It's that time of year again. That time when women in bikini's are put on the cover of a magazine dedicated to reporting on sports because it's a "slow period" and they have nothing else to put in their magazine.
Of course they could just skip an issue, but then again they wouldn't be making money and we all know that nothing sells quite like a woman's body.
My problem isn't the fact that a woman's body is being featured on the cover of a magazine, my problem is the magazine they're being featured on.
It's understandable for Victoria's Secret to put a girl in lingerie on their cover, they're trying to sell the product the model is featuring. Sports Illustrated isn't trying to sell a product other than their magazine. They're using women's bodies for their own gain.
It might be more forgivable if they featured actual athletes instead of supermodels. Sure in 2016 they had a cover featuring Ronda Rousey, but that's such a rare occurrence and it shouldn't be. And yeah, Kate Upton may have a line of athletic wear, but so does Kim Kardashian and we don't exactly hail her for her athleticism.
Baseball season is about to start so why not put Mike Trout on the cover. Maybe even Selena Williams or Sue Bird.
Another thing that would maybe make their whole swimsuit obsession more forgivable would be if maybe they used actual swimsuits. This year SI gave Upton three covers and if you add up the total number of swimsuits she's wearing in all three you get one half. One cover just shows her wearing beads around her waist and neck.
I am all for empowering women, I totally understand wanting to feel sexy. But the point of the Swimsuit Issue is so skewered and people just accept it.
The whole concept of the issue began in 1964 when the editor at the time asked their fashion reporter to fill the magazine's cover and pages with a beautiful model.
Until the day Sports Illustrated at least makes the cover of their swimsuit issue exclusively athletes I can't stand behind it.
