Lindsey Vonn SI cover controversy

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In summary, Lindsey Vonn, a prodigy alpine skier, was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, which stirred controversy due to some saying her pose was highly sexual and objectified women. However, others argue that using sexuality in addition to other attributes can be beneficial in gaining exposure and popularity. The debate continues on whether the cover was sexist or if women should avoid using their sensuality and sexuality. Ultimately, the controversy only brought more attention to Vonn and her success as a skier.
  • #36
f95toli said:
Maybe 30 years ago. The ban against professional athletes disappeared from most of the sports a long time ago and the vast majority of the all competitors nowadays are full-time professionals. Some of the hockey players that will compete in the Olympic tournament are among the best paid athletes in the world.
Vonn and her competitors are definitely all professionals and if you live in a country where downhill skiing is a popular sport you'll see them on billboards etc quite often. I would be VERY surprised if anyone with any interest in the sport would have a problem as such with Vonn making money via advertising.
Yes, you're right, and that's sad. It's a showcase to sponsor professional athletes with multimillion dollar contracts. It's become a farce, a way to get free advertisment. Makes my decison to not watch it feel even better.
 
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  • #37
Evo said:
Yes, you're right, and that's sad. It's a showcase to sponsor professional athletes with multimillion dollar contracts. It's become a farce, a way to get free advertisment. Makes my decison to not watch it feel even better.


I don't see anything bad with it. As I said, in many sports preparing an athlete to elite levels is a multimillion dollar enterprise over many years, and those money must come from somewhere.

The levels of preparedness required to push current records forward requires athletes to train virtually all time. Even if this is still amateur sport, you can't expect a new record from somebody who is earning a living as a biologist by day, and trains as a sprinter in the evening.

And all this being sad, it;s not bad to promote yourself and get free advertising any time you can. You have to make a living.

IMO it's very inaccurate to call it a farce.
 
  • #38
I don't get it, why don't they endorse this kind of thing?

When they put out pictures of models they say "Women aren't that thin, it is unhealthy, stop promoting bad ideals!". So why don't they accept it when they put up elite sportswomen?

I mean, she obviously isn't too thin or she wouldn't be a top athlete, she got natural breasts etc. What is wrong with pictures of a real woman? Isn't it good to have athletes as ideals? Isn't that their main job, to be ideals for the rest of the population to strive for so that they get healthier by exercising?

Also, about suggestive, just look at:
http://blogg.idg.se/data/portfolio_blog/51/82/62/4421847/6610b86c24c39691
 
  • #39
BobG said:
She should be wearing a helmet, making her hair irrelevant.
I didn't see anyone else cite the original source or say what the real issue was considered to be.

I saw it linked from CNN, and here is the original source: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/38/162903

She is very thin on the specifics, but it seems most of it was the fact that she wasn't wearing a helmet. However, there is an alternate cover (Canadian SI? Not sure, but the date is off by a day and the articles are roughly the same) showing Sidney Crosby on the cover, in uniform and holding a hockey stick as if he were about to do a face-off...and he's not wearing his helmet either. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/11383/index.htm

I also thought I saw a comment about her butt sticking up in the air and that our attention is drawn to it, but I can't find that. Frankly, I don't think her butt looks all that special in the photo. Certainly a beautiful face though.
 
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  • #40
Klockan3 said:
I don't get it, why don't they endorse this kind of thing?

When they put out pictures of models they say "Women aren't that thin, it is unhealthy, stop promoting bad ideals!". So why don't they accept it when they put up elite sportswomen?

I mean, she obviously isn't too thin or she wouldn't be a top athlete, she got natural breasts etc. What is wrong with pictures of a real woman? Isn't it good to have athletes as ideals? Isn't that their main job, to be ideals for the rest of the population to strive for so that they get healthier by exercising?

Also, about suggestive, just look at:
http://blogg.idg.se/data/portfolio_blog/51/82/62/4421847/6610b86c24c39691
I might sound misogynistic here, but there is a definite double-standard when it comes to this kind of thing. We get it hammered into our heads that women are objectified, teen girls are fed an unrealistic body image, etc...but the fact is that popular media feeds us images of men that way too...and men don't care. The originator of this Lindsey Vonn issue - and many, many others like her - has a chip on her shoulder she needs to have removed.
 
  • #41
Evo said:
Yes, you're right, and that's sad. It's a showcase to sponsor professional athletes with multimillion dollar contracts. It's become a farce, a way to get free advertisment. Makes my decison to not watch it feel even better.

Well, it's only fair considering that our athletes had to compete with government sponsored athletes from places like China and the Soviet. In the old days, our athletes were expected to train while working a full-time job, among other things. Meanwhile, the Soviet and China were selecting future olympians as small children and then providing dedicated training, facilities, and living needs.

As for the alleged SI cover controversy, what a bunch of loons. That is a standard tuck.
 
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  • #42
Ivan Seeking said:
Well, it's only fair considering that our athletes had to compete with government sponsored athletes from places like China and the Soviet. In the old days, our athletes were expected to train while working a full-time job, among other things. Meanwhile, the Soviet and China were selecting future olympians as small children and then providing dedicated training, facilities, and living needs.

Yes, you hit the spot. To compete at elite levels today is almost impossible without being a full time athlete. It's easier in some sports than in others, but anyway, it;s safe to say that the costs of training add up over the years to very big numbers.

And then again, why shouldn't they get rich and use every opportunity offered ? It's not that it's a bad thing to do money from you talents (irrespective is skying, posing for magazines, representing sport equipment companies). It's good to have money and enjoy all the perks which do come with a good financial situation.
 
  • #43
Ivan Seeking said:
Well, it's only fair considering that our athletes had to compete with government sponsored athletes from places like China and the Soviet. In the old days, our athletes were expected to train while working a full-time job, among other things. Meanwhile, the Soviet and China was selecting future olympians as small children and then providing dedicated training, facilities, and living needs.
So true. A soviet-era athlete would have been trained intensively, provided with room and board, a commission as a military officer and pay, ostensibly for their military service. It's pretty hard for an amateur with no other financial support to buck that advantage.

I learned white-water kayaking from a young lady who was the daughter of an old friend. She was working at an outfitter summers, going to high-school in season, training like a little banshee, and trying to raise money for food, lodging, and travel in case kayaking was accepted as an Olympic sport in the upcoming Seoul games. She was not allowed to charge me for kayak lessons because that would damage her amateur standing in the sport, so I had to find other ways to compensate her. I bought her a waterproof Walkman that so she could listen to music during her workouts, even in the boat, and was prepared to contribute to any properly-structured fund for her Olympic expenses. Unfortunately, kayaking was not approved for competition, even as a demonstration event AND she injured her shoulder badly. She started weightlifting for rehabilitation, and was soon setting world records in women's power-lifting. Amateurs in the US had a tough time competing with the professionals from communist countries.
 
  • #44
russ_watters said:
I might sound misogynistic here, but there is a definite double-standard when it comes to this kind of thing. We get it hammered into our heads that women are objectified, teen girls are fed an unrealistic body image, etc...but the fact is that popular media feeds us images of men that way too...and men don't care.

Sure, but men want to be objectified and treated as sex objects.
 
  • #45
turbo-1 said:
Amateurs in the US had a tough time competing with the professionals from communist countries.

Some amateurs, yeah. But you had your share of athletes in several sports who where far from the image you describe in this post. They where every bit as "professional" as their eastern block counterparts.
 
  • #46
DanP said:
Some amateurs, yeah. But you had your share of athletes in several sports who where far from the image you describe in this post. They where every bit as "professional" as their eastern block counterparts.

The fact is that ALL US athletes were true amateurs. Some were lucky and came from familes that were well off, but others were playing on a very unlevel field. Still, the US athletes have always been among the best. It is a true testament to not only the talent, but also the dedication of the athletes of old.

As a rule, the money only came after winning gold.
 
  • #47
Ivan Seeking said:
The fact is that ALL US athletes were true amateurs. Some were lucky and came from familes that were well off, but others were playing on a very unlevel field. Still, the US athletes have always been among the best. It is a true testament to not only the talent, but also the dedication of the athletes of old.

As a rule, the money only came after winning gold.

Maybe during '50s .
 
  • #48
Just a bit in the news that caught my attention. Nancy Kerrigan's [former US figure skating silver medalist] brother was arrested for the death of their father. Apparently the son and father got into some kind of altercation that, according to Kerrigan, caused the father to suffer a coronary event. Nancy and at least one other family member are saying the death was accidental.
 
  • #49
DanP said:
Maybe during '50s .

Long after that. I would say this was true well into the 80s. It was certainly true while I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. It was common knowledge. There was no secret money system. At most one hoped to get sponsorship for training geer and other hardware.

Unless a personal coach was willing to train an athlete for pay later, the coaches pay came out of the pockets of the athlete and/or their parents. That was usually a huge expense for anyone even interested in Olympic competition.

The success of many US Olympic athletes was a direct result of many years of personal and financial sacrifice endured by every member of the athlete's family; all working for a common dream.
 
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  • #50
I assume she required the payment of a substantial amount of money for SI to use those photos. Glad to see she is a good capitalist.
 
  • #51
hmm, as a guy, i have to say that i find the fully-clothed skiing cover from the first post more sexual. this is because it appears that she is "presenting", that is, making herself available for reproduction.

the swimsuit shots are less clothed, but also less sexual.
 
  • #52
Ivan Seeking said:
Long after that. I would say this was true well into the 80s. It was certainly true while I was growing up in the 60s and 70s.
The obvious case-in-point is the 1980 US hockey team which was a bunch of college kids against a Russian pro all star team, akin to a college all star basketball team beating a Dream Team.
 
  • #53
Ivan Seeking said:
Long after that. I would say this was true well into the 80s. It was certainly true while I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. It was common knowledge. There was no secret money system. At most one hoped to get sponsorship for training geer and other hardware.
WELL into the 80s. My young friend was training for the Seoul Olympics (1988) in the hope that white-water kayaking would at least be a demonstration event. One of the women coaching her gave me a short but pointed lecture about not doing anything in compensation for my lessons that might damage my friend's amateur status. They were quite serious about avoiding even the appearance of being pro or semi-pro in their chosen sport.
 
  • #54
i don't think she looks any better than any other skier. just check out this pic:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/pr/subs/swimsuit/images/10_lindsey-vonn_12.jpg
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010_swimsuit/winter/lindsey-vonn/10_lindsey-vonn_12.html

even with all the airbrushing sports illustrated probably does she still needs to get a face. you might say she's a "handsome" woman. :-p there are dozens of olympic athletes who look at least better & they don't sell out to sports illustrated
 
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  • #55
fourier jr said:
i don't think she looks any better than any other skier. just check out this pic:

even with all the airbrushing sports illustrated probably does she still needs to get a face. you might say she's a "handsome" woman. :-p there are dozens of olympic athletes who look at least better & they don't sell out to sports illustrated
I think her face looks better in the cover photo.
 
  • #56
Vonn won gold in the downhill. Not just another pretty face!
 
  • #57
Exactly - sex or no, she is fast :smile:

Have you seen Anja Paerson falling?
 
  • #58
Borek said:
Exactly - sex or no, she is fast :smile:

Have you seen Anja Paerson falling?
Not yet. NBC embargoes coverage until prime-time, so I'll have to watch tonight if I get a chance. I read that she went down HARD after almost 60 meters airborne - I hope she's not seriously injured.
 
  • #59
Eurosport transmitted live. I think problem was not when she landed after the fly (even if it wasn't controlled landing she still managed to land on the skis and heading in the right direction, she was just too far behind to keep balance), but she rolled after. Hard to say about injuries, after a minute or two she walked to the track side, but then she sit down or even laid back on the snow, I have not seen what have happened later.
 
  • #60
Borek said:
Eurosport transmitted live. I think problem was not when she landed after the fly (even if it wasn't controlled landing she still managed to land on the skis and heading in the right direction, she was just too far behind to keep balance), but she rolled after. Hard to say about injuries, after a minute or two she walked to the track side, but then she sit down or even laid back on the snow, I have not seen what have happened later.
I hope that she's not injured, and that she'll get to compete in other events she has qualified for. It would be sad to see a promising athlete knocked out of a competition that only comes around once in four years.
 
  • #61
Tell that to Petra Majdic - she won bronze today, but she was carried away after finishing; she was injured earlier today during training after falling into hole or ditch that was close to the track. You don't want to know what Polish comentators had to tell about Canucks.

This is OT, perhaps we should start an olimpic thread?
 
  • #62
Borek said:
Tell that to Petra Majdic - she won bronze today, but she was carried away after finishing; she was injured earlier today during training after falling into hole or ditch that was close to the track. You don't want to know what Polish comentators had to tell about Canucks.

This is OT, perhaps we should start an olimpic thread?
There already is one.
 
  • #63
And she wins the Gold http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/alpine-skiing--vonn-wins-women's-downhill-gold_281828Mt.html
 

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