Zali Steggall weighs in on controversial Sydney Sweeney ad: ‘New low’
IN BRIEF
- US actress Sydney Sweeney is facing criticism from Australian athletes over a new ad.
- Sweeney is being accused of belittling women’s sports with the campaign for a betting company.
Independent MP and former Olympian Zali Steggall has criticised a new sexualised sports betting advertisement featuring United States actress Sydney Sweeney as a “new low”, amid mounting criticism from sportswomen over its depiction of women in sport.
In her latest controversial ad, Sweeney has sparked uproar after featuring naked in the ad for a sports betting company — in some scenes her private parts covered only by footballs or other sports gear.
“They wanted to show just sports,” she says while sitting topless on a basketball hoop, among other poses.
The ad has sparked backlash from current and former female athletes around the world, outraged by its depiction of women in sport. Some have taken to social media to show “real” women in sport, including Australian water poloist Matilda Kearns.
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Kearns posted a video of her competing in the pool and training at the gym with the caption: “Here’s some real women sports content.”
Retired Australian swimming champion Ariarne Titmus said the ad was “a kick in the face” to women who’d dedicated their lives to perfecting their craft.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” she said in a since-expired social media post.
“How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing? To take the mickey like this, I thought we were genuinely moving past this bullsh-t.”
Steggall, Australia’s most successful alpine skier, described the gambling ad as “incredibly disappointing and just offensive”.
“It uses a woman’s body to sell sports betting while reducing women’s sport to a sexualised punchline. It’s a trope that we need to do away with and it comes from an industry already targeting young men through sports to gamble to ruin their lives,” Steggall said.
She said as a young athlete she was often pressured to do sexualised campaigns showing her body in ways that made her uncomfortable, and “really cheapened me as an athlete”.
“Female athletes have fought for decades to be recognised for what we are, serious competitive athletes — strong and powerful,” the MP for the Sydney seat of Warringah said in a social media post.
Steggall appealed to young girls, saying her Olympian’s body is strong and powerful and she was proud of what her body was capable of.
“It doesn’t look like what Sydney Sweeney and others show. It comes in all shapes and sizes.
“To young men — don’t be fooled, this is a gambling company trying to lure you using sex to get your attention so they can lose their money.”
It’s not the first time Sweeney has courted controversy for an ad. Last year, she was accused of promoting white supremacy after featuring in a campaign for denim brand US Eagle, which featured the tagline, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”. In the ad, she discussed biological traits passed down from parents.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
