An Ugly Controversy Over Gorgeous Athletes

I've brought this up before in passing, and here I am again to talk about it at length.  I just read this article on Care2.com, and it seems that a handful of feminists have a hard time with male Olympics fans commenting on the physical attractiveness of female athletes, calling such attention sexist.  We should be focused on the athletic achievements of these women, we are told, not their looks.

Well, of course we're focused on the athletic achievements of female Olympians.  If looks matter more to you than athletics, then you're not a sports fan or an Olympics fan, so why should you even bother to watch?  And as for beautiful women in sports . . ..  Look, back in 1988 Florence Griffith Joyner wore outfits on the track that flaunted her own beauty.  Today, we have Jessica Ennis, who can turn guys on every time she throws a javelin.  In between we've had Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings show off their impressively sculpted figures in their very minimal uniforms. Not to mention soccer player Brandi Chastain doffing her jersey, Alexei Nemov-style, and showing off her sports bra at the 1999 Women's World Cup.  Like, I'm supposed not to notice any of that?   

I hate to point this out (no, not really), but not only do men ogle female athletes, women ogle male athletes as well.  I've already brought up Alexei Nemov.  But I can also cite a column by Kathleen O'Brien of the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger in which she admitted to watching World Cup soccer more for the tight uniforms than the 1-0 scores.  (She even checked out the referees.)  I have a ladyfriend on Facebook who's commented on the "buns" of the male divers, who wear skimpier suits than Michael Phelps ever has.  And guess what? I'm okay with all that.  Because there's nothing wrong with finding people of the opposite sex attractive.  Maybe these feminist complainers don't ogle men, but they don't seem to want to admit that other women do. That would make it impossible for them to complain about men who ogle women.

To be fair, there is some sexism involved, though not all of it intentional. As some women's rights activists have noted, some female athletes, notably shot putters and weightlifters, get less attention because they're not attractive.  But then male shot putters and weightlifters don't get much attention either . . . for the same reason.  You don't find a lot of pretty boys or handsome hunks among the men's weightlifting participants at the Olympics, and besides, Americans don't really consider weightlifting a real sport - they consider it a workout, much like an orchestral tuneup isn't considered real music.  But I draw the line at the Dutch women's field hockey team being called "minxes." I'm not even sure what a "minx" is, yet I know  it's derogatory and degrading.  I've referred to female athletes as being "gorgeous," or "cute as a button" (which does not make a ton of sense when you realize that there's nothing particularly cute about buttons), or even "hot," but as "minxes?" Never. 

Look, as long as athletes of either gender are in peak physical condition and wear uniforms that emphasize the fact, they're always going to draw pairs of roguish eyes.  You can't fight Mother Nature - unless you're one of the Koch brothers, who are trying to drill her to death.  So feminists shouldn't get me wrong - I'm glad women play sports, but the prettier ones are going to get my attention whether you like it or not.  And I have another reason to be glad women play sports in America.

If they didn't, the U.S. wouldn't even win half as many Olympic medals.