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A CMDI researcher says it's empowering that Sydney Sweeney can choose to use her body to advance her interest in Novig, but by doing it in a sports setting, she undermines the work women have done to be seen as respected athletes, as opposed to sex symbols. Photo courtesy Norvig.

Ashley Carter had just wrapped up a unit on gender and sport in her Sports, Media and Society class when a sports betting outfit called Novig released the now-notorious ad starring Sydney Sweeney.

“When you talk about gender representation and media with students, some of them will push back and say, ‘Is this still an issue? I thought we progressed past this, and women’s sports are doing great,’” said Carter (MJour’21; PhD’26), an assistant teaching professor of journalism at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

“It’s not exciting that this is still happening—but it’s exciting when you can show them, this is what I’m talking about, this is why it’s important for you to study and think about this.”

Carter was listening when someone told her to do what you love. A triathlete, former sports journalist and occasional freelancer, and women’s basketball fan, she is an expert in gender and identity in sports media—especially how those topics play out in an evolving media landscape, where athletes and fans share their stories on channels that bypass traditional gatekeepers.

“These athletes have massive platforms where they’re able to talk about things like mental health or body image,” she said. “For female athletes, it’s been groundbreaking, and a chance to prove women’s sports do matter.”

The Sweeney ad, she said, puts lamentable emphasis on athletes’ body image. If you somehow haven’t seen the spot, picture the actress wearing only a smile, strategically posed behind sports equipment, saying the word “sports” a bunch of times.

Carter noted Sweeney is a strategic partner for the brand, not just an actress playing a role, “so she’s profiting off this, right? To some extent, this is her deciding that this is how she wants to use her body—and that’s empowering. But she’s doing it in a space where women have had to work extremely hard to be seen as athletes, instead of being sexualized.”

A different game

In her classes, Carter talks about concepts like how female athletes need to portray a certain degree of femininity to get sponsorships and appear in media stories. Rather than solely focus on excellence on the field, “women have to think, do I appear athletic enough, or too athletic?” she said. “If the message is that women in sport should look like Sydney Sweeney, then we’re just objectifying bodies, not celebrating authentic sports bodies.”

And it’s not just women. The ad’s viral nature means plenty of girls—who aren’t old enough to bet on sports using Novig’s platform—have either seen or heard of it; Carter brought it up to her middle school-aged sister, Aniko Carter, who knew exactly what she was talking about.

“When you see this on YouTube, on TikTok, then it’s being seen by younger women who are trying to figure out where they fit in in sport,” she said. “And if they’re comparing themselves to certain body types, and that leads to an insecurity, they’ll drop out—which many do, as teenagers.”

Ashley Carter (MJour’21; PhD’26)

The one positive Carter has seen is something hard to imagine in the old sports media landscape, when images from the Sweeney ad would have looked at home in Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit edition. Athletes immediately took to Instagram and other channels to showcase the diversity of bodies that are welcome in sport.

“Athletes having that online platform, that ability to create social change, is entirely different from when I started my PhD work,” Carter said. “They have really made mental health a huge part of the conversation, which really resonates with Gen Z and my students in particular.”

It’s one thing she really enjoys about teaching younger students, who bring different perspectives and question the way things have been done in the past—important in a landscape that’s shifting so rapidly.

“When I discuss these topics with my students, my hope is that they’re thinking about what they can do, as aspiring media professionals, to change that media representation of women in sport, and do better,” Carter said.

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.