USA Olympic Softball Players Featured in ESPN's The Body Issue

Photo Courtesy of ESPN The Body Issue



At first glance many people may be very confused by this photo. It is not what you think, I promise! This photo is from ESPN's Annual magazine called The Body Issue. This magazine features athletes with little or no clothing at all. The purpose of this magazine is to try and break the mold of all the bodies we are used to seeing within the media. These women from the USA olympic softball team posed for the first issue in 2009. This magazine features not only lean in shape athletes but short stocky and heavy sumo wrestlers as well.

Jessica Mendoza is posing in this photo, she is the woman who is 8 months pregnant. When asked of her thoughts on the magazine and purpose of her being in the photo she said...

"I see this as almost groundbreaking and kind of changing the mold of what we see as beautiful," Mendoza said (you could hear her infant son burbling in the background).

"To be honest, I'm sick of working with young women, girls, teenagers, and they are constantly thinking they're too fat or too buff or too this. . . . They want to look like the Paris Hiltons of the world. It bothers me because it's so unrealistic. There are so many beautiful bodies out there. Athletes are not. And I just want every young girl to see their own body, or part of their body, in this issue."

Interview above courtesy of David Gibson, politicsdaily.com

Now it is up to you to decide whether you can appreciate what ESPN is doing with The Body Issue. Is it for the purpose they are portraying or are they just trying to make an extra buck by putting nude athletes in a magazine?