Sydney Sweeney has once again found herself facing backlash, this time for a series of ads for a sports-betting company, Novig. In the campaign, Sweeney appears completely nude, using various pieces of sports equipment to strategically cover herself. Within days of its release, the campaign sparked backlash from female athletes around the world, many of whom argued that the ads sexualize women in sports.
What makes this campaign so disappointing in the eyes of female athletes? Many arguments in support of Sweeney’s ad claim these angry female athletes are jealous, hypocritical, or missing the message behind the whole campaign. However, as a former athlete myself, I’m all too aware of the scrutiny placed on female athletes’ bodies.
Women in sports already have to navigate expectations about what an “athletic” body is supposed to look like, and campaigns like this risk reinforcing the idea that their bodies should be evaluated for appearance rather than what they can accomplish. Â
What About the ESPN Shoot?
In defense of Novig’s campaign, many cite ESPN’s The Body Issue, a magazine which featured nude portraits of both male and female athletes. The issue has included prominent athletes like Serena Williams, Antonio Brown, Conor McGregor, and the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team, among many others.
These photos celebrate the athletic body and how vastly it can change with age, pregnancy, and training. It celebrates missing limbs and muscular arms, rounded abdomens, and small chests. The photos show that not one body type is meant to play sports, and not one body is more athletic than another.
Sweeney’s campaign doesn’t celebrate her body or empower other women, but instead plays into men’s fantasies about women in sports. Novig went with the easiest way to sell their company: “sex sells.”
These ads don’t refer to uplifting women’s bodies or the normalization of them, instead playing into the age-old tactic of monetizing them for a predominantly male audience. The female body is portrayed as an object of attraction instead of a vessel of strength and athleticism.
What Does This Mean for Women in Sports?
It’s nothing new to say women have had to fight tooth and nail to be respected in sports, and still to this day face discrimination and violence on and off the field, court, et cetera. Emmy Award-winning sports reporter Holly Rowe was reporting on the University of Texas’ recent win against Ohio State when she was blown off by the head coach, Steve Sarkisian.
Now, I can’t speak about what was going through the coach’s mind at the time; perhaps he only had eyes for his team and celebration. However, at the press conference held after the game, quarterback Arch Manning referenced an AI video where Sarkisian violently slapped Rowe. He chuckled with other players and reporters about this video, claiming it was “hilarious” and “great.” He soon went on to his Instagram and posted a story apologizing for his behavior and words that day.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for women in sports. They’re demeaned, mocked, infantilized, and hypersexualized to the point that it seems normal. Female athletes and women in sports media have spent decades proving themselves as more than their looks, BMI, or body fat percentage. Yet, Sweeney’s ad can be seen as an attempt to put women right back where they started, synonymous with sex and body image.
Novig’s campaign uses women’s bodies to sell gambling sites to young men. It’s nothing new, but it’s deplorable and disappointing in an age where women have fought so hard to be more than their physical appearance. I only hope Novig and Sweeney can reflect on the harm they’ve caused by making women’s bodies and sexuality the focal point of their ad and change their marketing plans for the future.
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