Sexploitation in Sport.

"The pressure on sportswomen to increase levels of sponsorship and media coverage has seen many resort to taking their clothes off just to receive some publicity"

Jan Borrie, The Canberra Times, 27th May 2000

Sadly, the above statement provided by Jan Borrie remains true within the international sporting environment. There are already numerous cases where taking clothes off to receive attention for particular sports have taken place. Unfortunately, Australian sporting women have participated in such activities, whether it is by regulation or by single choice.

Over the years, due to globalisation and technology, many more sports are now being televised. To air the Grand Final of Women's Hockey or the National Netball Championships is not free, thus sponsorship is then needed. Many organisations gain there sponsorship by providing viewers that will inevitably watch the ad-breaks whilst the certain 'event' is televised. Previous to this, the organisation must be confident it will receive as much attention and publicity it can before a sponsor will agree to help out.

Anna loves fish!

Anna

English: Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis during...

So what do organisations do to receive such high profile? They sexploit. Sexploitation is the means of exploiting someone of their sexual and physical attributes regardless of any skill or intelligence they may have. This may go for both genders, but is mainly evident in female sport. A perfect case of sexploitation is Anna Kournikova in women's tennis. Within the last couple years of her career, she has undertaken in a number of degrading photo shoots that help boost her publicity level. The more publicity, the happier the sponsors and therefore the more financial help Anna will receive. Without demeaning Anna's skill level in tennis, it is secure to say she could not survive on the pro women's circuit with the little success she shows.

Why doesn't this happen in men's sport? Sexploitation...