Sydney Sweeny Naked Advert - athletes reaction correct or an over reaction that gives the advert a lot more publicity?

[mids2019]

Personally I think a naked actress with sports equipment is a bit tacky and obviously aimed at men but I don't know if it was a massive affront to women athletes? Sydney wasn't pretending to be an athlete and the athletics paraphernalia was to advertise sports betting......not my cup of tea but I don't see how it was diminishing womens sport really

https://x.com/sharrond62/status/2099796370357928222

Sharon Davies MBE pointing out what a lot of people feel about this. Personally I don't think those strident voices that joined in the virtue signalling fest made much of spoint. That's just my opinion though.

You don’t have to understand what has been achieved. They are speaking out for themselves and they’re having an opinion on how they feel their profession is portrayed.
It’s not about you, it’s about how they feel.
Nobody will ever fully agree on one viewpoint , and we shouldn’t have to. Debate and differences of opinion are healthy.

The answer isn’t to tell women they shouldn’t spoken out (which you have multiple times) but to respectfully disagree.

Her opinion isn’t more valid than those who disagree and who have spoken out.

But it's not an ad about women's sport.

It's an ad for a sports betting company called Novig.

It's certainly captured attention for them.

There's a big difference between each individual elite athlete deciding how to present themselves to the public, and an advertising agency using a practically naked model (who is not an athlete) in a blatantly sexual pose.

It’s her decision clearly, plus she has equity in the company. She has some ownership.

She is obviously a name that sells and those who insist on being offended by here are easily manipulated by those designing the marketing. These people don’t seem to understand they are the useful idiots of the companies who employ her. I don’t know what she is like as an actress as I have never seen her in anything, but she clearly has a highly profitable position in marketing of pushing the buttons of the perpetually offended.

She was advertising sports betting in an advert aimed at men who predominantly aimed at bet on men’s sports, those adverts don’t reflect on women’s sports.

I disagree - I feel that she was very much encroaching on their territory and posing as a female athlete despite not being one. GIven the grief so many of them get online about their physique I can see why someone who isn't an athlete posing as one and subliminally signalling that is what an athlete should look like must be very very annoying. I also find the suggestion that eg the Red Roses might be secretly jealous and want a body like Sweeny's to be pretty unpleasant tbh. If that is your honest opinion then I think you were pretty disingenuous to start this thread in the first place and that there is a nasty undercurrent to your criticism of the female athletes who have spoken out.

She was not posing as an athlete. She was posing as a pneumatic blonde in a wink-wink knowing way to advertise spirt betting.

The female athletes claiming umbrage are trying to leverage her fame and success to get s little attention for themselves.

I also find the suggestion that eg the Red Roses might be secretly jealous and want a body like Sweeny's to be pretty unpleasant tbh. If that is your honest opinion then I think you were pretty disingenuous to start this thread in the first place and that there is a nasty undercurrent to your criticism of the female athletes who have spoken out.

This is what has made me uncomfortable on this thread. Disagree by all means, but to say they were wrong to speak out or are doing it out of jealousy is nasty and has a misogynistic tone in my opinion.

When I saw the ad, nothing implied female athlete to me. It was simply an anachronistic ad and my thought was pinup girl.

As to whether or not that is offensive depends on if the same ad could be done with a man. I actually could see it being done today. Men have become eye candy. I could see an advertiser using the romantasy trend to feature scantily clad men to advertise a completely unrelated product.

I think the protests are misguided.

I think all ads for gambling should be banned, like tobacco ads, nude women or no nude women. Gambling is a blight on many people's lives, and online gambling is even worse as its 24/7.

If it was someone who looked like Lizzo it would be praised.

I think that the advert is just dirty. It's a naked woman posing with sports props - not just once - there are loads of different shots. It feels like it belongs in a 70s porn mag where she just drops the props on the following page.

It's just an attempt to a) get publicity/notoriety and b) to get men to bet on sports so the company can get money.

I'm not sure that it exactly is derogatory towards female athletes, as she isn't purporting to be an athlete in the photos. If anything, she purports to be the subject of a porn mag or a prostitute.

I think it's gross and doesn't really belong in civilised society.

Romantasy is fiction. Female athletes aren't, so I'm not sure this comparison works.

@MickyMoonshine SS was not trying to be an athlete. She was posing with sports equipment. Are you saying men cannot pose with a Stetson on if they aren’t a working cowboy? Where is the end to this? It’s about time some people climbed down from their high horses and got on with the day job instead of criticizing other women and their jobs. No one thought SS was pretending to be an athlete with her boobs! As if!

I’m not giving an opinion on SS.
I’m saying that female athletes have a right to speak up about this situation and we shouldn’t dismiss them or try to silence them.

It’s incredible that you don’t see the irony in your posts. You’re complaining that female athletes are criticising SS while you’re doing the exact same thing to them!

Women are allowed to have an opinion that differs from yours. They’re especially allowed an opinion when they feel it’s something that impacts them personally or professionally.

Becky Adlington and Holly Bradshaw have spoken about the comments they've had too. And Jess Ennis was called fat!

I haven’t read this entire thread so forgive me if someone has already said it but between this and the ‘good genes’ ad she seems to relish in controversial marketing

If you want to see what the actual problem is, go and look at the social media of literally any of the female athletes calling the advert out and look at the comments. They nearly all have received a barrage of abuse from men for calling the advert out and all of these comments from men are of course about the female athletes’ looks. Things such as “it’s always the ugly ones” or “you’re just jealous because because you’re an ugly bitch” (or some variation of the above)

The problem is that men, or a least most men, believe women exist solely to look pleasing to them. Even if those men aren’t no oil painting themselves. Ads like the one Sweeny has done just perpetuate this and embolden men to carry on thinking that’s all
women are good for. It’s not Sweeny’s fault, it’s the men’s fault. She’s just a product of the misogynist system.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/38526634/glam-sports-sexiest-stars-alisha-lehmann-jutta-leerdam/

There is a long history of sportswomen and 'glamour' modelling and the bikini shot seems just par for the course for the tabloids. If this current outrage is genuine I think you have got to ask is it something about Sweeny specifically?

Well Sweeney has made enemies of liberals in the US with her MAGA support and unashamed performing for the male gaze so she was always going to be an easy target for a pile on from sportswomen. The great jeans advert probably didn't sit well in a diverse athletic community either.

Let's face it a lot of women don't like Sweeney and I think this is the reason for a lot of the outrage and to my mind double standards when she accused of somehow single handedly sexualising sport.

Why wouldn’t this outrage be genuine?
Where is your evidence that the women who are sharing their opinion about how they feel their profession has been portrayed are doing it because they have a specific issue with SS?
You keep suggesting this is the case or that they’re jealous but it seems like it’s something you’ve fabricated in your head.

OK the outrage could be genuine but I think it's quite easy to prove double standards. A lot of sports stars are models and imho athletes as a whole can't take the moral high ground here. It just seems to women angry about women. I don't see many men wading into the argument and I can see why as the whole thing is bemusing.

A lot of shouting about a film star showing her body (never happened before that) in an advert (similar) who had the temerity to hold sports equipment. Be as outraged as you like but I do feel it won't achieve much and as people have pointed out some of the athletes in question have become figur of mockery.

In addition why no outrage about the countless other athletes in bikini shots etc. or the modelling of other actresses? Yes Sweeney was not liked by a lot of women generally and I don't think that is a fabrication.

You’ve not answered my question. Why wouldn’t it be genuine? Where is the proof of double standards.

You seem to assume that female athletes are a hive mind and because some female athletes have chosen to model that means they’re all displaying double standards. You can’t speak for them as a homogeneous group.
Even though you keep trying.
Women are allowed to be angry at other women. You seem determined to censor women and their opinions and feelings.

And why would men ‘wade’ into this argument? It’s nothing to do with them. Women are allowed an opinion without male approval.

I think it’s interesting that you are seeing things that suggest the vocal female athletes have become figures of mockery. My algorithm is showing a very different story.
It’s far more balanced then you are suggesting but given the links you’re sharing I think you’re actively looking for stories to support your view.