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Political & Elections -> Political & Elections - 2014 -> US Woman's Water Polo Team Bares All
Post Info TOPIC: US Woman's Water Polo Team Bares All
DonnaL


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
RE: US Woman's Water Polo Team Bares All
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"What I liked in particular about that issue is that no matter whether they were 5'2" or 6.0 tall, more lean or more muscular, they all showed that women are beautiful in their differences. So many women have body issues. They think they are too chunky in the middle or thighs, or their legs aren't long enough, or they lack boobage or have too much in that department. Women are usually much more critical of their own bodies than other people. I see nothing wrong at all with this issue, if it highlights that women - even top athletes - aren't all perfect."

I felt the same way. It's amazing, actually, how quickly one learns to internalize all those unrealistic standards that apply to women's appearances. It certainly didn't take me long.

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SamuraiLandshark


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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Cartera,

Yup.  Amazing bodies and even a huge age range for the athletes featured throughout the magazine.

There were several different "covers", available, featuring the different athletes.


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Cartera


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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Everyone who poses in that issue poses nude - they just happened to make the cover. Evan Lysacek is nude. Julia Mancuso is nude. Golfer Camilo Vellegas is nude.

You can see them all here - incredibly beautiful bodies.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/flash/zoomGallery?section=gen&photoGalleryId=5650718

-- Edited by Cartera on Sunday 9th of January 2011 02:11:04 PM

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SamuraiLandshark


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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These women didn't pose nude for Playboy.  They didn't perform in a porno flick. I also believe they didn't get a penny for posing in this edition - I will have to ask the next time I see one of them.  They were trying to attract publicity for a sport that gets virtually no attention, whatsoever, which is a damn shame.  They simply took their suits off to show their strong, physical agile forms.  Hell, at that level they spend 6-7 hours a day in a swimsuit or gym clothes to build up their bodies to that level. They aren't swimsuit models or starving waif-like Hollywood celebrities.  They are used to showing their bodies in a way that few other athletes do.

What I liked in particular about that issue is that no matter whether they were 5'2" or 6.0 tall, more lean or more muscular, they all showed that women are beautiful in their differences.  So many women have body issues.  They think they are too chunky in the middle or thighs, or their legs aren't long enough, or they lack boobage or have too much in that department.  Women are usually much more critical of their own bodies than other people.  I see nothing wrong at all with this issue, if it highlights that women - even top athletes - aren't all perfect.

I remember nursing my oldest son and one of my husband's friends freaked out that I would engage in this act in front of him.   I couldn't have been more discreet if I tried. Yet, he wouldn't have flinched if he saw a woman in a bikini.  (In fact, he later married and divorced a topless dancer.  I kid you not.)

In the US we have a lot more hangups about the human body than in other parts of the world.  It's a little weird, in my opinion.

That same magazine issue had basketball players and soccer players and several other athletes showing that the human body is a wonderful thing.

It is certainly up to the individual whether or not they like this form of "exploitation" or not.  I didn't see it as exploitation.  I saw it not only as a reflection of the hard work these beautiful and talented young women put into their bodies so they could perform at the highest levels in their sport, and the fact that womens bodies are beautiful.  Your mileage may differ.  smile







-- Edited by SamuraiLandshark on Sunday 9th of January 2011 07:35:51 AM

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blankmind


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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Samurai, I agree with everything you said and have no doubt that they are all wonderful young women.  It is very hard to be a student athlete in the sports that are not revenue generators, and college is very expensive.  The thing is, we could say the same wonderful things about thousands of kids in college today, so I think all of the back story is irrelevant.  I wouldn't recommend my daughter pose nude to pay for things, unless looking good naked was her only talent.


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Tom1944


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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Razor- I think it may be she wants to "F with her dad's emotions"

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Razorsharp


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Date: Jan 9, 2011
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I guess the question I cannot figure out is whether it is ok for woman to "exploit" themselves by using nudity (or in this case the hint of nudity) to receive attention. I can remember when expecting women to be nude in movies was exploiting them. I can remember when feminists claimed that porn exploited women because they were reduced to sex objects, but today the daughter of a very successful actor (Lawrence Fishburn) wants to be a porn star because she wants to "F on film." It seems that things are changing but I cannot figure out if it is for the better or worse.

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SamuraiLandshark


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Date: Jan 8, 2011
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I spend a significant part of my life poolside watching a young woman that I know and love play this sport. In fact, my D just finished up a pre-season high school tournament and played five games in the last two days.  We actually know several members of the past and present US National Team, including a few on the team that bared it all.  The ones I know are some of the finest young women around.  I would be proud of my own daughter achieving what they have, and would support her posing on the cover of a magazine this way in order to generate publicity for this sport.  

On Thursday night, if you caught the reality show "Wipeout", you would have seen Alison Gregorka compete for a $50,000 prize.  Might have come in handy, as she is beginning work as a schoolteacher next week in the Pacific Northwest. Alison is a Stanford-educated grad - which means she didn't get a sports scholarship to pay for that pricey degree.  None of these women (or men on their team) are getting rich, either.   

It's not a revenue generating sport.

There are - I believe - 24 women on the national team.  Not all of them will make the Olympic team.  Many of those young women are current college students.  It was optional to pose - many opted not to do so, including one of our acquaintances who has been to Bejing in the last Olympics and currently plays at USC.  She didn't feel forced to participate in the shoot. There were plenty of women on the team that chose to, willingly.

These are some of the toughest women athletes you will ever encounter. They have incredible stamina, are in amazing shape and could probably kick your asses.  Dhani Jones, the NFL player, had a segment on his tv program where he got in the water in Croatia for a week or two with a mens team from there, and found out that it was the hardest workout and toughest games he ever experienced.

If you haven't ever played the sport or watched a game, you really should.  It's a cross between basketball and rugby, soccer and swimming.  There are bruises and blood sometimes and feats of amazing athletic skill.

No matter whether it's a boys under 10 game, or an Olympic game, or something in between, I promise you that you will be entertained.

Here is a clip of the USC vs Stanford womens NCAA finals from 2010.





-- Edited by SamuraiLandshark on Saturday 8th of January 2011 10:56:58 PM


-- Edited by SamuraiLandshark on Saturday 8th of January 2011 11:00:28 PM

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soccerguy315


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Date: Jan 8, 2011
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why would a corporation sponsor the water polo team? when is the last time you heard of them before this story?

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BigG


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Date: Jan 8, 2011
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Looks relatively modest...

Too bad they feel they have to do this to raise money.

Corporate sponsorship must really be sparse.

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Razorsharp


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Date: Jan 8, 2011
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 Bloomberg's Michele Steele reports on the U.S. Women's Water Polo Team and its recent bare-all cover for ESPN The Magazine


Is this smart, stupid or irrlevant?




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