In 2013, Sports Illustrated had 102 covers where not 1 cover had a female athlete starred on the front of the magazine. Of the 102 covers, there were 9 covers that included women on the cover but of course they weren't athletes--they were fans, a police woman or Kate Upton. Four of those covers the women were were the backdrop for a star male basketball player at Indiana, Kansas, Syracuse or Gonzaga University. The police woman on the cover was surrounded by 3 men looking very professional and fully clothed in uniform whereas flirty Kate Upton was surrounded by a few teammates from the Braves in a jersey. Upton's other magazine cover was titled "Kate Upton goes Polar Bare" and of course was naked under a winter coat. There were 2 covers where there was a very small insert of Lindesy Vonn's rehab process in the top right corner and if you didn't look up, you'd miss--that's how small it was. After looking back on last years 2013 covers, it's clear Sports Illustrated does not recognize women as all-star athletes deserving of a picture on the cover. The ONE cover of a woman was Kate Upton and she was naked, how typical. She's a model and has no relation to sports whatsoever and she made the cover. That's a slap in the face to all women athletes. Women are sexualized objects. Yes, we all know are the norm is men who read Sports Illustrated also like women preferrably hot women so why not put a hot woman on the cover or have the "swimsuit edition."Sports Illustrated reinforces what we already know. Sports Illustrated has many opportunities to put women athletes on the cover and they don't. They're fine with keeping us women as their backdrop, off to the side or as some sex symbol. Even an old black and white cement stadium made the cover, wow.
In regards to the other 93 Sports Illustrated covers, male athletes took the cover. There were golf, basketball, baseball, football and hockey players every other page. The posing men displayed male dominance whereas the other photos were action shots. Granted, the targeted audience of those who read Sports Illustrated are male, they can still include a handful of covers dedicated to women. However, I can't say the magazines women read don't do the same thing. Cosmo and Glamour magazines both have women dominating their magazine covers with one cover titled "Sexiest Man Alive." Overall, in a sports magazine I do expects to see more women athlete recognition and inclusiveness in the magazine and on the covers because I know there are some women athletes out there that would own some men in a competition.
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I completely agree with you in saying that in the magazines women read, majority of the covers are women just like they do for Men's magazines (Sports Illustrated etc.). I ended up researching the same topic as you, and noticed that the ONLY female by herself on the cover was Kate Upton who isn't even an athlete to begin with.
ReplyDelete-Martha Slichter