Sexism in the Olympics?

Due to me being at work all day every day for the past few weeks without access to my beloved widescreen LCD TV, I have been watching the Olympic feeds on my computer. At the last Olympics the variety and clarity of these feeds would be nowhere near the quality now available to me from websites such as CNN the BBC or the Guardian online. I find I can watch races, interviews and commentary of the games in my lunch break right from the comfort of my desk.

Copywriters (me) spend a lot of time scouring the net for research purposes or reading online newspaper articles for up to date inspiration. Recent net surfing has uncovered an Olympic sized debate about the way that female athletes or their events are reported by the media. Simon Barnes the chief sports writer from the Times Online started it with an article about his 'crush' on athlete Yelena Ishinbayevaand and whether or not he had the right to have an ogle at her body and then write about it (along with her performance) in the sports section.

Sports writers should stick to sport and facts rather than looks and opinion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sport is not about looks, it is a job and it is about ability. You would not catch war reporters commenting on the attractiveness of soldiers would you?

Sports professionals have enough to worry about without wondering what journalists are going to write about their appearance. Athletes work to hone their body to perfection not to attract the opposite sex, but to achieve maximum performance in their chosen profession. It would be patronising and beside the point to include comments of a writers individual and personal feelings towards the way an athlete looks.

Many people commented that this kind of 'appreciation' of the female body would be fine if the same attention were paid to men. I disagree with this on two counts. Firstly because the same goes for men when competing in sport; ability and not looks should be the real cause for plaudits. Secondly women are all too often judged for their looks where men are not. How often do you see wrinkly older women present the news alongside dashing young men?

The judging of females on their body, youth and looks is far more ingrained in society than many people realise because they are so used to it. When comments are made about a woman's looks it reduces her to be defined by her sexual appeal rather than by her achievements. In this day and age men and especially women should be encouraged to judge themselves on their personal achievements and to only rely on their looks as a last resort.

Before I am accused of being a bitter or ugly woman with a grudge I can assure you that this is not the case. As a woman I understand that although female athletes want to be appreciated for their looks off the playing field, maybe to their boyfriend or husband or to a good looking young man on a night out with friends. They do not however, want to be examined or sexually appreciated by middle aged journalists whilst they try to do their best and be recognised for their working achievements on the field/track/pool/court.

Leave the leering to the lads-mags and the red tops. No one wants to see this kind of backward outlook coming from respected newspapers that should not patronise their readers by assuming we can't see what we like for ourselves.