A couple of days ago, Paulina Gretzky graced the cover of Golf Digest to remind us that there’s a Golf Digest. Because if there something more fun than watching golf, it’s reading about it. Apparently some people aren’t happy about her cover, specifically members of the LPGA, who aren’t pleased that a non-golfer got on the cover. Here’s what pro-golfer Stacy Lewis had to say via NY Times:
“It’s frustrating for female golfers. It’s kind of the state of where we’ve always been. We don’t get respect for being the golfers that we are. Obviously, Golf Digest is trying to sell magazines. But at the same time you’d like to see a little respect for the women’s game.”
She’s not wrong. Putting an attractive woman on the cover is obviously done to sell more magazines, but it also overlooks the real players in the game. Similar feelings were addressed by Hall of Famer Juli Inkster.
“It’s frustrating because it’s Golf Digest; it’s not Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue,” Inkster said, adding: “I think they should maybe recognize some of the great women golfers that we have. It’s like, What do you have to do to get a little respect? I’m guaranteeing you right now, it was not a woman editor who chose that cover.”
The main thing I think the people behind this are going for is that when you have an entire aisle of magazines in a store, it’s easy to walk by a boring cover of some golfer standing on grass. It’s more eye-catching to see a model holding a club and it makes people stop and take a look. If they happen to pick it up, buy it, and read it, then that is a win. So, either way, it’s getting attention to a magazine that would normally see little coverage, and therefore gives more attention to real golfers. Honestly, before this story broke, I had no idea who Stacy Lewis or Juli Inkster were. So, isn’t that something?
(Via Yahoo! Sports and NY Times)
