Fan Respects Women Too Much To See Their Bodies Commodified As Athletes

OLATHE, KS—Disappointed with the consequences of an increased female presence in sports, local fan Will Collier told reporters Wednesday that he respects women too much to see their bodies commodified as athletes. “It just doesn’t feel right to see women used as products and merchandise for people to purchase,” said Collier, who added that it was hard to witness such multifaceted, strong women being reduced to a marketing tool on a cereal box or having their likeness used to sell credit cards. “Sports is one of the biggest and most aggressive sources of commodification in this country, and you hate to see athletically talented women dragged down into it. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe a woman is a whole being, with talents, desires, flaws, and hopes, just like anyone else, and reducing her to a smiling face on a Gatorade ad is frankly just gross.” Collier added that he also respected women too much to see them degraded by involvement in an activity as ridiculous, wasteful, and puerile as golf.