As we have already discussed, there are alot of stigmas and stereotypes attached to female athletes regarding their sexuality. In class, we have particularly addressed the issues of women fulfilling masculine roles that in the societal perspective, deems them bisexual or gay. I thought it extremely interesting how sexuality has such a close connection with women and sports, because essentially it seems really detached from a women's athletic abilities or pursuits. After becoming aware of this from our reading and class discussion I was curious to see how this looks in the reverse perspective, where women are hyper-feminine and fulfilling feminine expectations while also being acknowledged as athletes. I looked to bleacher report, which is a open source sports network of a variety of journals, and I looked particular at the articles dedicated to "The 25 Sexiest Female Athletes to watch for in 2012". Under this headline, there was a journal dedicated to popular pole vaultist, Jennifer Suhr. The image of her, as you can see, shows her on a vault pole which is right, she is clinching onto the pole and holding herself up, and she has spanks and a sports bra on.
This image seems to reflect a female stripper, which may I implicitly say that stripping has absolutely nothing to do with pole vaulting. This was discomforting to see, because it changes almost everything which this article is intending to recognize her for, which ultimately that is her skill in pole vaulting. From this picture, headline and the image, its displeasing to admit how immediately sex and sexuality is connected to female athletes. In this case, the image matches our (our meaning society ) visual expectations of a females sex appeal. On a positive, this somewhat breaks the stereotype of a masculine woman in sports, but then immediately imitates other stereotypes which in this case, limits our perspective of appealing female athletes. For us, the only appeal seems to be anything close to this image, and not images that show women in non-seductive poses or not focusing on eroticism but perhaps the appeal of a woman who has muscles or "looks" strong. If we can only accept these images as counting for female sex appeal, I do not believe that we can effectively get rid of the stigmas and stereotypes of bisexual or gay female athletes.
I agree with you. Society has women so afraid of being 'buff' or joining a sport that may not seem feminine. For example, young girls are encouraged to join dance or cheerleading instead of playing football or wrestling. Yet how did this stereotype show up?
ReplyDeleteOn the side of objectifying female athletes, I think it's ridiculous. Pole vaulting isn't done with a pole sticking straight up in the air. Therefore leading one to think that this picture isn't meant to show her athleticism. So a women wants to be the best at something, where's the problem in that?
I agree with you that it is very displeasing to see athletic affiliated pictures that are supposed to recognize a female for her athletic abilities and talent usually holds a sexual connotation or reference. The picture of the girl on the vault pole is particularly disturbing to me because its very bold. There was no discretion in this sexual reference; it is very obvious that she was to be compared to a stripper. I personally consider stripping an athletic talent in itself but it is not fair for a woman who vaults professionally to be compared to that of a stripper. Two very distinct professions. In light of it all, its almost saying that female athletic pictures are not as valid or credited unless there is a sexual reference. This interpretation is not only a form of sexism but also a representation of the patriarchal ways of our society. . .A really sad realization.
ReplyDeleteI would agree it is sexist and unfair that women have to validate their athletic bodies as sexy through posed images. However, I am curious about the way in which male athletic bodies are used as sex symbols as well. I don't think this just happens to one sex. Is it just a product of capitalism, "sex sells"? or is the way male and female athletic bodies presented different?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if some women have their interests piqued in a sport because that sport looks sexy. Let's face it, pole vaulting is centered around a phallic object, and I'm sure pole-riding puns abound within the sport. The connection to professional stripping is all too easy to make here. Does anyone think this athlete chose to embrace rather than deny this and play along with the joke?
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