What Does the 'Sports Illustrated' Cover Teach Our Kids?

By A Mystery Man Writer

Photo by Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated Hannah Davis’ risqué Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover is a “dream come true” for her. A Washington Post piece, promptly asking if the cover goes “too low” with Davis’ bikini bottom, elicited a slew of condemning comments including: “Horrible message for young girls,” and “They should change the name to Sports Illustrated Playboy edition.” One commenter even accused the magazine of “contributing to the accelerating loss of innocence.” An Us Weekly poll reveals that 72 percent of their 12,000-plus voters consider the cover “porn.” And a similar survey on Yahoo Health found that 48 percent of respondents deem the cover “degrading.” STORY: Should Your Kids See You Naked? What does it mean to be a girl?’” Levin, a professor of education in the Department of Early Childhood Education at Boston’s Wheelock College, tells Yahoo Parenting. “The research tells us that when young boys see women in this way, they begin to think of girls and women as objects instead of complex people with whom they can develop mutual relationships,” says Jennifer W. Shewmaker, author of Sexualized Media Messages and Our Children: Teaching Kids to be Smart.
Photo by Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated Hannah Davis’ risqué Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover is a “dream come true” for her. A Washington Post piece, promptly asking if the cover goes “too low” with Davis’ bikini bottom, elicited a slew of condemning comments including: “Horrible message for young girls,” and “They should change the name to Sports Illustrated Playboy edition.” One commenter even accused the magazine of “contributing to the accelerating loss of innocence.” An Us Weekly poll reveals that 72 percent of their 12,000-plus voters consider the cover “porn.” And a similar survey on Yahoo Health found that 48 percent of respondents deem the cover “degrading.” STORY: Should Your Kids See You Naked? What does it mean to be a girl?’” Levin, a professor of education in the Department of Early Childhood Education at Boston’s Wheelock College, tells Yahoo Parenting. “The research tells us that when young boys see women in this way, they begin to think of girls and women as objects instead of complex people with whom they can develop mutual relationships,” says Jennifer W. Shewmaker, author of Sexualized Media Messages and Our Children: Teaching Kids to be Smart.
Photo by Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated Hannah Davis’ risqué Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover is a “dream come true” for her. A Washington Post piece,