It’s hard enough being a professional female athlete so the decision by Women’s Health magazine to send naked models down the red carpet at its annual I Support Women in Sport awards certainly makes sense — if the purpose of that was to continue to keep the spotlight on the sexual objectification of women in sport.
There’s been plenty of discussion regarding the lack of media exposure of women’s sport, with figures from 2010 showing that coverage of women’s games made up just 9% of all sports coverage on Australian TV. Sport remains heavily dominated by men.
Sending models wearing nothing but body paint and underwear down the red carpet to represent the gymnasts, swimmers and basketballs sporting female heroes at an awards night to honored exactly those people would certainly be one way to turn the attention around, and that’s exactly what happened on Monday night when the topless models took the red carpet.
But given the ongoing issue of the sexualisation and objectification of female athletes, the decision to send naked models down the red carpet alongside some of Australia’s top female athletes mocks the very nature of the awards ceremony and diminishes the achievements of these women.
Women’s Health editor Felicity Harley addressed the issue in a written statement, saying she was “disappointed” that the controversy took over the spotlight of the award.
“It is disappointing that this has become the focus rather than the phenomenal sporting talents of our Australian female athletes,” she wrote.
According to Fairfax, Harley told the guests at the awards ceremony that the night was about “giving recognition and telling the stories of Australian sportswomen, who don’t get enough coverage for their efforts and talents.”
Which also begs the question – with so many strong and talented women being awarded, what were the models doing on the red carpet anyway?
If we’re going to tell the stories of Australian sportswomen – the “phenomenal”, strong and talented women, it’s time we remove the focus away from their bodies and instead focus simply on the accomplishments of these sporting heroes.