Column: Diverse beauty should be celebrated
Sports Illustrated’s 2022 Swimsuit Issue, which is now on the stands, has gone out of its way to redefine itself.
Good-looking women in little swimsuits has been a beginning-of-the-summer tradition for the weekly sports magazine since the first swimsuit issue hit the stands in 1964. The magazine brought coast-to-coast eyeballs to models who were already on couture catwalks, and in the early days, they were similar — jovencitas, güeras y delgaditas. For some, it was sexy entertainment For others, it was objectification at best and, at worse, a very restrictive standard of beauty.
It took a while, but that mold eventually changed. The models got curvier and a little less California blonde. In 1997, supermodel Tyra Banks was on the cover. Plus-size model Ashley Graham was featured in 2018. By 2019, the magazine regularly featured women athletes alongside supermodels.
This year, the magazine featured Kim Kardashian, a 40-something celebrity, Maye Musk, a 74-year-old veteran model, Ciara, an R&B artist in her late 30s, and Yumi Nu, an Asian ‘curve’ model — meaning that, in comparison to other mainstream models, she’s bigger. These women would not have been featured in swimsuit issues 10 years ago but, as usual, all the women are stunning in their swimsuits.
But on every beach, there is bound to be someone a bit snippy and a little crabby. Jordan Peterson, a Canadian author and internet personality, didn’t think the images of Yumi Nu were worthy of the iconic cover.
“Not beautiful,” he Tweeted. The internet responded, of course, as is the case when people say something silly. He got so much of a response, in fact, that NBC News reported he is leaving the app for good. Qué bueno. Quien le manda.
This, of course, is the reason Sports Illustrated is making its covers a little more diverse. Beauty is diverse. The SI cover models don’t have to be thin and blonde and young because beautiful women aren’t all thin, blonde and young. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and, yes, ages.
In years past, young women stayed away from pools and beaches to avoid being seen in a swimsuit. Body shaming was an unavoidable rite of passage for teens brave enough to be imperfect and in a swimsuit. Hiding under big T-shirts and cover-ups was the only way around it. Swimming and aqua walking, an activity that works the entire body and is easy on athletes with more body fat or weaker knees than average, was completely avoided by girls and women who could have been reaping health benefits for years.
Perhaps by widening that definition of beauty, Sports Illustrated can make a difference not only in how our society views women, but also how we see ourselves. Maybe we can learn to appreciate our ever-changing, always-evolving bodies.
Sports Illustrated changed the world once. Wouldn’t it be something if it changed the world again?
