Gina Carano's ESPN Cover is Great Promo for Her ... Not So Much for Women's Mixed Martial Arts

One version of the latest edition of ESPN the Magazine has a semi nude, heavily photo shopped image of Gina Carano on the cover.  There she is shielding her bare breasts while throwing a side kick in a pair of what appears to be regulation Victoria’s Secret lace boy shorts. For those that are unfamiliar, Gina Carano, the fighter, has been commonly called ‘the face of professional women’s mixed martial arts (WMMA)’.

I am certain that this cover will sell a tremendous number of magazines to the 24-40 year old, white male demographic that is so well engaged by MMA and so highly sought after by Madison Avenue.  WMMA is scratching for respectability and legitimacy in a male dominated sport and Gina Carano is its most marketable athlete.

While superior fighters like Cris Santos and WMMA in general struggle for acceptance, Gina Carano promotes herself (and her sexuality) as a pin-up girl that happens to be a decent fighter. The Maxim magazine spread that she also did offered little in the way of support for the concept of women fighters as true athletes and not merely participants in three 3-minute rounds of sexual fantasy; girls fighting in underwear sells like hotcakes.

Cleary, sex sells.  I know that I am an 'egg head' doctor but this fact didn’t totally escape me.  But what’s good for Gina’s show biz aspirations unfortunately does pitifully little for those dedicated women athletes who see the growth of WMMA as their future.

 

 

Comments

[iluvgina12]

GINA CARANO IS THE BEST MMA FIGHTER AND HOTTEST EVER

[DocManhattan]

Sorry, Johnny, I've read your article twice now, and I'm STILL trying to figure out what you're so steamed about. Are you ticked off that ESPN wanted to choose attractive models for its nude covers, and Gina meets that standard better than some other WMMA fighters that you consider better athletes? Is that it? Well, obviously they want to have the most appealing image they can on their covers -- so what?

Or do you think that the image cheapens MMA in some way (as if this particular sport ever worried too much about appearing classy, give me a break)? Serena Williams naked is not going to undermine the status of tennis as a sport, and Gina Carano looking amazing is certainly not going to make anyone think less of MMA.

[Peatbog]

Those "dedicated women athletes who see the growth of WMMA as their future" are also going to be future patients of sports injury doctors, nose straighteners, neurologists, cardiologists, and brain surgeons. Pegging a future on beating the crap out of someone else and vice versa is a pretty poor bet. Ask any pro footballer who retired to a life of ease, pain, and medication.

[erinelizabeth11]

Not sure why you're so offended by this. Serena Williams was COMPLETELY naked on her cover. No panties or anything? What's the big deal? She is competing in an individual sport so she can do whatever she wishes without affecting a team. If she remains competitive and the league allows her to fight and she continues to garner/maintain sponsorship, then obviously she's doing something right. And you don't get a body like that sitting on the couch eating chips. If she wants to show it off completely naked or wearing a turtleneck snowsuit, that's her business. If promoting herself earns recognition and attention for her sport, what's wrong with that?

Men always complain about women using their sexuality. Don't tell women not to pose, tell me not to look. It's essentially the same argument that a woman is asking for rape and that's just stupid.

[SPK200]

Thank you for this article. It's nice to finally see some honesty about how WMMA is represented vs how it should be represented.

[heavenly]

I agree with Dr. Benjamin.

[JoyceBains]

To be fair, Gina is an EXCELLENT fighter, not just a good one. If you're going to champion women's MMA, try not to belittle one of our best fighters. But yeah...'shopping Gina's head on Cyborg's body isn't exactly doing us any favors.