Does “Sex Sell” in Sports?
Her fingers pulled up the straps of her swimsuit bottoms as her tan glistened from the sun, sparking a sex appeal the higher she pulled the bottoms up. Her black stretchy spandex shorts pulled higher up her thigh each time she squatted low to bump the ball off of her forearms. Her stomach stretched to a defined skinny stomach as her abs were visible through her two-piece dance outfit. She drew in male fans from the audience.
Women distort the material of their clothing to make their bodies more appealing to draw in the attention of men. Women use their bodies and femininity as a form of “power” to take over the thoughts inside the male brain. Society portrays this mirror image of women as a bombshell version of beauty. The sexualization of women is highly prevalent in the consumer aspect of media.
“This dichotomy shift toward women athletes being seen as more sexual and feminine came at the expense of perceptions regarding overall athletic credibility and prowess.” The consistent portrayal of women being sexualized in objective ways “sells in sports,” according to the “Female Bodies on Display: Attitudes Regarding Female Athlete Photos in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and ESPN: The Magazine’s Body Issue.”
Women sports do not bring in the full attendance of fans like male sports do for their athleticism, but for shape-shifted ideas of their tight uniforms and sexuality displayed across media platforms. Men are viewed for their masculinity, athleticism and appear greater with their levels of testosterone. Society has imprinted the image that only men can be great at sports, work on cars, shoot guns and so on. However, if a woman does it, it is viewed as abnormal or “badass” if a woman can do it.
In my personal experience pursuing a male-dominated industry in sports, whenever I mention that it is my career choice, I become ten times more attractive in a male’s eyes. However, in women sports itself, that is not the case.
In 2019, the brand Nike released the “Dream Crazier Campaign.” American professional tennis player, Serena Williams narrated the Nike film to shine a light on female athletes who have broken barriers and proved the backlash of women sports wrong. These female athletes have brought people together through their performance and inspired generations of athletes to chase their dreams. The film revolved around each athlete’s accomplishments in their uniforms and used their athleticism as the focus instead of selling these women as sex objects.
Professional sports cheerleaders were designed to help more ticket sales for male sports outside of the fan base. Many say that the idea of professional cheerleaders is sexist and demeaning to women, but I have to disagree.
Does sex sell in sports? In some aspects yes. Sports games bring people together and an open environment to people who are fans of the teams or just there to have a good time. The two-piece outfits, bling, makeup and sexy dance moves without a doubt draw in men to fantasize about. But what about the women who put themselves in that position? Why would women put themselves in a position to be identified as sex objects?
The answer that I am getting across is, women do not go into a sport or dance for a professional team to be looked at as a bombshell beauty. They do it because they have a passion. They have goals that need to be accomplished. They do it because they have spent their entire life slaving away at a sport to change their life for the better. Not because they are driven by male attention as their purpose.
I auditioned and made a dance team for a professional sports team my freshman year of college in order to take the back way into sports for women. So many successful women in sports started with a sports dance or spirit team and are now in-game hosts for a professional sports team.
Although I do not interact with the professional athletes, I get to learn the ins and outs of game days, familiarize myself with the media and grow connections/relationships with the people I inspire to be someday in my career. I did it because I want my years of dance lessons and experience to not go to waste after high school. I did it because I want to inspire the community in my small town, that as long as you work hard there are no opportunities that you cannot achieve. I did it because I am passionate about dancing and wanting to be a role model to young women who want to do the same.
I do realize the stereotype of tiny outfits, full hair and makeup and having the so called, “perfect physique,” but if you take a closer look it is so much more than that. I love getting to embrace my femininity in my dance moves and rock the outfits with a body that I have worked for. I practice hours a week, balance schoolwork and clubs just to perform and feel alive in front of hundreds of people in the fan section.
Sex may sell in sports, but behind the outer layer of how women are perceived, there is so much passion, sweat and hours of work behind each athlete that get to tell their story because of that attention.
