Paterson vs. Paterson

Darren and Travis Paterson, No Relation

 

 

This Week's Issue: How do you fee! about the “‘sex-ploitation” of female athletes?

Darren says: | can’t believe that this issue
even exists at all. Yes, we live in a world that
was once male-dominated, but I thought
that such times were behind us. I thought
that this was the age of equality. It’s just
ridiculous that female athletes have to do
something so degrading to gain notoriety
for their sports.

Now, I know I sound like a first-year col-
lege girl just beginning to “find herself” and
“Join the ranks of womanhood,” but I don’t
understand why people can’t just enjoy
female athleticism for the sheer beauty of
their ability. And ’'m not just talking about
flexible gymnasts here. There’s enough
watching Hayley
Wickenheiser win Canada a gold medal
already. We don’t need to make her play in a
skirt to make women’s hockey worth watch-
ing.

I remember being shocked when women
were forced to play in skirts in the World
Tennis Association. I also remember being
even more shocked when the players simply
rolled over and took it. Does nobody get it?
They're not allowed to wear pants. They
may only wear skirts while playing tennis.
Doesn’t this seem a little bit odd to any-
body?

Women in sports around the globe are
being asked to use their bodies to sell their
sport, but I don’t remember anyone asking
men to do that for their sport. The only
time I can remember anything being men-
tioned about the aesthetics of male athlete’s
bodies is when women joke about watching

entertainment in

football so they can look at the players’
butts. Did this spark a giant overhaul of
other sports, where they changed their uni-
forms to tight-fitting pants? No. As a matter
of fact, sport clothing has grown even more
concealing for men. Look at basketball
shorts for example, they’re almost pants
now. And they used to be so short.

Alls I’m sayin’ is this: I’ve been finding
myself these last couple of years, and, as I
eagerly join the ranks of womanhood, I
understand more and more that us girls have
to stand together against injustices that
degrade our position in society. And female
athletes being pushed into sex-ploitation is
one of those injustices.

22 | www.theotherpress.ca

 

Travis says: Normally I wouldn’t say I’m all for
it, but after a little research in to the psychology
of sex, sports, and the natural appeal of human
emotion, I believe I am all for it. Yes to Anna
Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, and the Williams
sisters—the biggest objects of sex in the sporting
world. These two are poster gitls because they
want and like to be poster girls. There must be
less revealing clothes that are just as comfortable
available for them wear in a tennis match.
Sharapova will always be better recognized for
her surprise upset Wimbledon Championship
than she is for her supermodel frame. And
though her looks are a part of her identity, it’s her
athletic accomplishments that set her apart from
the Anna Kournikova’s of the tennis-world.
Kournikova, on the other hand, made herself the
most famous tennis player who wasn’t ranked in
the top-ten, purely through a brilliant “sex-sells”
marketing strategy.

I believe women’s liberation and equality are
continuing to evolve in sports, but I also believe
that the broadcast and print media that dominate
sports are based on the predominantly male audi-
ence of sports. Even to this day, for all of the
female sporting leagues that are developing, cable
TV has yet to run an all-womens’ sports station.
And the distribution of an all-womens’ sports
magazine (such as Sports I//ustrated Women) has yet
to reach a stage of household knowledge among
women. Even so, the covers of Sports I/lustrated
Women have done little to minimize what many
consider the “sex-ploitation” of female athletes.
Perhaps SI Women is a poor example, as it ran
aground in 2002, but why can’t a female sports
magazine exist? It’s coming, it’s just that “sex-
ploitation” is engrained in everything female that
reaches the media, not just sports. Sex is a part of
life. But sports are still just not as popular with
women as they are with men.

And, until female fans are as involved in
female sports as men are involved in male sports,
women will continue to use their bodies to sell
their sport to the male audience. Men can’t be
embarrassed for being men, and females should
not be embarrassed because they’re considered
attractive by the shallow attitudes of society. It’s
everyone’s right to be obnoxious, vain, preten-
tious, shallow, and rude. It’s the freedom that
makes our society ours. Love it or fuck it.

 

   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
  
 
 
 
    
   
  
 
   

The Best of Sport

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

I felt inspired to put my thoughts on what makes sport so great
into a poetic format this week. So, without further ado, I give you:

The Smell of a Champion
By: Darren Paterson

Mmm.
Smell that?
That man reeks of success.
Athletic saccess, that is.

His sweat runs down in rivulets
Across his bulbous brow.
He’s won the game, he’s won all bets,
He’s shown the others how.

His manly stench declares him king.
He’s won the cup, he’s won the ring.
And everyone, they shout and sing,
That he’s won damn near everything,

See him dance and see him strut
On his opponents’ graves.
See him with athletic sluts

And followers in waves.

He has a right to all of it,
To every single little bit,
He’s climbed atop his throne to sit,
And cast upon us his sharp wit.

He sits up there and there he gloats,
He laughs it up, that jerk.
He sings his pride in shrill, harsh notes
He’s quite the piece of w,

But tomorrow j
A new gameg