In February 2010 Glamour magazine printed an article on four Olympic women: Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, Lindsey Jacobellis, and Gretchen Bleiler. Glamour, known for its beauty, fashion, and love topics featured these snow boarders as “your new Olympic idols”. These idols are praised for both their beauty and athleticism. On the surface it seems that the article is a positive representation of women in sport. However, a closer look reveals an underlying message of what qualities in women are socially acceptable. The title declares, “The Great Olympic Glam-Up”. The two page spread shows the women looking their best and smiling big for the camera. The sub heading states, “You are looking at four women with beautiful hair, cute makeup, sexy dresses…and an excellent shot at sweeping the snowboarding medals in Vancouver this month.” The positive and fashion forward pictures are typical of the magazine. What I notice missing is diversity. The four women are white and skinny. The three jumping in the air are blonde while the brunette, Kelly Clark, sits to the side looking up at them. Turn the page, and the women are in partial snow boarding attire and have minimal to no make up. Again Kelly Clark sits lowest. In large print Hannah Teter is quoted, “It’s better to be friends than enemies. It makes life a whole lot easier!” The words, friends and easier, are emphasized in another color. It reminded me of the film Dare to Compete. The women in the late 19th century were not allowed to compete. They had “play days”. In which, no one was allowed to represent their school and there was no winner. This article is glorifying conventional ideas associated with what are acceptable attitudes for women in sport. While Glamour magazine targets an audience interested in fashion and beauty, I think they could have afforded a more competitive and strong portrayal of these women.
Cynthia Wollerman
The title, “The Great Olympic Glam-Up”, in and of itself insinuates the idea that in order for the Olympic Athletes, moreover women athletes, to be exciting and alluring they must be enhanced- “glammed-up”. To elaborate on what Cynthia stated in regards to diversity, it is evident in the article that it is lacking and the portrayal of the four women in the spread definitely conveys that to the reader. Being as though Glamour is a magazine primarily focusing on fashion and beauty, it may be thought that the magazine went with what was “safe” or “socially acceptable” in how they chose to portray the four Olympic Women Athletes as women first, then athletes. With this being said, it seems as though we almost have not evolved as much as we would like to think as a society in that women athletes are still women first and not entirely acknowledged as athletes. I can’t help but think of how men are encouraged to be portrayed in their athletic elements when featured in magazines, whereas women are clearly encouraged to enhance their femininity when doing so; primarily because that is the social norm. Lastly, I believe that as a response to this article in Glamour, that most media portrayals are fearful of stepping outside the box and being bold enough to capture the real beauty and essence of these athletic women in their own element.
ReplyDeleteElise Severson