In February, Sports Illustrated published its annual Swimsuit Edition. Instead of releasing one version of the cover with a single model, the magazine published three different covers, each featuring a model of a different body type.
Feminist advocates and influential figures in pop culture hailed this as a step towards a more inclusive society. E! News, for instance, proclaimed that the additionally models were “a nod to female empowerment.”
But, quite frankly, there is nothing good or beautiful about “including” more models on the much-coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover. The editors of the magazine misdiagnosed the problem with the Swimsuit Edition. The problem with the magazine is indecency.
Honoring human achievement is important in well-ordered society. Fitness and beauty ought to be respected and lauded, and for the most part, Sports Illustrated and other athletic magazines serve that important purpose. But the Swimsuit Edition serves an entirely different purpose — titillation and exhibition.
The same E! News report praising the additional covers called the photo shoots “racy” and “sexy.” One of the covers features a topless model. The Swimsuit Edition serves pornographic purposes. And that’s the problem.
All women are created in the image of God. As human beings, they inherently deserve a certain kind of respect from their fellow humans. Their bodies should not be commodities for high school boys and desperate middle-aged men to gawk at. Women aren’t pieces of meat, but the annual Swimsuit Edition has no problem commodifying them and selling their photographs. The Sports Illustrated editorial staff even selected models with more diverse body types for the covers — so that the women could be equally objectified.
The editors can publish these indecent pictures because our society has lost sight of what true beauty is.
Far from the lustful and erotic qualities the Swimsuit Edition identifies with beauty, true Beauty is the superlative of the Good. That is to say, a thing is beautiful when it most perfectly accomplishes its end or purpose.
Saint Paul wrote in his first epistle to the Corinthians, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”
Human beings are most beautiful when they most perfectly honor their Maker. Physical beauty certainly plays a role in this, but so do a cornucopia of other virtues.
Listening to popular music, or watching many contemporary television programs, it becomes self-evident that society has a tendency to value women for their erotic qualities. Women are valued because of how pleasing they are to the eyes, not for how comprehensively excellent they are.
What message does our pornography-filled culture send young girls? Is it right that they are taught by our culture to desire to have men lust after them? Is it right that our culture legitimizes passionately lusting after women’s bodies?
Rather than wrongly honoring women for how good they look in a skimpy bikini or body paint, Sports Illustrated should stick to rightly honoring women for their athletic achievements. Our society needs to stop lusting after women, and start recognizing and applauding their virtues.
