SI Wipes the Specks Out of America’s Eyes, Ignores the Log in Its Own

Sports Illustrated's Aditi Kinkhabwala, in an installment of her "The Better Half" column titled, "Sex Sells? Not so Fast—Women's Sports Need Substance, Not Sexy Pictures," argues that pictures of scantily clad female athletes in sexually provocative (and non-athletic) poses sell lots of magazines but do nothing to sell women's sports. She writes:

Jan Stevenson got naked in a bathtub of golf balls back in the 1970s, Brandi Chastain took off her clothes before the 1999 World Cup, and swimmer Amanda Beard is going to be in Playboy next month. But according to a ground-breaking pilot study, none of that did -- or will do -- a single thing for women's sports. . . .

Females across the board are drawn to images of athletic competence. So are men, in the 35 to 55 age range, who think of their daughters. "They don't see," Kane said, "how a passive, sexualized pose is celebrating an athletic body. How do bare breasts increase respect for and interest in women sports?"

The article is accompanied by sexy swimsuit shots of Amanda Beard and Maria Sharapova (pictured); an editor might argue that these images are included to illustrate the author's point. OK. But, below these images, readers can click on links to view Amanda and Maria's SI Swimsuit Collections. Essentially, Sports Illustrated is using a column that argues that sexy photos of female athletes are bad for women's sports to promote sexy photos of female athletes. It's not as though pics of attractive women's sports stars in "passive, sexualized poses" are hard to come by at SI.com (or any site affiliated with SI.com). You'd think that the site's editors could resist putting a link to Maria Sharapova's SI Swimsuit Collection next to an article that argues that Maria's status as a sex-symbol is having a negative effect on how she's viewed as a tennis player.

Elsewhere on SI.com is an article on how Danica Patrick feels pressure to start winning races. Patrick (pictured) is the most marketed and marketable IRL driver, even though she is by no means the best. While her fame is largely due to her being an attractive female athlete, Patrick has been competitive throughout her IRL career, has finished several races in the top ten, led the Indy 500 briefly in 2005, and is currently eighth in the IRL points standings. She has also shied away from opportunities to sell herself as a sex symbol.

Anyway, beneath a large picture of Patrick is the caption: "With a seventh-place finish the best of her career, Danica Patrick is starting to feel the pressure to finally capture her first win." That is incorrect. Patrick famously finished fourth in the 2005 Indy 500 and, according to the article, twice finished fourth last year. If SI is serious about lifting up female athletes, it's caption writers should be careful not to undervalue these women's accomplishments.

For an explanation of the title, see Matthew 7:3-5.