The Joy of Sports

credit: josh99smith (Flickr)

This trend of women athletes as sex symbols has gone too far. Now it’s actually interfering with the functioning of sports.

Most of us remember the attention lavished on Anna Kournikova a decade ago, when she consistently failed to progress past the semi-finals of any major women’s singles tennis championship, but was doted on by the media for her blonde good looks. It hardly seemed noteworthy at the time, but in retrospect, it may have heralded the beginning of the sexualization of women’s sports.

Earlier this year, Wimbledon officials were criticized for selecting women athletes to play on Centre Court based on appearance, not ranking:

While a succession of easy-on-the-eye unknowns have appeared in Wimbledon’s prime arena, the top women’s seeds have been relegated to lesser courts. 

And last night, the All England Club admitted that physical attractiveness is taken into consideration.

Spokesman Johnny Perkins said: ‘Good looks are a factor.’ 

via Babe, set and match: How looks count for more than talent when Wimbledon decides which girls will play on Centre Court | Mail Online.

The irony, of course, is that two of the women less likely to be selected by Wimbledon officials for Centre Court (they did manage to get assigned there occasionally) ended up playing on it anyway, against each other in the finals, because they won. Venus and Serena Williams have now collectively won 8 out of the last 10 Wimbledon women’s singles titles. Why are they not practically guaranteed a spot on Centre Court?

But tennis is not alone in its focus on women’s looks. Golf has gotten into the act.

Last year, a group of seven players from the LPGA Tour signed with the famed Wilhelmina Modeling Agency. Dubbed the Wilhelmina 7 (W7 for short), they were presented as an exceptional endorsement opportunity for sponsors:

“This was perfect, to show the world there are sexy, athletic women who can play,” said Esch, who is using his company and his clout to turn seven female pro players into model citizens.

via Modeling agency trying to add glamour to LPGA Tour – Los Angeles Times.

The problem? None of the women have ever won an LPGA event. And so far, endorsement deals are scarce non-existent, leading to questions as to whether the W7 provides any significant benefit to the LPGA.  Add to that the concerns, at least among some of the LPGA’s other players, that marketing the sex appeal of the W7 will diminish the sport, and the LPGA has all of the ingredients for a full-blown disaster.

A “sport” where losing athletes are praised for their looks and winning athletes are marginalized no longer meets the definition of sport, because it has rendered the ultimate goal of victory, irrelevant.  Athletes have to win—and win consistently—to gain respect, something the WTA and LPGA would do well to remember. The reputations of both organizations are suffering, in part, because of the perception (and I believe it’s a mistaken perception) of diminished play among their players.  

The key to the future viability of women’s sports is to focus on the winners and stop this emphasis on the “pretty.”