Women In Sports: The sexualized nature of things

 When recently looking further into women's role in the world of sports I noticed that there was something off, something that set women athletes apart from their male counterparts. The fact of the matter is women are over sexualized in the world of sports. It seems that society doesn't like to present female athletes in a way that emphasizes their strength and power they portray in their sport. Below are a couple examples of ways female athletes are portrayed on the cover of Sports Illustrated (when they are actually on the cover).

Here is a cover that features Jennie Finch who has been the pitcher of the USA Women's Softball team. She has been photographed in a jean skirt and a relieving shirt, certainly not her traditional softball uniform. She is also posed in an unnatural position.

The cover above is just another example of how women athletes are portrayed. If this was the first time you had seen the women on this cover would you have any idea what sport she played? No. This is Anna Kournikova a world renowned tennis player. She has been posed in a way in which maybe be considered slightly sexualized.

Why do you think the way in which male and female athletes are pictured differ?

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(*None of these covers are from the Sports Illustrated swim suit addition. Credit to Sports Illustrated through Google )