In the nearly three months that HerSportsPOV has been live, no column has drawn more comments or sparked more debate than “A Model of Decency.” I have wanted to respond, but unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to give these issues the attention they deserve until now.
First and foremost, I stand by my remark that athletes should view themselves as role models, not because they are athletes, but because that is the responsibility of all adults. Whether we have our own children or not, it is our duty to set an example for those who will run the world when we’re old and gray.
The question, however, that has been posed by the loyal readers of HerSportsPOV is whether nude modeling itself sets a poor example. It’s true that Americans still clutch a certain level of Puritanism when it comes to nudity, and if we relinquished this, then perhaps much about our society would change for the better. People want what they can’t have and crave what is taboo just to be different, just to be rebels, just to be the rugged individualists they’ve been taught to be. If it weren’t so taboo, then the shock factor would be destroyed, and people wouldn’t want what they can readily get.
However, I still don’t believe that an athlete posing nude is setting the proper example for young people because American society has not embraced a post-Puritan perspective on the human form. And until an athlete explicitly states that she’s posing for the sake of art to honor the beauty of the human figure or as a statement against patriarchal oppression, then these images will be continued to be objectified in a sexual, non-empowering way.
Women should be proud of their bodies, but our bodies are what everyone pays attention to first anyway. The true struggle is teaching girls to flaunt their intelligence before they flaunt their physique. With that said, the argument that Amanda Beard’s posing is a form of resistance against the perception that athletic women are less feminine because of their musculature is intriguing. Young girls receive the message that they should be skinny and petite. They shouldn’t have strong arms, shoulders, and calves because that would be too manly. If a female athlete can change the perception that to play sports is less than feminine, then I fully support it, but I believe this could still be accomplished without appearing nude in the pages of Playboy.
I found the article on Matthew Abboud very interesting, and like other readers, did not think about the discrimination a male athlete might face for making the decision to pose. However, what I found most revealing is that the sorority girls who posed weren’t reprimanded at all, and why? Because people don’t think twice about women posing nude. It’s deemed to be an acceptable practice for women to act like sirens, using their physicality and sexuality as tools to get ahead. Maybe some would see this as empowering, using our bodies for gain before someone else has the chance to objectify them, but if only a few people see it this way, what progress is being made? If a tree falls in the woods, but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
I agree with the readers who believe that posing nude can be an artistic form of expression or a method of resistance, but I don’t believe that is the overarching goal when athletes make that decision. It is a career move, designed to get the maximum amount of exposure and the maximum amount of money. Sadly, most female athletes’ salaries don’t approach that of their male counterparts, so perhaps posing is a savvy business decision. I just think that decision overshadows the true gifts and talents all women should be pushing to the forefront. When Amanda Beard competes in the Olympics next year, count how many times commentators mention her Playboy pictures versus how many times they mention her athletic accomplishments.
Maybe this all sounds very Puritan of me, but it’s all about what brand of exposure you want.
4 comments:
I appreciate the point of view expressed in HerSportsPOV. However, given that I have strong feelings about the topic, I feel that I should explain my point, now that I've had some time to think the ideas through. I'd like to point out that nothing here is meant to be rude, just my general feelings on the subject but specifically in response to what was said in the blog.
First of all, I have several remarks regarding feminism in general that apply to this.You said, "And until an athlete explicitly states that she’s posing for the sake of art to honor the beauty of the human figure or as a statement against patriarchal oppression, then these images will be continued to be objectified in a sexual, non-empowering way." What I find ironic about this particular argument in general is the following: feminism is about choice, having a choice and making a choice regardless of what that choice is. If we as women say that some choices are less "feminist" than others, whether it be choosing to be a stay-at-home mom rather than embrace working or choosing to show our bodies off in Playboy, we are removing that freedom of choice for women who make decisions with which we disagree. When women begin to remove choices for other women, we create our own cages. If a woman chooses to show off her body, as opposed to someone forcing her to do it against her will, who are we to judge? Why does she have to specifically state that it's a statement against patriarchal oppression? We are oppressing her by telling her that her choice is fundamentally wrong and anti-feminist which actually makes us worse than men for putting ourselves back in a cage.
Second, in that vein, you said, "I still don’t believe that an athlete posing nude is setting the proper example for young people because American society has not embraced a post-Puritan perspective on the human form." However, if we limit women's choices to do things such as pose nude per their own choice by judging them on it, we cannot change the American perspective. If every time a woman asserts her choice to stand up and say, "I want to show off my body, I'm proud of my body and heck, why shouldn't I maximize the earnings I can get from my body while it's still in top form" we tell her that what she's doing is wrong, it will remain wrong and views won't change.
Third, you're assuming that when men look at women sexually, we are automatically objectified and that our power is taken away. A woman who chooses to use her body to attract men is actually asserting power over those men. You cannot tell me that it is not powerful to have a guy buy you a drink in a bar. In fact, in my experience, sexual power is far more intoxicating than business acumen, even considering that it's limited to my husband.
Fourth, you say "our bodies are what everyone pays attention to first anyway. The true struggle is teaching girls to flaunt their intelligence before they flaunt their physique." Two things ring false about this logic. First, you are making the assumption that all women are as intelligent as you. Given many people in general that I know, students I've taught, and friends I've had, I would posit that you and many of your readers are in the top 10 percentile of intelligence. Not everyone has the intellect to flaunt. Second, you're assuming that some girls will feel degraded by how people treat them if they flaunt their sexuality instead of their intelligence. Again, assumption #1 being there is intelligence to be flaunted. For some women, as for some men, beauty is all they have. Have you never seen a mimbo? They do exist. They use their sexuality in the same way as some women.
Fifth, I wonder what difference there is between the Propel ad with Derek Jeter, et al. and posing by women. If you've ever seen that ad, it's one where the woman is walking along and all these famous guys turn to stare at her. First, the ad suggests sexuality, which in the realm of this conversation is not what women should be propagating. Second, if Derek Jeter were not considered a "sexy" athlete by many women, he would not be in that ad. David Wells is not chosen for this role. How is a woman posing for a magazine in order to maximize her earnings any different? Bodies - be they male or female - give out at some point. Many athletes may not have college degrees or other ways to make money. We should not judge them for wanting to take their major asset and making the most of it while they can. In many ways, it's no different than a MENSA member with a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's trying to make the most of her mind before it goes. However, in this case, because bodies are inherently sexual, this attempt to make the most of the body, in particular the female form, becomes a degrading experience or one for which we judge the woman for her choice.
Do I think that we want 12 year old girls going off and stripping nude for Playboy? No. That's child porn and there are laws against it. If my daughter, once she became of age, decided that she wanted to pose nude would I love it? Maybe not. However, I want her to be able to proudly make her own decisions. I do not want her to fear reprisal for asserting her rights to make her own choices, as long as they are informed.
Incidentally, the pictures in Playboy are nothing pornographic. Yes, she is topless. Yes, she has on a thong or covers other areas. She does not lie on the sand with her legs akimbo showing everything to the world. They are tasteful. They are actually vaguely boring. There has been racier nudity in many R-rated films, but I hear nothing against actresses choosing to do gratuitous nudity in a movie to "enhance" the plot.
On a final note, I'd like to point out that Playboy is now run by Hugh Hefner's daughter. A woman, pushing out a magazine for which we are giving another woman an issue for posing nude in a tasteful manner. Personally, I love that a woman runs Playboy. However, I question those who find Beard to have made a wrong decision: who is worse in the context of this argument - the woman who poses nude or the woman who pays another woman to pose?
Once again, I want to thank the loyal readers of HerSportsPOV for such spirited and eloquent responses. I've chosen not to post a full column on the matter so that we don't start comparing degrees of feminism, but I did want to respond to Karen's thoughtful remarks because I appreciate the time she took in crafting her comments.
One of the main points that has been lost is that it seems expectations are higher for female athletes to pose nude than for male athletes. I don’t want young girls growing up to think that they have to do that in order to gain exposure, recognition, or money. There may be some men who pose nude, but like I said initially, prominent players like Peyton Manning don’t wind up in Playgirl. It’s all about appearances, and that’s what bothers me. Male athletes are expected to be good at what they do. Female athletes are expected be good at what they do... and pretty. If male athletes are pretty (i.e. Derek Jeter), that’s a bonus. If a female athlete isn’t, then she’s deemed less than. That is one perception I want to change, and I feel that if a female athlete poses nude, then she is not helping the cause.
I consider myself a feminist and I believe in a woman’s right to choose anything in her life, even if it means posing nude, but as I said before, if no one is viewing these actions as a statement of change and no one is making an overt statement about the meanings, then the population at large is going to miss the revolution.
All women have used their bodies to attract men, but at the end of the day, we want them to love us in the same way we love them... not for how they look, but for the people they are. I’ve walked into a bar many a time, prepared to attract attention, but hoping that at the end of the night, the guy I’m talking to will appreciate my love for baseball more than my figure because that’s the real me.
Perhaps I misused the word “intelligence” because it was not meant to refer directly to IQ scores, but rather to any of the qualities women may possess because we all have more than beauty and I think to say that beauty is all some have is untrue and unfair.
I’m sure that even someone like Anna Nicole Smith, who was a master at using her sexuality as a tool, wanted someone to love what she looked like without make-up or for whatever qualities made her more than the starlet we saw plastered all over the news.
I would also disagree with the statement that an athlete posing nude while she has the body to do so is like a MENSA member trying to beat the clock of Alzheimer’s. One has made the conscious decision to lead a public life in which millions of young fans will look to her as a role model; the other has not.
I too want my daughter to assert herself and make her own decisions, but I also want her to realize that she cannot make decisions in a vacuum. We may have been raised to be individualists, but our lives our intertwined and all of our actions have reactions or consequences. I would just want her to be aware of each when making a choice such as this one.
And in reference to Hugh Hefner’s daughter running Playboy... she knows what sells and she knows that American society as a whole will not embrace the post-Puritan perspective anytime soon. She is a true feminist who has made her own choices, but no doubt, she’s aware of the irony.
I was super busy this morning and didn't get a chance to appropriately reply.
I have to say that on this point, "We may have been raised to be individualists, but our lives our intertwined and all of our actions have reactions or consequences. I would just want her to be aware of each when making a choice such as this one," I agree with you 100%. I never meant to imply that decisions and choices don't have consequences. I think that being aware of the consequences of decisions is the most important part of making them. I agree that society will be a long time to change; however, I simply hope that there are women out there brave enough to stand up to the criticism and bare (get it? bare??) the criticism. I feel that if I personally condemn a woman, then I am part of the problem, not the solution.
That being said, I ain't goin' nekkid publicly any time soon. Of course, perhaps I'm just jealous that my body would never make it into Playboy in the first place! :-D
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