‘Removing your body hair gives you an edge in the pool; how about your love life?’ ‘Could you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?’ These and a couple more questions when put across to male athletes have some hilarious reactions. Because honestly, how can shaved legs on a date be an important question at a press con?
But the funny part here was that many of their female counterparts have already been asked these and many other such sexist, misogynist and outright senseless questions.
When tennis star Eugenie Bouchard made it to the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open, she was asked by a member of the press to ‘give us a twirl.’ The incident sparked international outrage and gave birth to the idea of asking male stars the same questions.
A video campaign, ‘Cover the Athlete’ takes real questions and comments that have been directed at female athletes and dubs them over interviews with male athletes.
The mash-up features a host of reactions of confused hockey starts, cyclists and baseball players and their apparent reactions to these questions.
The video might make you laugh out loud but honestly this is something that happens to women way too often. Closer home you will remember Sania Mirza getting a fatwa for wearing a ‘short skirt.’ It’s funny when we try to shove the ‘culture of India’ down the throats of only women, while the men are free to do what they want.
We hope this video goes a long way in putting the focus back on women and their work rather than their love life, their dress and their shaved legs.
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