Alex Morgan, the 22-year-old American women’s soccer superstar who has received marriage and dating proposals via Twitter and an assortment of other adoration from fans, will only appear in body paint in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue which will appear on newsstands this Tuesday.
IF revealed the news Friday in this blog post, which features a brief Q&A with Morgan about why she chose to do the photoshoot. As for respecting image rights, I’ll let you click on the link to see exactly what Morgan’s role is in SI’s annual gap in relation to sports writing.
“At first I was a little nervous, but this opportunity doesn’t come around every day,” Morgan told SI.com. “I wanted to involve my family in my decision and it helped to know that they were very supportive. After the initial nervous reaction, I was so excited to start photographing and honored to be part of such an incredible group of athletes and models.
Sex appeal and women’s sport are also the subject of a vast debate, which this decision will surely provoke. Does it bother you that Morgan did this? Does this help or hurt women’s football? Or is it just a matter of personal choice?
Undeniably, this propels Morgan and American women even further into the mainstream of America. First it was Hope Solo on “Dancing with the Stars” and in The Body issue on espnW and ESPN The Magazine. Now it’s Morgan wearing nothing but body paint. Is women’s football really booming? Is it for the wrong reasons? Is this Morgan photo shoot completely harmless?
