The (HOT) Body Issue

I know I may be a little late on this, as tons of pictures have leaked on the Internet and people with subscriptions have been drooling for over a week, but can we all just take a moment and applaud ESPN’s Body Issue?! Don’t worry…if you aren’t sure yet if this is something to be celebrated, I will do my best to convince you that it is. In my opinion, if people are going to disrobe, this is the best possible way to do it. In a way that celebrates and admires the hard work that athlete’s put in to making their bodies the finely tuned machines that they are, and showing the beauty that can be found in the broad spectrum of physical form that exists in sport. But of course, if you show pictures of people with little to no clothes on, there is bound to be controversy. But I encourage people to truly see the positive messages in these pictures.

For starters, we have almost an equal number of beautiful men and women showcased. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other huge publication that has done this. Personally, I am grateful for the ability to get my fair share of drool on. (Thank you “Gooch”.) From my understanding, people posed in as little as they could be comfortable in. So often, when it’s time to bare skin it’s the women carrying far too much of the load, but in this instance, because the focus was on athletes we were able to see both sexes represented equally. And while there still is some obvious sex appeal, that most certainly isn’t all there is. All these different body types have on thing in common—they are used to compete at the highest level of competition. That is something we all can admire, and if a little drool slips out in the process--so be it.



I have probably heard the most criticism of Serena Williams cover and I think most of it is ridiculous. She is definitely the biggest named athlete to appear totally nude (thumbs down to Adrian Peterson and Dwight Howard for not following in her footsteps), and her cover is supposedly a bit too provocative for some. Yes, she looks sexy. Good for her. Serena is workin’ with a whole lotta body, and in my opinion she works it well. I take issue with people who believe that athletes should be one-dimensional. Being a badass on the court should not diminish your femininity or your ability to put on lip-gloss and heels and pout your lips with the best of them—if that’s what you so choose. When female athletes decide that they would like to portray other sides of them, nobody should have a problem with that. Maybe it can work both ways and we can start making the Kim Kardashians of the world famous for something more than a good pout.



For me personally, what I find most refreshing about this issue is allowing each and every body to be showcased how it truly is, and in turn sending a message that if you want to work hard towards something, work towards what you see here. Pick up any other magazine, and you’ll see models who are 5’10 and weigh 110 pounds soaking wet, and that is supposed to be what a beautiful body looks like. Sure, that might be beauty to some, but it shouldn’t be what we strive for, especially when it’s darn near unattainable. Most people can only be that thin by eating crackers for dinner. What we do as athletes to be at our best on the field, court, or track, is treat our bodies like the temples they are. We eat healthy (most of the time), and we exercise and getting more people to do that would certainly be a good thing for our society. A lot of times the byproduct of that is muscles and for women that is perceived as unfeminine but every picture I saw in this magazine showed women who were feminine while being athletic. That’s a strong message and a realistic one. When I did the SI swimsuit issue last year, I was chosen as an athlete, but by the time they were done with me in Photoshop, I had my muscle mass significantly reduced and an automatic boob job. That was their standard of beauty, not what I brought to the table on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind the cleavage, but I respect these pictures a lot more.

So if you haven’t picked up your copy yet, I strongly suggest you do. It’s definitely different than what you might expect…and in a good way. The Sumo wrestler is pretty darn impressive… let me tell you. I also am curious as to what others think of it. I want to hear your honest opinions and I welcome your feedback on mine.

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• jaymz77 said October 19, 2009

  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the seeing the human body in all its glory, but should kids be seeing this? Their role models posing nude, semi-nude? I think it sets the wrong example and exploits sexuality. While this was tasteful and well done, kids set sports figures as their heros and this gives them the wrong idea.

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• Wheelman said October 19, 2009

  Please, spare me the Greek athlete mythic. ESPN put this issue out for one reason and one reason only, sex sells. There`ll be those, adolescent and adult that`ll be using up lotion and tissues, ogling the skin, male and female. They surely won`t be buying the rag, to `read the articles`. S.I. has the swimsuit angle to themselves, so ESPN brainstormed and came up with `tasteful athletic nudes`. Different angle, same (hoped for) results.

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• BriannaGlenn said October 21, 2009

  There is far more sexuality involved being in a bathing suit and looking at the camera with your sexiest eyes, than being totally nude and looking strong. And while ESPN is going to do what it needs to do to make money and more of it, there is nothing wrong with noticing when they do something you actually see as positive...which I do. I'm an athlete...people look at my body all the time because I don't wear much when I compete...and so I am pleased when there is at least a strong message that's going to accompany it.
  
  And seriously, look at the issue before you judge. There is far more than just "ooohhh a hot body naked." It's not all playboy-esque.

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  • jaymz77 replied October 22, 2009

    If it's so "clean" (for lack of a better term) then why all the "drool" comments? Maybe I'm too conservative with that type of thing now because I'm a father of a 6yr old little girl. When I was growing up I never had to worry about what bad things Joe Montana was going to do. BUT being in the spotlight I think athletes owe it to the kids to set the right example and posing almost nude is not one of them, IMHO.
• BriannaGlenn said October 22, 2009

  I do respect your opinion. Honestly. I'm not saying everything in the magazine is for the eyes of children, that would be something for parents to decide on. All I'm saying, is as athletes we should be able to express ourselves "tastefully" in areas outside of the playing field if we so choose. I have my standards, my morals, my values and I live by them. If that happens to be good enough for your kid or for any kid to look up to, then so be it. It definitely is important and something we have to be aware of. But athletes shouldn't have to be put in some abstract box that is constantly changing and shifting based on one individual to another on what should be the standard we hold ourselves to. Not everyone happens to agree that showing off your body that you work extremely hard at maintaining is a bad thing. I happen to think that this particular way is in fact tasteful, interesting, entertaining, and informative. You may happen to have a different opinion and you are very much entitled to it. I also may happen to "drool" when I see that particular soccer player showing off his extremely nice physique. I don't think anybody should mind that and hopefully he doesn't either.

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  • jaymz77 replied October 22, 2009

    plus athletes have to market themselves and nothing sells like "sex"
• Wheelman said October 22, 2009

  I raced cars professionally for over thirty years, and there were writers who termed us as being `athletes`. I never bought into that because while I did work out to stay in shape, there were many of my contemporaries who could only be termed, `fat slobs`. Hardly athletes. Okay, I understand the athletic regimen and I knew many who were true athletes, both male and female. But I never knew any who had strong compulsions to expose `all` of their physiques.
  
  Danica Patrick has earned headlines for herself by posing in bikiniis and there was another female driver who did pose nude for a magazine. Her name escapes me, but I believe that she drove in the ARCA series. Fortunately, I have yet to hear of a male driver doing likewise.
  
  My post racing career has been as an artist, and I have done many nudes, both male and female. I have studied anatomy extensively and I `know` why bodies appear as they do, based on bone and muscle structures. I also know that there is no reason for athletes to expose themselves, beyond the prurient. All of the muscularities that an athlete `uses` are generally displayed by today`s skimpy kits. To further disrobe serves no purpose in that direction. Its more of an ego thing, the need to `show it all`. You may think yourself to be very daring or chic, but believe me, you aren`t doing anything that hasn`t been done before. You may think the ESPN article to be tasteful, but it is still setting a bad example for young people, who are quite impressionable.
  
  I`m not a prude, but I am a realist and I do know that such an article will be appreciated for the motives of appraising the athletic physique, by very few. For the much larger balance of the readership the motive for buying the issue and ogling the photos will be titillation, period.

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• BriannaGlenn said 26 days ago

  Thanks for your viewpoint.
  
  I never understand how nobody makes a fuss about regular folks and models posing, trying to look "hot" or whatever, but when an athlete does it, then the world freaks out. Danica Patrick IS hot. So what if she also drives well. What if she likes taking hot pictures as well? What in the world is wrong with that. I say absolutely nothing. Parents need to be far more concerned about their impressionable kids seeing things other than an athlete in a bikini.

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  • Wheelman replied 26 days ago

    It isn`t the athlete in the bikini, BG. It`s the athlete in less than a bikini. As for Danica, she can pose all day and it won`t bother me cause she ain`t my cup of bourbon. I`m not even objecting to the ESPN rip-off of S.I. What I object to are people trying to justify such things, trying to say, `hey its all right because...`
    
    Any 10-year old can go to the most explicit porn sites on the web and see a heck of a lot more than he will in the ESPN article. We don`t value the morality of children, so why should we care about adults?
    
    As for athletes, I don`t think that for most there is anything noteworthy about them posing nude. Some have toned abs or arms, or legs. Other than that, they aren`t much different than anyone else, and in many cases are actually worse looking than non-athletes, because of conflicting issues of muscularity. If I wanted to look at skin, I sure wouldn`t be buying S.I., or ESPN.