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Athletic or Sexy? A Comparison of Female Athletes and Fashion Models in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues

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Abstract

Using a modified version of Goffman’s (Gender advertisements. Harper Colophon, New York, 1976) gender display as a conceptual framework, this study examined the gendered body images of female athletes and female fashion models. We investigated sexualized female body images by comparing athletes with fashion models in Sports Illustrated (SI) swimsuit issues. Specifically, we used images of female athletes and female fashion models from SI swimsuit issues (n = 1,099) over the past 15 years (1997–2011). The variables analyzed included four photographic image categories: photo shot location, facial expression, body display, and hand display. The findings revealed few differences in sexual portrayals between female athletes and female fashion models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, FLG 206I, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Kayoung Kim

  2. Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, FLG 300, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Michael Sagas

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  1. Kayoung Kim
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Correspondence to Kayoung Kim.

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Kim, K., Sagas, M. Athletic or Sexy? A Comparison of Female Athletes and Fashion Models in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. Gend. Issues 31, 123–141 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-014-9121-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-014-9121-2

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