Sports such as tennis are beginning to confront to tensions associated with maintaining a production line of young, and in many cases underage, teenage girls for the professional ranks. Increasingly, the popular image of tennis is becoming reliant on the sex appeal of players under the age of 20.

In an effort to revive a flagging interest in women’s tennis the focus has now shifted away from the on-court action to Venus Williams’ backless dress, Martina Hingis’s hair or Anna Kournikova’s Lolita-like image. Indeed, Anna Kournikova is a prime example of the production of a new tennis star, merging the role of tennis pro and supermodel in a sport where more people now watch matches on television more than in the stands. Kournikova is a player of average ability, one who is yet to win a singles tournament and who has displayed variable form during her short career- including one woeful match in the 1998 Australian Open where she served no more than 32 double faults. Yet she is undeniably a glob

al media star and match orgainisers are quite ready to change their scheduling to ensure that she is on court during peak television viewing time. The Russian teenager is the subject of a growing host of internet pages, which merge sex appeal with computer rankings and win-loss ratios. Kournikova is seen as exotic and alluring by the media and is represented as the supermodel of women’s tennis.

Body Image concerns related with sexploitation.

Elite athletes in sports such as gymnastics, long distance running and swimming face increased risk of developing serious eating disorders. Elite athletes are prone to developing eating disorders, with those sports that emphasised a lean body at the highest risk. Athletes competing in such sports as gymnastics and swimming face extra pressure to be thin because they have to wear revealing outfits. A study found that 10% of thin-build female athletes had signs of bulimia, 5% had signs of anorexia and 16% had non-specific eating disorders.

Some topics in this essay:
Anna Kournikova, Tommy Haas, West Australian, Image Sexing, Body Image, Society Ethics, Sexploitation- Body, Canberra Times, Sexual Harassment, Patrick Dominguez, eating disorders, body image, women’s sport, women’s tennis, elite athletes, developing eating disorders, girl image, golden girl, lift profile, australian 30th, 30th july, australian 30th july, golden girl image,