Article on Body Image in Women’s Tennis Was Offensive
To the Sports Editor:
Re “Balancing Body Image With Ambition,” July 11: As a female athlete training on the United States rowing team, I was deeply disappointed and frustrated by this article. The opinions and comments from arguably the world’s most prominent female athletes incited second-hand embarrassment for those women.
The word “feminine” was used by some of these athletes to describe the way they want to be perceived by the public. That word has a fluid definition, but it was clear that for these women, their definition of feminine is based on body image, and it can be inferred that the body type they desire is lacking in strength or substance.