It has been quite some time since the creation of the World War II icon Rosie the Riveter. Rosie is one of the more well known ways that women started to gain independence from the ‘everyday normality.’ With her help, women began to become an increasing part of the work force. The world has come a long way since then, but are we beginning to go backwards? Have we gone so far ahead that we have looped right around to where we started? More and more evidence seems to support this theory.
Of course, there are women in the world that are outstanding. They seem to be pushing equal rights forward, but the media seems to have other ideas. Candace Parker is becoming a well-known WNBA all-star. At 22 she’s married, pregnant, and striving to be a female Michael Jordan, a goal she could very well achieve. Parker has made such an impact that she has already gotten a front page story in the ESPN Magazine, published in March.
According to this article, written by Allison Glock, Parker could become anything she wants to be, and maybe even more. The common person would believe the article to be on Parker and her sports career, being a sports magazine published by a sports TV network. This does not seem to be the case.
Within the very first paragraph, Parker’s cup size was mentioned twice. Of course, they do talk about her ability to play basketball, and how wonderful a person she is, but they also discuss her looks, and the level of them. Glock also seems to be pushing Parker’s heterosexuality on the reader, repeatedly speaking of her husband and child to be.
There are even Christian undertones that seem to be coming from the writer herself, and not from Mrs. Parker. Throughout the article, there are many quotes from an interview with Parker, but not one of these quotes mentions ‘God.’
“I was surprised,” Parker says of the pregnancy. “But everything happens for a reason. It will be exciting to have my child share my career and to remember what I was like when I was young.”
This quote, taken from “Selling Candace Parker by Allison Glock” is the only thing Parker says that remotely sounds religious. Even then, many believe the same thing but have never stepped foot in a church. So it seems safe to say that Glock is adding her personal beliefs to the article.
While Glock is preaching, she also seems to have some idea of equal rights. She explains that Parker is “competing with the boys.” Why does she say this, but then go into great detail on her sexual appeal, and the fact that she is married and expecting? Glock even seems to think that Parker should be proud for making a maximum 5 million annually while LeBron, having the same sports manager, is making minimum 95 million more.
A woman wrote the article in ESPN Magazine and still it was sexual, religious, and focused on the ‘straight and narrow.’ This sounds like there is need for women to speak their minds loudly once more, before we fall back into the “Leave it to Beaver” era.