Top 10 Ways SI Swimsuit Edition Disrespects Women

By: American Decency Staff

In a couple of weeks magazine racks will be once again denigrated by the annual edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. We just received a word from a woman telling how she shared her concern with her local Wal-Mart regarding SI Swimsuit, and the store management agreed not to carry either the SI Swimsuit Edition or the swimsuit calendar! Speaking graciously and caringly still can make a difference.  Sometimes it takes sharing your concern more than once. The followed list of “Top 10 Ways SI Swimsuit Edition Disrespects Womenâ€Â was received by us from an unknown author.  It is “right onâ€Â! 10.       Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women through sex-discriminatory coverage of women’s sports. (Fewer than 10 percent of Sports Illustrated pages are devoted to women’s athletic achievements.) 9.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by displaying demeaning stereotypes of female sexuality.  The swimsuit issue features women models posed not as athletes of strength, skill, and endurance but as playthings – in costumes no one could possibly swim in competitively. 8.         The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue DISRESPECTS women by showing women’s primary value to be their value as sex objects. 7.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by photographing their bodies as if they are merely body parts – breasts, buttocks, and crotches. 6.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by encouraging boys and young men to view women as sex toys and by turning voyeurism into a sport. 5.         Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue DISRESPECTS women by imitating an idea of women that originates in pornography.  Mimicking magazines like Playboy and Penthouse, Sports Illustrated spreads out women’s bodies on the page for male “readersâ€Â to ogle at. 4.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by numbing men to women’s humanity. 3.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by exhibiting women to men as the “otherâ€Â – as if women were a different species from the “realâ€Â athletes who are men. 2.         Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by sending a message to girls and young women that no matter how much they excel in athletics, all that matters is how they look to men. 1.         The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue DISRESPECTS women by directly contradicting Time-Warner’s corporate hype, which claims the magazine stands for serious sports journalism and respects the ability and dignity of women and girls in athletics. We urge you to speak out against the SI Swimsuit magazine in stores where you find it.  Check out the magazine section and the racks at the checkout counters where you shop. (The SI Swimsuit release date is February 14.)  Take it to the store manager or owner and express your concern about such material in a family shopping place and urge others to do the same – and let us know at ADA of   the stores   you find selling the magazine. ================================================================ To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412. American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. To Unsubscribe send an email to: info@americandecency.org and include word “unsubscribeâ€Â in subject line.

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