Sport

Sports basically highlight the skills and talents of an athlete. Spectators generally watch games as a venue for competition wherein the athletes act as skilled players who execute the mechanics of a particular game in a well-organized manner. Athletes may be viewed here as mere players following the rules being dictated by a particular sport. Although that may sound inappropriate, it should not be offensive to athletes because they are really players who showcase exemplary talents in their fields.

However, the bigger issue in sports is the sexuality and sexualization of the athletes (Davis 57). Sexuality may pose problems at times especially when people try to generalize a particular sport as either masculine or feminine. For example, boxing is commonly known as a masculine sport wherein most of the boxers are males who can withstand the ruggedness of the game, while cheerleading may be associated as a feminine one because of the stereotype that most cheerleaders are females. Although a sport being regarded as masculine or feminine is not too much of an issue here, there is still a clear distinction as to who can participate in a given game or tournament. For example, male and female basketball players are separated in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA). In cases where male and female athletes can play and compete side by side, a special category is made up, as in the case of the mixed doubles event in a tennis tournament.

Now, the sexualization of athletes is another issue that needs to be given emphasis. Sexualization of an athlete may be defined as making an athlete a sexual object or attributing his or her movements, uniform or body (whether a part or the whole) as something sexual to titillate the viewer (Davis 57). Both male and female athletes are subject to this kind of objectification. They are being reduced to mere sexual objects that no longer embody their beings as athletes (Davis 58). In this case, their skills and talents are being overlooked.

Female athletes are the usual victims of this practice. When the spectators focus shifts from the main context of the sport to the athletes body as something that is titillating, the athlete is reduced to a mere sexual object. This could occur on the venue of the game, through a television broadcast, or even in photographs (Davis 57). Athletes then suffer the consequences of being ridiculed by people and losing their respect (McLeod 65).

In the case of Canadian skier Emily Brydons image in a photograph while celebrating a world cup victory, she definitely counts as an athlete being sexualized. At first glance, the photograph may appear ordinary as it shows an athlete celebrating a victory by popping a bottle of champagne. However, a closer look at the image could titillate a spectator as the photograph displays a female depicting something sexual. The effect of the champagne spilling around Brydons mouth has the appearance of a male orgasm being enjoyed by a female. The image diverts the spectators attention from the victory celebration of Brydon to a sexual titillation as suggested by the portrayal of male orgasm being depicted by the champagne and the athlete. Although it may not be intentional, the portrayal of something sexual is given more emphasis in the said photograph (McLeod 65).

Emily Brydon may now suffer the consequences of being the subject of ridicule and losing respect from others by way of sexualizing the image (McLeod 65, 79). Suddenly, there is a shift of perception of Brydon from being an athlete to being a sexual object. She should be considered as a competent athlete because of her achievement in her sport however, the common notion of transforming females into sex objects resurfaces. Again, although maybe not intentional on the part of the photographer to capture the said image as something sexual, it is still the objectification of female athletes by spectators that reduces her to a sexual object. The issues on both sexuality and sexualization of athletes, specifically the female athletes, pose problems to Emily Brydon. It was not her choice, nor was it a deliberate act, to be reduced to a mere sexual object. It is the societys behavior that generated it.