As you may recall, I love the Olympics. Someday, I want to go to the Olympics, both the summer and winter games. (as a spectator, of course) The LA Times has been covering some of the Olympic athletes and sports in the sports section, which is the only reason I haven't been tossing that section aside, which is my usual routine.
Anyway, today I read this awesome feminist-y piece on women athletes. The article's focus, written by Bill Plaschke, is on US skier Lindsey Vonn, but the author's broader purpose is to comment on women athletes as a whole. Vonn has suffered a shin injury that may cost her an Olympic berth, yet all we care about is how she recently posed in Sports Illustrated.
I have commented on the media coverage of female athletes during the Summer Olympics. In that post, I talked about how even though women are strong and hard working athletes, the focus is on how they manage to juggle training and motherhood. Women, by virtue of being athletes, are acting "unfeminine" and beyond their prescribed gender roles. Despite their accomplishments, they are still expected to exhibit stereotypical female characteristics. For example, after Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second Olympic beach volleyball medal, the media focus shifted to how they were recently married and wanted to start a family. Can you imagine anyone discussing marriage and parenthood with Michael Phelps?
So today's article talked about how even though Lindsey Vonn is an accomplished skier who is a medal favorite, nobody wants to talk about her shin injury and instead the focus is on the sexually objectifying photos in Sports Illustrated. Plaschke says that "The most famous female athletes are the prettiest female athletes, period." None of this is new news. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard bared her skin in Playboy (if I remember right, sorry, I don't "read" that magazine), everyone knows of Anna Kournikova, and as Plaschke says, nobody gave a shit about when the US women's soccer team won the World Cup until after Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt. Female empowerment or female objectification?
Plaschke's final quote pretty much sums up society's attitude towards women athletes: "A woman who could potentially be the Winter Olympics' most decorated athlete will also be its most Googled, by folks who care nothing about her athleticism and everything about her breasts." It is really unfortunate that accomplished athletes who happen to be women only gain notoriety and respect when they show some skin and become sexually objectified.
Anyway, today I read this awesome feminist-y piece on women athletes. The article's focus, written by Bill Plaschke, is on US skier Lindsey Vonn, but the author's broader purpose is to comment on women athletes as a whole. Vonn has suffered a shin injury that may cost her an Olympic berth, yet all we care about is how she recently posed in Sports Illustrated.
I have commented on the media coverage of female athletes during the Summer Olympics. In that post, I talked about how even though women are strong and hard working athletes, the focus is on how they manage to juggle training and motherhood. Women, by virtue of being athletes, are acting "unfeminine" and beyond their prescribed gender roles. Despite their accomplishments, they are still expected to exhibit stereotypical female characteristics. For example, after Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second Olympic beach volleyball medal, the media focus shifted to how they were recently married and wanted to start a family. Can you imagine anyone discussing marriage and parenthood with Michael Phelps?
So today's article talked about how even though Lindsey Vonn is an accomplished skier who is a medal favorite, nobody wants to talk about her shin injury and instead the focus is on the sexually objectifying photos in Sports Illustrated. Plaschke says that "The most famous female athletes are the prettiest female athletes, period." None of this is new news. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard bared her skin in Playboy (if I remember right, sorry, I don't "read" that magazine), everyone knows of Anna Kournikova, and as Plaschke says, nobody gave a shit about when the US women's soccer team won the World Cup until after Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt. Female empowerment or female objectification?
Plaschke's final quote pretty much sums up society's attitude towards women athletes: "A woman who could potentially be the Winter Olympics' most decorated athlete will also be its most Googled, by folks who care nothing about her athleticism and everything about her breasts." It is really unfortunate that accomplished athletes who happen to be women only gain notoriety and respect when they show some skin and become sexually objectified.
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