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A month after the actress was criticised for ‘sexualising women’s sport’, the backlash raised a bigger question: what are women actually allowed to be in the sporting world?
You probably already heard that Sydney Sweeney has ‘great jeans’. The actress stirred up major controversy with an American Eagle advertisement last summer, which was criticised for flirting with eugenics thanks to the aforementioned tagline.
Initially staying silent amidst the backlash, Sweeney eventually told People magazine she regretted her stance after the incident gathered so much press that President Donald Trump even got involved. ‘I have come to realise,’ she said at the time, ‘that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it,’ before clarifying that she was ‘against hate’.
So when the actress became embroiled in another advertising controversy several months later, it was hardly surprising that people paid attention.
The advert, for sports betting company Novig, showed Sweeney wearing little more than sports equipment while mock playing various sports. What might otherwise have been another celebrity-led campaign quickly became a flashpoint over the way women are represented in sport, with professional athletes, Olympians and sportswomen across social media accusing the advert of sexualising women athletes and reducing years of training and achievement to appearance.
Among them was four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus, who wrote on Instagram, ‘I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this.’
‘Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is – teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity…’
‘Why do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?’
Titmus was far from alone. Runners, gymnasts, swimmers and other sportswomen responded online, many turning the controversy into something more constructive. Rather than simply criticising Sweeney’s campaign, they began sharing videos of themselves training, competing and celebrating their achievements under the message: ‘This is what a woman in sport looks like.’
Runner Mary McCarthy spoke to BBC Radio 1 after a video she posted in response to the advert went viral. She told her followers that the controversy had ‘reignited a fire in [my] belly to show the truth of an ordinary girl who is chasing the feeling of being the best version of her.’
‘I’ve been thinking so deeply about what female representation needs to look like for all women out there but also young girls especially,’ she said. ‘I don’t want anyone to miss out on achievements because they sacrificed so much to be smaller.’
American gymnast Gracie Kramer was among the first to turn the controversy into something more constructive, posting a highlights reel of her own sporting career alongside the caption: ‘Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like.’ The post was subsequently liked nearly a million times, with Olympic silver medallist Kassidy Cook among those showing support.
Months on, and the response remains more interesting than the advert itself. Beneath the debate over whether Sweeney’s campaign was offensive, there was a bigger question about what women are actually allowed to be in sport.
There is, as Australian world champion boxer Skye Nicolson pointed out at the time, nothing wrong with looking sexy while doing sport, or with embracing femininity while being an athlete. The problem comes when the bodies of women who have spent years training are reduced to the most marketable thing about them.
Women’s sport has spent years trying to move the conversation away from appearance and towards ability. In Australia, the NRLW, AFLW and Wallaroos have fought for greater visibility, better pay and bigger crowds, slowly proving that audiences are interested in women as athletes, not simply as spectacles.
