Glamorous

We see Stanford center Jayne Appel is featured in Glamour Magazine. The article is entitled, Glamour’s 2009 Top 10 College Women. According to the article, they do this every year, and it’s a competition. We quote, “Every year, Glamour’s Top 10 College Women Competition honors budding leaders in every field - Martha Stewart won back in 1961! But the 2009 crew blew us away. Let them inspire you to dream big and make it happen!”

C and R had different reactions, naturally. Read below.

C: Are you kiddin' me?! Glamour!?! Is this the message you want to send to little girls! She is Stanford educated, tough as nails, and a hard worker, why does she want to be seen in a magazine that bills itself as, “For young women interested in fashion, beauty and a contemporary lifestyle.”

Last year Jayne was All American everything and this year she is a preseason favorite for the Wooden Award and Wade Trophy, two awards that reward women’s top college basketball player, and as reported by this site earlier, has been invited to try out for the USA National Basketball Team. She is a role model in her own right, in playing sports, and not a role model being concerned about shallow appearances and whether or not she has her flip flops (an unfortunate quote).

R: Okay, when C first sent me the link I read all 10 women’s profiles. And of course the first thing that jumped out at me was this “can’t live without” quote: Mascara. “I wore it through basic training, field training, you name it!” Sigh. Of course, the young women who made this quote is attending West Point and wants to be a doctor, no mean feat.

Upon closer look, all of the super stars have future plans to help others, except Jayne. She wants to play in the WNBA. Then I thought that playing in the WNBA is a short-term goal for three to five years, maybe longer, than she can take her Stanford degree and apply herself in the business world. Thank goodness she does have the option of playing a women’s professional sport here in America before she goes onto have another career. Will she dedicate her business career to helping others, as these other women have stated? Only time will tell. Also, many professional women’s athletes use their fame and notoriety, small as it may be, to endorse some great charitable causes. Candice Wiggins uses her persona to raise awareness and money around AIDS. Getting involved with charity work is certainly something Jayne could do as an athlete. This level of public awareness to be involved in a “cause” is not afforded the other nine women listed.

Getting back to C’s point that being seen in a women’s magazine that is dedicated to fashion and beauty is detrimental, well, I am not so sure. The writing in this particular article Jayne appears in highlights some wonderfully caring and smart women. My office mate told me see saw that Stanford basketball player in Glamour magazine (she knows I am a Stanford fanatic). She doesn’t follow sports of any kind and just the fact that she noticed a women athlete in the pages associated with femininity is a good thing. Some people think women who play sports are rough, dirty and unwomanly, read unfeminine. If Jayne can change some people’s minds that a women athlete can be tough, smart and well, a women, then maybe people won’t be so unreceptive to female athletes, and we can get more people to support women’s sports.

Readers, what do you think? Discuss amongst yourselves or drop us a line.