Photo Uncovers Old Dilemma

Can female athletes sell their sports by showing off their skills--or must they also show a lot of skin?

By posing for a Sports Illustrated photo topless, with her fists over her breasts, five-time Olympic gold-medal winner Jenny Thompson ignited a debate over how women athletes promote themselves. Recently, four U.S. swimmers posed for Women’s Sports and Fitness magazine with only a towel in front of them, and members of the Australian women’s soccer team posed for a nude calendar.

Donna deVarona, a two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, women’s sports advocate and NBC sports commentator, said she objected to Thompson’s photo as a mother and an athlete.

“I think it’s great that women like their bodies as athletes. But if the picture doesn’t match the text, then it’s sensationalism,” she said. “Can I envision Tiger Woods standing on a course somewhere posing naked and clutching his crotch? No. But we women are still caught in the middle. We want to say, ‘Gee, I’m a woman but I’m an athlete too.’ ”

DeVarona also said the photo was unrelated to the accompanying story about the U.S. swim trials.

“When men get 95% of the print coverage, do you say, ‘Do whatever you have to do to get coverage for women athletes?’ ” she asked. “It’s been taken to the point where it’s sensationalizing and sexualizing it, and that’s frustrating.

“You can say, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’ I understand why they say yes, but I say, why ask for that pose and why run the picture with that story? Wasn’t the story line the [Fastskin] one-piece swimsuits and the trials? To me, that was the story. Was it Jenny standing in pink boots in the sand with her fists covering her chest? It’s disappointing, because the story wasn’t that.”

WNBA President Val Ackerman also contended the photo and story didn’t match.

“There are countless angles that are all helpful in reinforcing the sport and emphasizing why our players are such great role models,” she said. “But there’s a fine line between story lines that revel in strong women and their body image, and something that’s more exploitative. I’d hope stories would skew to the former. We’re talking about strong, powerful women that have good physiques. You have to be careful.”

Spark center Lisa Leslie has posed in swimsuits during her modeling career. However, she disapproved of Thompson’s photo.

“It’s unfortunate we have to go to extremes and go through nudity to get on the sports highlights,” said Leslie, a 1996 and 2000 Olympian. “It’s unfortunate she had to take off her clothes for people to pay attention. . . .

“I guess, as a group, women are going to have to do that to get the door open. I hope within the next five years we have a platform to show who we are. I think men are changing too, just from bringing their daughters to [WNBA] games. Maybe they’ll have more of an open mind about women in sports and how they’re presented.”