Why the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Matters
It defines who America feels is the most beautiful woman in the world
It’s a safe bet the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is still the most anticipated American magazine issue of the year.
It may define who the most beautiful woman in the world is regarded as by who appears on the cover. Oh, People and Maxim have thrown their hat into the mix, but frankly People tends to make selections that are at least a decade late (Julia Roberts was their 2017 selection, for instance) and Maxim has made such a switch in recent years from beer to champagne the audience they try to cater to seems as unattainable to the common man as their 2016 selection, Stella Maxwell, is to men, period!
That might have encouraged SI to move away from a list of up and coming or established super models and instead put Beyonce the cover in 2007. She held her own, but SI soon realized they were the leader and that they could make the next great supermodel, instead of recognizing her.
After all, Inside Sports and Sport used to have swimsuit issues as well. They even had some of the most recognizable and beautiful women of the day pose; such as Heather Locklear and Cindy Crawford.
But the women were making the issue. The issue was not making them. You could see them anywhere, even in a pre-internet age. Hence, Sport and Inside Sports are no more.
This year Danielle Herrington has been introduced as the new woman who will enter into the minds of American male fantasies henceforth. Inside you’ll still find Kate Upton and even Paulina Porizkova, who, as the issue is forever forced to answer claims it is sexist, takes part in a shoot in which she defines herself with the words she paints on her body.
Porizkova is a favorite of mine not so much on how she looks, although I’m appreciative of that aspect.
But she’s stayed married to Ric Ocasek for 29 years. I also remember when she once told David Letterman she hadn’t forgiven old schoolmates who had made fun of her growing up for being too tall or awkward, and loyalty and honesty are two things everyone cherishes.
It stands to reason anyone objecting to the SI swimsuit issue today is being a prude.
But they always were.
Marky Billson hosts Tri-Cities Sports NOW on 1420 NBC Sports Radio Tri-Cities 12–2 p.m. ET weekdays. Watch archives of his show here.
