Is Stephanie Gilmore's Roxy Video 'Sexploitation'?
A new promotional video has been released for the Roxy Pro Biarritz 2013, an upcoming tournament that is part of the Women's World Championship Tour of Surfing. In the video clip, you become well-acquainted with the figure of a mysterious blonde.
All you ever see, however, is her backside, and what a backside it is. It is for that reason that the video is garnering a fair amount of criticism. Those opposed to the aesthetics shown in the clip state that it amounts to "sexploitation" of women in sport, but so far, Roxy is standing by its vision.
"Women are complex and multi-dimensional. To ignore this fact is to ignore who we truly are," it said. "We believe all athletes are naturally beautiful, in and out of the water. You certainly don't have to be sexy to be an athlete, & we also believe it's not wrong to be an athlete and to be sexy, if you choose to be," wrote the company in defense of its actions.
In case you were wondering, the mysterious blonde in the video is none other than five-time champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore. Perhaps that is what is most irksome to Roxy's critics, as their model had more than enough talent to showcase some serious surfing prowess, but was instead was reduced to simply looking sexy.
"It's hard enough getting coverage for women's [sports], and now there is this fantastic opportunity to showcase this competition and the ability of the surfers -- and it has been wasted. Sitting on your bed in your undies and sexily undressing for a shower is in no way a 'dimension,'" writes one critic on Roxy's Facebook page.
So far, however, Gilmore hasn't had anything to say on the subject, and her willingness to partake in the shoot shows that she certainly didn't feel exploited. Likewise, even her father rushed to Roxy's defense, stating that he felt the video was in good taste and was happy to see his daughter on the screen.
"I liked it. She's a little bit older now and knows exactly what she's doing," Jeff Gilmore, Stephanie's father, said of his 25-year-old daughter. "People missed the point of it about guessing who she was. If Roxy and Steph can get more people to watch women's surfing, then it's a good thing.''