonials from different people stating how models affect young and adult women in becoming dangerously thin. According to one report in the 1990s, models commonly had body fat levels as low as 10% where an average healthy woman has 22% to 26% body fat. According to Dr. Dawson, from the Rhodes Farm Clinic treats patients who have eating disorders stated that children as young as 6-8 years-old are worried about being fat and these children are exposed to pictures of thin models from very early age. Nicky Bryant from the Eating Disorders Association added that several studies had shown that media portrayals of a thin ideal put pressure on youngsters ("Models link to teenage anorexia"). These are only few of the testimonials on the effect of skinny athlete-models to women especially to teenagers and the link at increasing number of eating disorders worldwide.