Australian surf and swimwear brand Roxy is in hot water over a recent promotional video for its Biarritz event that features a blond surfer rolling around in bed wearing only her underwear and then taking a shower presumably naked. The video has been dubbed “softcore porn” by some.
While some may see it that way, Roxy explains the video is simply a competition to guess the surfer’s identity. Reports state five-time world professional surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore or South African professional surfer Rosy Hodge are the featured blond in the video.
In defense of the video, a statement on the Roxy Facebook page reads, “Obviously, there’s been much conversation around the video we recently released. We believe all athletes are naturally beautiful, in and out of the water. You certainly don’t have to be sexy to be an athlete, & we also believe it’s not wrong to be an athlete and to be sexy, if you choose to be. We don’t judge one to be better than the other and we don’t believe in excluding one for the other.”
Of the video, Macquarie University Professor and advisor to the Australian Sports CommissionCatharine Lumby said, “There is nothing wrong with celebrating fit athletic bodies, I’m all for it, but this goes way beyond. It is really just very voyeuristic.”
A spokesman for the Australian Sports Commission said “The ASC considers it has a responsibility to ensure that images of female athletes are positive and are not sexualised. We discourage promotional activities that lead to female athletes being exploited.”
So which is it? Blatant voyeuristic sexualization of female surfers? Or a simple celebration of beauty?
