I sat down to write a thrashing reprimand of Metro’s recent column “Ivanovic has the beauty and the game,” a report on French Open champ Ana Ivanovic as a “beautiful brunette” instead of a strong athlete. It disturbed me to read Jason McIntyre’s four sentence commentary on the athlete’s wall-poster qualities, including the following paragraph:
Sure Ivanovic is 6-foot-1 and has a blistering serve that was recently clocked at 124 miles per, but doesn’t her innocent smile, devoid of ego, look like the grin of someone on a cruise ship who might bring you one of those fruity drinks with an umbrella in it?
Yeah, I said the same thing. What the fuck?
I started ranting, until I started researching. I found on her official website a powerful video animating her strategic philosophies and critically applauded potential. Yes! She's proud and professional. Until... the video swung onscreen two photographs of my strong sister topless. (Cue sad sound: Wahh, Waahhh) I threw my head back and cried to the gods, Why?! Why is she topless, using one set of money-makers (her arms) to cover her apparently other set of money-makers?
I had to stop in my heels, delete my scathing argument against McIntyre’s ignorant, archaic and insulting excuse for reporting, and turn my attention to us. That’s right, us, ladies. I Googled images of Eli and Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter. I’m still trying to find shots of them sprawled up beside a bed, nakedly cupping their monkey business, rustling with their wind-blown hair, or modeling formal wear on the beach. And yet, Ana Ivanovic can be seen doing all of the above.
It doesn’t mean that everyone should have free reign to further sexualize her. And she must be a determined sportswoman to have made it so far in the tennis field. But I wonder why so many of our female champions are good-looking? Is it just coincidence that really great strengths in sports are also hot in ads?
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