I recently read an article in the Chicago Tribune entitled "Danica Patrick, other female athletes sell sex appeal first" by Andrea Adelson. I think this article directly related to the article "Two Kicks Forward" in that it discusses one of the issues in the reading about how media constructs the image of these women through sexualizing them.
The article explains how female athletes have been celebrated for their "bikini shots", not their athleticism. It talks about how these sexualized female athletes have become even more recognizable than women in their sport that actually perform better than them. In saying that the assumption is made that it is more important for a female athlete to be attractive than to be the best at their sport. This may also be true financially where these athletes that are sexualized have more endorsement opportunities and therefore may make even more money than the leading money winner or player with the highest contract in their sport. Many more opportunities are sent the way of the female athlete that is attractive and will pose in magazines. This is a perfect example of how media constructs female athletes to sell sex appeal first and then their game.
Danica Patrick, other female athletes sell sex appeal first
Thanks for sharing this article. The argument that is most compelling to me is what you wrote when you said: "these sexualized female athletes have become even more recognizable than women in their sport that actually perform better than them." That is why an athlete like Martina Navratilova never fully got her due, because she was never perceived as sexualized, like Maria Sharapova, or even Chris Evert, in her day.
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