Sports Illustrated has named Serena Williams its Sportsperson of the Year, the first time an individual woman has won the award in more than 30 years.
Then the magazine put her on its cover looking like she wants one thing, and it’s not a chat with the line judge.
In the photo, she’s wearing a black, lacy, leotard-like outfit, legs draped suggestively over a golden chair. It in no way helps the cause of women looking to be recognized for their athletic abilities. A prudish outlook in 2015? Maybe, but it’s hard to shake the idea that women, sadly, are still doing what men want them to do, whether they mean to or not.
Williams, who won three majors this year, said she agreed to pose in the way she did to reflect female power, which is a noble idea. But I’m afraid it accomplishes exactly the opposite. It objectifies women. Her intent won’t line up with the reception, which will be a bunch of men leering at her the way they do at every SI swimsuit model. She might be selling power, but they’re buying sex.
Women don’t need to cover themselves up to be taken seriously as athletes. But athletic success for women shouldn’t automatically translate into a revealing photo shoot either. It’s not the first thing male athletes do. Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who won the award last year, appeared on SI’s cover in his uniform.
There’s the whole issue of weak media coverage of female sports and the need to get attention, sometimes in whatever way possible. But this isn’t the way.
You can argue that the only thing that matters is what Williams thinks of the photo. But that would be pretending an ogling audience isn’t there, and that’s ridiculous.
Sex is in the eye of the beholder, and many of the beholders of Sports Illustrated happen to be men. If some of them are thinking, “Now there’s a powerful woman!” many more are thinking, “If you tied me up, Serena, I wouldn’t complain.’’
