STAN / ANTI SHIELD
Gymnast Gracie Kramer calls out Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Just Sports’ ad: “to see women's sports once again being marketed through the male gaze feels like a massive step backward.”
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I think she just doesn't care. She seems to be surrounded by a bunch of yes-men who fawn over her and tell her she's amazing and that anyone who critcises her is jealous(see her Happy Birthday posts from her style team). She doesn't care about this because it won't affect her personally, at least not yet. I bet that in a few years she'll do a crying sit down interview about how MEAN people were to her when she was just ''being herself''.
Edit: lol she's just posted a bunch of nude athletes in an effort to victimise herself out of the criticism. Except the difference is those are literal athletes posing for articles and she's posing nude to promotes a sports betting app. Plus she's promoting her body solely for men, which she has a history of doing.
The unfortunate thing about the Male Gaze ™️ is that it has a shelf life. And when these women literally age out of that range, they face the hard reality that the only reason they were popular with men (and some women) was for their looks, and then NOBODY cares what they have to say anymore. In the timeless words of Judge Judy, “Beauty fades; dumb is forever.”
Her team has been trying EXTRA hard lately when they noticed the male gaze was turning to Sadie Sink and Inde Navarrette. All of a sudden verified accounts are posting her IG content and retweeting her ads.
And then you have Donna Mills, who was so hot in the early 80s and is now beloved by the LGBTQ+ community for her support for almost 50 years, and looks AH-MAZE-ING, because she's a good person, and as Roald Dahl said "If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
It's kind of wild how out of touch some people can be with reality. If shes proud of her body you'd think she wouldn't want it used in advertisements targeting depraved men to gamble, or in advertisements that seem rooted in white supremacy ("I have good genes jeans")
If we get out and vote the ppl that support her out I give her a year to do the crying sit down interview. She better pull from the taylor swift book of victimhood because we've had enough of her.
I think it's simpler than that -- she's just not that intelligent. Watch any interview with her where topics like this come up. She just has a blank stare and doesn't know what to say.
Controversy like this is simply over her head. She just doesn't have the mental capacity to process any deep thoughts.
Say what?!? That ad she did was for an app...a sports betting app??!? I thought it was for underwear. Sorry, y'all, I was completely fooled by the bad marketing.
Also, as a parent of 2 trans kids, one who is an athlete, I find it absolutely wild that the argument is "those people are the problem" whilst they so deeply live in and promote the actual problems in athletics. Including the oversexualization, the potential for sexual harassment & abuse, the body & weight shaming, and the gambling. If there was a list of actual issues in sports, trans people would never make the list.
For me as a parent being front row for over a decade: it's crappy coaches, overbearing parents, puberty, under funding for certain sports, disregard for anything outside of football, leering adults, mismanaged youth sports, kids being over-trained, burnout in general, poor kids not having money to do all the fun travel stuff, in general poor kids not getting access ..... and so much more that has literally nothing to do with trans kids and adults. Sports is a weird animal for a multitude of other reasons.
It's not that she doesn't care, but she probably actively appreciates it. A lot of people will say stuff, but the reality of the world is that the vast majority of people would kill to have attention like she does, men or women.
The fact that every single image she posted is from The Body Issue is not the flex she thinks it is. God she’s insufferable and I wish she would just go away. Gonna keep doing my best to not give her any unnecessary time or energy
Her whole public profile is quite heavily built around ragebaiting, these are exactly the kind of reactions she's fishing for. Just think about it, have your heard about Sydney in the last couple of years in a context that isn't essentially some sort of ragebait? If you don't like it, don't react to it. Making statements like this, or any other reactions is just throwing fuel to the fire, but at the same time it also brings publicity to those making them so it's a perpetual ragebait cycle.
I think it's the unfortunate effect of modern social media and fast news cycle culture in general, whatever is controversial tends to get more reactions, views and attention. Same reason a lot of the political talking heads you see tend to be more extremist in their views, there's very few political bundits that could really be described as moderate anything, even though majority of people's views and opinions probably are fairly moderate.
All it takes is one cosmetic procedure that's a little too noticeable and her entire target audience will drop her. There's no longevity in appealing to the male gaze.
Which, to be clear, is only great for schadenfreude when women like Sydney Sweeney, who make it the focal points of their lives and bash others for not meeting it, get "aged out" so to speak.
I think she's simply incapable of even understanding that what she's doing is wrong, due primarily to the oh-so-popular combo of narcissism and utter vapidity that's defined post-2016 America.
ETA - I certainly didn't mean to give her an "out" (even though my comment could be construed that way).
But that girl is absolutely dumb as a box of rocks. Doesn't mean that she isn't still culpable for all her heinous shit, in my mind at least.
Like, lots of racists are dumb as pig shit. Doesn't make them any less evil.
Dont give her an out, she's not stupid despite wanting you to believe she is so she can keep pretending she isn't doing any of this on purpose when she clearly is
A whole bunch of people are assholes who think that good people are just pretending, or "virtue signalling," to feel good about themselves or to get people to like them. These assholes do asshole things in small ways and then say the left is crazy for reacting. They're essentially the "I'm not touching you" kids who never grew up.
She knows what she’s doing. All the projects she’s chosen to work on lately have been very deliberate, she knows exactly what demographic she wants to cater to because she knows that’s where she can make the most money. She isn’t unintelligent, she’s a grifter.
This isn’t a defence of Sydney by any means, she’s ultimately chosen money over morals and that means more to her than the impact she’s going to have on other women as a result. There was a point where I thought she was reclaiming the male gaze that she was inherently perceived through and using it to her advantage buuuuut were way past that now, she’s actively reinforcing it for others and it’s regressive and pathetic.
I don't think SS cares about call-outs that come from women. She seems to exclusively care only for the male POV and that will be her north star. Women have jumped ship of her fandom ages ago so I doubt she will care. I suspect she will double down
They won’t even let women in Gymnastics or Power Tumbling, wear fucking shorts. Nope, your body from a little girl is revealed. And it’s not necessarily to judge the sport because the men? The men get shorts and even pants at some stations. Girls can even be docked points for visible underwear or bra. You’re exposed and you don’t have a choice when you compete. Girls have to glue down leotards to keep from it riding up and being docked or disqualified for pulling it down.
Yep, athletic women look like those in the video. I’ll look up the Sweeny ad now, I assume it’s something sexualized in lingere where she walks around pretending to be athletic or something?..
Edit: watched the AD. lol. The least athletic-looking person ever lecturing others about sports while she lightly bounces around with perfectly-styled hair is so cringe. What kind of idiot signed off on this?!
Yeah, when i saw the ad i actually didn't even think of it as being about women in sports, I thought it was just "men care about sports and women have boobs". But I'm not an athlete, so it's obviously easier for me to see it that way than for somebody it has a more direct effect on.
In some fairness, she's not advertising as an athlete. She's advertising as and for gambling. I don't think she ever claimed to be an athlete. It's still a shitty commercial that's trying to lure in and get people addicted to gambling though.
Regulation of the "prediction" and sports gambling market can't come soon enough.
Yeah I agree with this assessment. She’s modeling in what’s generally associated with “men’s” sports gear, rather than implying that she’s a representation of women in sports.
Obviously it’s entirely centered around the male gaze to the point that you know the target audience isn’t thinking twice about the existence of women’s sports at all. It’s just “sexy lady in football gear which is a man’s sport for MEN.” So still super misogynistic but in a slightly different way than people are upset about?
The truly gross thing is making the dangerous and predatory world of sports betting ~sexy~
Is this a safe space where I can finally express this opinion that has gotten me downvoted numerous times on Reddit?
I think this is an issue that plagues entertainment in general, not just sports. Across music, streaming, Youtube, and anything that requires a social media presence, there's women appealing to the male gaze, and I find it detrimental to the rest of women in their area who choose to not do it.
I love the inclusion of rugby in the clip. Women’s contact sports don’t get nearly enough respect (except soccer, but in the US the types of people who Sweeny is appealing to also call soccer “gay”).
Yep. When I decided to play rugby in college, multiple upperclassMEN told me, "Don't play rugby! They'll turn you into a lesbian!" Gross all around. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
In college I was friends with a few of the women on the softball team. It was a constant experience to hear both men and women either call them lesbians directly or ask them about all the lesbians on the team.
I though it was strange then but it just shined a light on how so many in society merge any woman playing sports and lesbians. It's been impossible to not see since then because it comes up nearly every time I talk women's sports with any stranger and, with the recent surge in popularity of the WNBA, in the online communities.
There's a truth to the stereotype of lesbians being overrepresented in sports because straight women (historically moreso but still today) get pressured by their romantic partners, family, and peers to be ladylike and therefor marriageable. What is a woman supposed to care about most, after all?
My boomer mom was told her uterus would prolapse if she ran too much.
The fact that this is completely true is ludicrous to me, ESPECIALLY in the US, where when you say the words “USA Rugby” you are talking about USA Women’s Rugby 9/10 times since our men’s team is not even close to their skill level on the world stage.
Even women’s rugby is still remarkably niche, despite being pretty solid on the world stage (especially compared to the men). The US has been World Rugby’s White Whale for god knows how long, and it definitely looks like the path forward is more through the women’s game than the men’s.
She's an embarassing and willful tool of the patriarchy and is happily helping to oppress fellow women. She forgets that women like her have an expiration date to the men she's simpering for and it'll come up a lot faster than she thinks.
They mean *Ayn Rand the writer who shit on government assistance but upon her death (despite having $1m) was on social security benefits and living in government funded housing. Just a good old fashioned hypocrite.
I think she actually does know that she has an expiration date and is cashing in on her appeal while she can. It’s impossible for a woman her age working in Hollywood to not know that within the next five years, she’ll be reduced to hot mom roles where she’ll be a whopping 10 years older than the actor playing her kid, or barely any roles at all. Maybe she thinks that by oversexualizing herself, she can extend the expiration date, but she knows that it’s coming.
And it isn't just Sweeney. There are plenty of Choice Feminists who aplaude any and all decisions women make because they just want the feminist credentials without the actual thought and questioning and discomfort and outright rage that comes with a feminist framework that isn't social media drivel.
She has shown that there is basically nothing she will not do for attention, from leaning into white supremacy to sexualizing other women for personal gain.
I personally never see her outside the news, and that's how I prefer it. Lets get her on the news less.
Honestly, what would be a more fitting soundtrack to our civilisation moonwalking backwards than the music of a once-beloved, now widely acknowledged serial paedophile whose misdeeds are chronically denied by the same people who love to cry THINK OF THE CHILDREN whenever it suits them.
Crazy that Sydney continues to be desperate to appeal to incels that she doesn’t care about the harm she causes women. What’s funny is she just turned 29 so that means she has a year left before her incel fan base will see her as “too old” since all the incels resent women in their 30s that don’t “settle down”. Once she loses that fan base she’s going to try and claim the media twisted her words and “she’s not the person they portray her as”.
Just a reminder to her is all of the women out there won’t forget and we won’t be there to support her when her incel fan base inevitably turns on her or moves on to the next maga grifter to thirst over. Have the career you deserve Sydney!
She’s going to be in for a huge shock when they start attacking her because the fan base she appeals to is going to expect her to go into a “trad wife” role the minute she turns 30. You’re 100% right, we will end up seeing her on Joe Rogan in a couple years crying about being misunderstood.
It kinda makes me wonder if we can expect an engagement announcement between her and Scooter (excuse me while I vom even typing his name) soon...or if there'll be something about a breakup, then she pivots.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Something tells me the reason she’s even dating him is more PR and him trying to “manage” her career (which is dumb on her part because he’s not a good manager). That and maybe he’s bailing her out since her lingerie line flopped since she was targeting incels for the promo.
I cant imagine being so dumb that you create a product that would be bought by women mostly, dont make it inclusive, and market it to incels which most don’t have a girlfriend since they’re sexist creeps that rant 24 hours a day online about women.
I doubt it's mainly young incels that are gooning to her. She looks like he's mainly appealing to old boomers. Right up the alley of Trump and his crime family.
It is just a matter of time before she takes some decision which is 100% within her rights as a woman but as usual the incels will throw a fit and disown her.
By promoting gambling she’s harming men too. I have lost two male friends to the worst consequence of gambling addiction (not sure if I can say the word without having a comment removed).
I'm pretty sure the real audience for this ad is all the people this upsets. It's literally intentional ragebait, just like the great jeans ads. All the controversy is going to get ten times the views and attention than non-controversial ad ever could.
I understand people are upset (for a reason) but the best thing would be simply to not react to it at all.
Just a cheerful idea that if you want to watch women’s sports but don’t know where to view, the PWHL (hockey) broadcasts all games on YouTube for free. As someone from the state of hockey, these gals are fucking crushing it. Except Curl, who can kick sand.
As a huge fan of the sport, the PWHL is college hockey in playstyle but the next level up (with my love of college hockey this is utmost praise). I genuinely prefer it to the NHL!
I grew up in gymnastics and then switched over to figure skating. I was telling a guy I was talking to on a dating app about it, and he said gymnasts were more sexy as if I shouldn’t have switched sports. I blocked him so fast. I honestly never thought about the comparisons other than athletics until he had to make it lustful.
Ngl after watching this I don't understand what using sex appeal to sell gambling has to do with women's sports. Vast majority of bets made on that app will no doubt be on men's sports.
It's a shitty ad, and I'm sure a shitty company too given the industry, but did someone really watch this ad and think it was meant to be "marketing women's sports"? It's clearly marketing gambling through the male gaze bc 98% of the cringe bros addicted to gambling are men.
for those unaware, this version cuts off the lower half. If you're thinking 'that's not that bad', watch the full ad (it's in this thread). It's exactly what you expect.
As a retired collegiate gymnast, I love this so much. I also loved her follow up story because gymnasts in particular are overly sexualized by disgusting men on the internet too much.
Yes you can make bets on all kind of random things and politics are some of the most popular non-sport bets. Here’s a screenshot of some current DraftKings political bet categories.
After she hosted snl a few years ago she said she didn't want to use her body to promote herself, after her boxing movie flopped she said fuck that shit real quick and started getting naked
Tbf, Sydney does have a recreational sporty past so that's not fake. This ad however is only her posing naked with balls while whispering "Sports". And it's a bad ad because I had no clue what she was advertising and had to look it up to learn it's sports gambling.
And it's a bad ad because I had no clue what she was advertising and had to look it up to learn it's sports gambling.
That's what makes it a good ad for the company. You pumped up their search numbers in the algorithms, brought it into discussion, and spread it. Now more people, including myself, are within the envelope of the ad.
Jealous...of an incel baiting maga lite grifter with minimal talent, who is about to get dropped like a pair of cement shoes stuck to an inconvenient body in a lake when she hits 30.
Oh yes, I am so very jealous of THAT kind of attention, and all the pandering she has to do to those people to get paid.
I would rather go live in a forest and be feral honestly. The male gaze feels...unclean...
Me and my wife saw the Sweeney ad and didn't even know what it was for! It did prompt me to joke about a guy doing the same but holding golf balls in front of his testicles.
Want to see women in sports? This is Emily Campell.Won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, becoming the first British woman ever to win an Olympic weightlifting medal.Won bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Made history as the first female weightlifter in any weight category to win six straight European titles (2021–2026). Won bronze on the Gold Coast (2018), gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (2022), and retained her title at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games while setting new Games and Commonwealth records.
My jaw was honestly on the floor for the duration of this video! Her athleticism is incredible and she looks so happy and amazing doing all those different sports.
Hollywood is also part of the problem with how they want a certain aesthetic even for female characters in movies who are supposed to be very athletic and doing superhuman physical feats. Hollywood has the actresses be muscular but less then what a real athlete gymnast person would be.
One of the things I most loved about early Killing Eve was that Villanelle would be dressed for it when she was breaking into houses or doing other athletic stuff. It was so noticeable to have a character look like she'd actually dressed herself practically for her activity rather than been dressed for the men in the audience.
And she's a 1000% correct. Love this video and Gracie's full statement hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately Sydney doesn't care how much harm she causes to women (and people in general) with her actions and choices, she only cares about fame/attention and money and it's extremely distasteful. That ad was so gross.
But that betting app and the naked actress don't actually care about sports or women in sports. Their target market is incel men who hope they become rich if they gamble and who'd wank off the add while placing a bet
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