Karly Morgan, 2/16/2016
Sports Illustrated made a move in the right direction by
crowning 3 very different women as swimsuit edition cover models for
2016.
Hailey Clauson has what could be considered a classic model
figure. She is a beautiful woman, but Sports Illustrated also made sure to
write about her personal traits as well. "Learn about her and you'll
appreciate her beauty even more. A minute in her company, and you'll feel like
you've known her for years."
Ronda Rousey has a very athletic build. Sports Illustrated wrote
about her, "She is the perfect combination of beauty, brains, brawn, and
humility. She possesses a spirit bigger than the space around her, and it's
both infectious and inspiring. She's a Phoenix."
Ashley Graham is a U.S. Size 16, a full bodied, plus size model.
She's also strikingly gorgeous. SI wrote of her, "Ashley Graham is a
sultry, feminine masterpiece. Her confidence is contagious."
Sports Illustrated presented the world with 3 very different
body types, and glorified each one. They praised the female mind by writing
about each woman personally, and praised the female body by showing a spectrum
of body shapes as beautiful. SI wrote of the trio, "All three women are
beautiful, sexy, and strong. Beauty is not cookie cutter. Beauty is not one
size fits all. Beauty is all around us and that became especially obvious to me
while shooting and editing this year's issue."
Highest praise to Sports Illustrated for this huge statement
about the female body. I know for me personally, I have body confidence issues
because I was an elite athlete in high school and I no longer play sports. I
traded my Rousey-style body for a Graham-style body. In this shoot, they didn't
try to make the curvy girl look skinny. They celebrated her body for what it
is- gorgeous. Graham's cover photo and shoot with Sports Illustrated lifted my
confidence and expanded my view of beauty as an already fairly confident
feminist woman, so I can only imagine what it's doing for women all around the
world.
This
reminds me of our reading about "who gets to be the princess" in the
eyes of the media. Sports Illustrated, an immensely famous producer of media
and images of womens' bodies, has proclaimed to the world that it has
princesses of all shapes and sizes, and I absolutely love it.
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