Male Dominance
Although these images of battered women leave the question of how they became bloodied and bruised, they call back on images of domestic abuse. Physical violence is attributed to a masculine persona, so the ad signifies that men are battering women. The headlines "Support Bras. Now Available" makes this more salient. Sports bras themselves were born from corsets and Schultz argues that "the sports bra is implicated in the creation and maintenance of dominant cultural ideals of women's breasts" largely controlled by men (195). She also discusses that the women who wear bras must fit into a certain form; "slender, toned, and fit" (197).

 

Conclusion
Though some female athletes may find taking sexual pictures is empowering, it is overall degrading and perpetuating the idea that women are there for men's viewing pleasure. Women athletes are given more power for their sexual appeal and are praised for having an appealing physique. I would love to continue to research why these strong female (and some male) athletes feel the need to show their sexual side in order to gain popularity. Both men and women athletes are put and put themselves on display, but it becomes a problem when women aren't given the same respect, air time, etc that men are given. I ask you to consider the imbalance of men's and women's sports next time you are browsing through a sports magazine, website, or watching ESPN. Consider a couple questions: Why are men's sports more popular and women's not taken as seriously? Does it have something to do with the way women's bodies are put on display and if it does how do women athletes and their fans change this?

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Works Cited
Schultz, Jamie. "Discipline and Push-Up: Female Bodies, Femininity, and Sexuality in Popular Representations of Sports Bras." Sociology of Sport Journal 21 (2004): 185-205.
Rose

Images (click)
Bra 1
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