By Aidan Gordley
Heroes in ESPN’s Body Issue: Milestones in the Media
By Aidan Gordley
Star winger from the United States Women’s National Soccer team, Megan Rapinoe, once said, “If you can’t take criticism, then you can never reach your potential” (1). This statement means a lot coming from Rapinoe, who has faced criticism from what seems like every conceivable source throughout the course of her impressive and accomplished athletic career. A prominent, vocal activist for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, Rapinoe has been a trailblazer for equality in sports. Her passion for these causes, along with her fiery spirit and bold comments, have evoked a wide range of emotional responses from the media. In this essay, I will argue that the media scrutinized Rapinoe and the causes she represented in ways that were motivated by her identities as both an activist and openly lesbian female athlete.
This argument will be made in reference to the analysis of sports journalists Jessica Luther and Kavitha Davidson that appears in their book, Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back. They discuss the political landscape that LGBTQ+ athletes are forced to navigate in the contemporary world of sports and point to Rapinoe’s appearance alongside her wife, fellow professional athlete and activist Sue Bird, on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s The Body Issue. They brought up this milestone as evidence for “‘lesbian athletes [not getting] the credit for doing really transformative, revolutionary work being openly lesbian in their sport.’ He says this is because ‘the intersection of homophobia and sexism has really muted us giving credit to women for being out in their given sport’” (2). Arguing that openly lesbian female athletes must overcome barriers rooted in homophobia and sexism to gain recognition for their achievements, Luther and Davidson emphasize the importance of a lesbian couple appearing on the cover of The Body Issue. This milestone was a significant step forward in the battle for more equal and favorable LGBTQ+ representation in sports.
As argued by Luther and Davidson, Rapinoe’s activism in the world of LGBTQ+ rights was met with criticism through sexist and homophobic lenses. Boasting excessive confidence and making bold plays off and on the field are perceived as “inherently masculine,” so Rapinoe’s propensity for both of these aspects of sports draws attention and scrutiny. Washington Examiner sports journalist Brad Polumbo wrote of Rapinoe’s off-field activism in an article after the USWNT’s triumph at the 2019 World Cup that “she has turned the women’s historic World Cup win into a political pissing match, when it could have been a bipartisan moment of unity for the country.” To explain comments like this being made about Rapinoe’s activism, Marianna Brady of BBC wrote, “Male athletes can be brash and pound their chests without being criticized, but because Rapinoe is a pink-haired lesbian willing to take on President Trump, she is startling people who haven’t encountered anyone like her before” (3).This example serves to support Luther and Davidson’s argument, as it highlights the importance of the increased visibility and decreased stigmatization of lesbian athletes.
On top of Rapinoe’s activism and vying for gender equality in sports, she is portrayed by the media in a way that pushes back against the stereotype that female athletic success is “masculine” and female athletes are “all lesbians.” The sports world is not known for its accepting and welcoming atmosphere, especially not when it comes to gender and sexuality. According to Luther and Davidson, the sporting world in general has a propensity toward “the erasure of all people whose identities challenge the rigid gender binary sports is predicated on (one plays either men’s sports or women’s sports, after all)” (2). Behavior that contradicts the notion that the best athletes are the fiercest, most masculine competitors, is met with scorn and contempt. Enter Rapinoe, an outspoken champion both on and off the field, who was featured alongside her wife on the cover of the premier magazine that celebrates athletic bodies.
This milestone was bound to create a stir in the media. Many news outlets celebrated the occasion, putting the story of the first openly gay couple to feature on the cover of ESPN as the front page, headline event. Many news sources included stories along the same lines as the Huff Post’s “ESPN’s Body Issue Features an Openly Gay Couple For The First Time” (4). However, Rapinoe and Bird were not making conscious efforts to be the first couple to accomplish this feat. They said in an ESPN interview that “it’s important to do these things first. It’s important for people to come out. Visibility is important. It’s important for there to be a first one on the cover (of the Body Issue), or whatever. Just in terms of the culture and society, someone has to do it” (5).
The coverage of this milestone was encouraging and progressive, but her protesting of the obligatory visit to the White House after a World Cup run brought about media coverage that was far more polarizing. For example, Kyle Smith of the New York Post wrote, “Arrogant, abrasive, sanctimonious, whiny, humorless, unpatriotic, self-important, and immensely boring, Megan Rapinoe has made the least of her sudden ascent to fame as the captain of the World Cup-winning US women’s soccer team. With unprecedented alacrity, she has become America’s anti-sweetheart” (6). Emphasizing her bringing politics into sports, many news sources were outraged by Rapinoe’s outspokenness and “anti-patriotism.” Smith saw Rapinoe’s standing up for women’s sports and LGBTQ representation as a marker for her “self-importance.” While the article itself was addressing Rapinoe’s active protest, it went the extra mile to paint her whole persona in a negative, “whiny” light.
The media took Megan Rapinoe to be a symbol for LGBTQ+ athletes, to both her benefit and detriment. On one hand, Rapinoe was an unpatriotic, egotistic attention grabber vying for more political power. On the other hand, she became a beacon of hope for female and LGBTQ+ athletes. The media has complete authority over her legacy.
References
- Rapinoe, Megan and Emma Brocknes. One Life. New York City: Random House, 2020.
- Davidson, Kavitha and Jessica Luther. Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back: Dilemmas of the Modern Fan. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2020.
- Brady, Marianna. “Megan Rapinoe: Why is America’s Newest Hero so Polarizing?” BBC News Washington, July 14, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48969342
- Vagianos, Alanna. “ESPN’s Body Issue Features an Openly Gay Couple For The First Time.” HuffPost, June 26, 2018. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/megan-rapinoe-sue-bird-espn-body-issue_n_5b325aafe4b0b5e692f1b29b
- Hill, Jemele. “Rapinoe on Body Issue: ‘Visibility is Important.’” ESPN Magazine The Body Issue, June 25, 2018. https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/page/espnwbodybirdrapinoe/wnba-sue-bird-uswnt-megan-rapinoe-debate-better-athlete-body-issue-2018
- Smith, Kyle. “Megan Rapinoe Wrongly Thinks She’s a Preacher—Not a Player.” New York Post, July 13, 2019. https://nypost.com/2019/07/13/megan-rapinoe-wrongly-thinks-shes-a-preacher-not-a-player/
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