[GiRTh]

Outrage After Female Tennis Star Asked to 'Twirl' on Court

It's a twirl that now has some heads spinning.

Just moments after seventh-ranked Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard crushed her opponent in 54 minutes to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, Australian commentator, Ian Cohen, asked her to “twirl” to show off her hot-pink outfit.

The interviewer’s request has now sparked a flood of criticism and cries of sexism.

In a video of the incident, Bouchard can be seen on the tennis court following her easy defeat of Kiki Bertens in the second round of the competition.

Cohen then tells the 20-year-old: “Now yesterday, or last night, you tweeted that you loved Serena [Williams]’ outfit. ... She was kind enough to give us a twirl. Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?”

Bouchard, who had been beaming at the beginning of the presenter’s remarks, appeared slightly taken aback by the request but she gamely complied.

“A twirl? Like?--” she asked.

“A twirl, a pirouette, here we go,” the presenter replied. The crowd cheered.

Bouchard performed a spin, covered her face, then said: “I mean I have to say, I honestly think Serena’s outfit is the best, even better than mine. I’m going to give her that.”

In a post-match interview, Bouchard called Cohen’s request “very unexpected.”

"I don't know, an old guy asking you to twirl. It was funny," Bouchard said, according to the CBC.

There was strong criticism of Cohen on Twitter, even sparking the hashtag #twirlgate, with some people asking whether male tennis stars could be asked to do twirls on the court.

Tennis legend Billie Jean King, a 12-time grand slam champion, tweeted, "The Australian Open interviewer asking the women to 'twirl' on court is out of line. This is truly sexist. If you ask the women you have to ask the guys to twirl as well. Let's focus on competition and accomplishments of both genders and not our looks.'"

But some felt too much was being made of the incident.

On YouTube, one commenter wrote: “She could've easily said no if she felt uncomfortable.“

Bouchard seems to be taking "twirl gate" in stride however, saying, "I'm not offended. I'm fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex."

Do you think its sexist to ask a female Tennis star to twirl so we can see her outfit?

Source

[Niamh.]

Yes I do. I would have told him to piss off

[Ninastar]

no, i wanna see dat ass

[Kazanne]

Yes,it's not to see her outfit at all

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

no, i wanna see dat ass

Dirty old git, yes sexist

[InOne]

Nah, just a bit of Aussie banter. They love it.

[Toy Soldier]

Can't really say if it's sexist without knowing their attitudes towards male sports stars. Males are occasionally jokingly asked to flex their biceps / show off a six-pack in these sorts of interviews sooo... no, not really sexist. Is it slightly inappropriate for them to be trivialised into something purely aesthetic when they obviously put a lot of effort into being good at their sport, and not "looking good for the cameras"...? Yes, maybe slightly inappropriate, both for the flexing men and the twirling girls.

HOWEVER, the words "mountain", "mole" and "hill" spring to mind. And to play devil's advocate... there's clearly a reason that the female tennis stars wear tight dresses instead of the shorts / t-shirt combo that most of the male tennis stars rock up in, and it isn't because it improves their sporting ability. Otherwise the men would be wearing slinky little dresses, too.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Can't really say if it's sexist without knowing their attitudes towards male sports stars. Males are occasionally jokingly asked to flex their biceps / show off a six-pack in these sorts of interviews sooo... no, not really sexist. Is it slightly inappropriate for them to be trivialised into something purely aesthetic when they obviously put a lot of effort into being good at their sport, and not "looking good for the cameras"...? Yes, maybe slightly inappropriate, both for the flexing men and the twirling girls.

HOWEVER, the words "mountain", "mole" and "hill" spring to mind. And to play devil's advocate... there's clearly a reason that the female tennis stars wear tight dresses instead of the shorts / t-shirt combo that most of the male tennis stars rock up in, and it isn't because it improves their sporting ability. Otherwise the men would be wearing slinky little dresses, too.

Name me a sport recently where a male was asked to flex his muscles by a female commentator?

[JoshBB]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Name me a sport recently where a male was asked to flex his muscles by a female commentator?

Precisely, it never happens. Let's not pretend he was interested in her outfit either. Honestly why do people have to sexualise women even when they are doing sport???

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Name me a sport recently where a male was asked to flex his muscles by a female commentator?

The gender of the commentator is irrelevant, stop being sexist!

However, Sue barker has quite frequently commented on Rafael nadal's arms during match commentary, and I believe once or twice has referred to them in post-match interviews. Which is technically worse than the "twirlgate" example. He asked her to show off her dress. A direct comparison to Sue Barker perving over Rafa's guns would be if he had said "Go on love, show us those creamy thighs! Phhhwoooaaarrrr..."

[Drew.]

It is a complete disgrace that they would make my Genie do this in front of a crowd of thousands.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by JoshBB

Honestly why do people have to sexualise women even when they are doing sport???

I am 100% serious when I say it's not just women. I work in an environment where there is football on screen constantly, and my co-workers are mainly female. They bang on about "hot footballers" and their "amazing legs" constantly. Constantly.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The gender of the commentator is irrelevant, stop being sexist!

However, Sue barker has quite frequently commented on Rafael nadal's arms during match commentary, and I believe once or twice has referred to them in post-match interviews. Which is technically worse than the "twirlgate" example. He asked her to show off her dress. A direct comparison to Sue Barker perving over Rafa's guns would be if he had said "Go on love, show us those creamy thighs! Phhhwoooaaarrrr..."

Really At Wimbledon, are you sure ?

[Kazanne]

Originally Posted by JoshBB

Precisely, it never happens. Let's not pretend he was interested in her outfit either. Honestly why do people have to sexualise women even when they are doing sport???

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Drew.

It is a complete disgrace that they would make my Genie do this in front of a crowd of thousands.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Really At Wimbledon, are you sure ?

Positive, she used to purr about him wiping the sweat off of his arms. To be fair, it was ****ing creepy, and she shouldn't have been doing it as it made me feel ill, but that's what I was saying above. Inappropriate: yes. Sexist: no!

Women are great big perves too! It's just a fact.

[Ninastar]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Positive, she used to purr about him wiping the sweat off of his arms. To be fair, it was ****ing creepy, and she shouldn't have been doing it as it made me feel ill, but that's what I was saying above. Inappropriate: yes. Sexist: no!

Women are great big perves too! It's just a fact.

Its not often that we agree, but you're 100% right on this.

[Brother Leon]

No different than Sue gushing over Nadal and Roddick back in the day tbh.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yes I do. I would have told him to piss off

Yes its 1970's style


Show us your bum

[arista]

Originally Posted by Drew.

It is a complete disgrace that they would make my Genie do this in front of a crowd of thousands.

And Millions on FoxNewsHD debate

[arista]

Originally Posted by Kazanne

Yes,it's not to see her outfit at all

Sure


Its her body
Sex Buzz


Even Lesbos's rewind it



Note: there is nothing wrong with being a Lesbo

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Can't really say if it's sexist without knowing their attitudes towards male sports stars. Males are occasionally jokingly asked to flex their biceps / show off a six-pack in these sorts of interviews sooo... no, not really sexist. Is it slightly inappropriate for them to be trivialised into something purely aesthetic when they obviously put a lot of effort into being good at their sport, and not "looking good for the cameras"...? Yes, maybe slightly inappropriate, both for the flexing men and the twirling girls.

HOWEVER, the words "mountain", "mole" and "hill" spring to mind. And to play devil's advocate... there's clearly a reason that the female tennis stars wear tight dresses instead of the shorts / t-shirt combo that most of the male tennis stars rock up in, and it isn't because it improves their sporting ability. Otherwise the men would be wearing slinky little dresses, too.

the difference is that an athlete's bicep actually has to do with the physicality of the sport. the clothes the women are wearing (unless she's wearing something really bizarre) has nothing to do with her athletic performance.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Positive, she used to purr about him wiping the sweat off of his arms. To be fair, it was ****ing creepy, and she shouldn't have been doing it as it made me feel ill, but that's what I was saying above. Inappropriate: yes. Sexist: no!

Women are great big perves too! It's just a fact.

The difference is that men have not been systematically abused, raped, discriminated against, and murdered at grossly disproportional rates by women.

Please try to put things in perspective.

When women "perv" on men, it doesn't make men feel demeaned. In fact every str8 man i know would love to have women perving over them.

[Natalie.]

verysexist

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

no, i wanna see dat ass

I'm with you