SportThe Guardian

Sydney Sweeney’s cartoonish provocation has sparked a culture war but let’s just admit sport can be sexy

A Sydney Sweeney sports ad sparked a culture war online, but the backlash has actually flooded social media with tributes to real women athletes.

Yes sport is about effort, sweat and inclusivity – but it also turns elite athletes into magnificent specimens of humanity where the aesthetic is part of the appeal

The Long Sip
What happened

An ad featuring actor Sydney Sweeney posing with sporting equipment triggered a fierce online debate about women, sport and how female athletes are portrayed.

The detail

The backlash produced a wave of social media montages celebrating real female athletes, with Dua Lipa's Training Season getting a notable boost in the process.

And then

The writer argues the outrage, while understandable, drowned out genuine women's sport stories like Lottie Woad's Solheim Cup match and Chelsea's 5-0 WSL win.

Full story at The Guardian

What readers are saying

thommo_queanbeyan
Focus on the results. Chelsea winning 5-0 matters more than some American actor posing with a racket. Give the actual athletes the coverage.
nev51
The piece correctly identifies that functional muscularity, such as the hypertrophied calves of a marathon runner, serves a specific mechanical purpose quite different from Hollywood aesthetic training. It is an interesting distinction because it suggests that the visual appeal of an elite athlete is a byproduct of high-level physical utility rather than the primary goal.
Hamza
Elite physical performance is naturally impressive without needing regressive marketing tactics.
Sandy
if you want to see what the author means about the response just look up training season on social media. those reels of women doing actual heavy lifting and track work are way more motivating.

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