The great ‘sex sells’ debate in sports is sure to be kick-started once again when three LGPA players pose for a special photo-shoot in ESPN the Magazine next month. The three players – Christina Kim, Sandra Gal and Anna Grzebien – will pose semi-naked for the magazine’s ‘Bodies’ edition.
There has been a long-standing argument in sports – especially in women’s divisions about crossing the line between marketing and sex appeal in promoting the sport and its performers. Indeed, in recent years marketing a participant for their looks as much as their ability with their chosen implement – whether golf club, racquet, ball or whatever – has become much more prevalent in media and advertising circles.
The marketing of female tennis players, for example Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova, place as much – if not more emphasis on their looks as their abilities. Many critics have gone so far as to suggest that in cases of players such as these, they have put modelling appearances ahead of their sport and as a result have suffered in the competitive arena as a result.
For a long time, ladies’ golf was considered a ‘butch’ sport despite the attempts of Jan Stephenson in the 1980s to shake that image. A talented player blessed with no shortage of attraction, the player embarked on a modelling career in parallel to her golfing career. But due to her choices, her talent rapidly became overlooked and she is perhaps remembered for her posing in a bathtub full of golf balls, rather than the 16 LPGA tournaments and three major titles she won.
More recently, Anna Rawson sparked cries of derison and outrage over her ‘dykes’ comment which, while perhaps not best put, carried an element of truth about how the media perceives the women’s golf circuit even today.
Women will to a degree always be judged on their looks. Even in more unglamorous sports such as horse racing, the likes of Hayley Turner and Kirsty Milczarek are often painted as glamour girls in the saddle, despite the fact they are clearly very good jockeys.
There is an evident and strong double standard when it comes to marrying sex appeal and sports when comparing men’s and women’s sports. Very few will complain about a topless David Beckham trudging off the field, or John Terry posing in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts but apply the same standards to women and immediately the focus shifts away from the player’s performance and into the realm of selling the sport via sex appeal.
So should sex appeal be a part of sport? It is unavoidable to think otherwise that any correlation between the two can be avoided short of having players dress up in bin-liners or restrictive outfits that are non-condusive to helping a player’s performance. Perhaps Wimbledon, for instance, should make women dress up and play in full-length trousers with matching cardigan to move away from the players’ perceived sex-appeal?
Or maybe we should all realise that sports in any shape is about the human body – the most basic of tools which all sport is built around.
Sex does indeed sell, and in a time where global markets pull sponsorships at a whim, an element of sexuality in sport can go a long way to opening up doors to otherwise closed markets – which can only be a good thing for sports industries.
