To highlight what it describes as the shocking lack of media coverage and funding for women in sport, the latest edition of Stylist magazine (out this Wednesday 25 April) has created publishing and sporting history by featuring England and Arsenal Ladies footballer Rachel Yankey on its cover. With the controversial line, “Men 1 Women 0”, the issue is also the hard launch of Stylist’s year-long Fair Game for Women in Sport Campaign which has already gained high-profile public support from deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and his wife, Miriam González Durántez; Olympic hopeful Jessica Ennis and Team GB designer Stella McCartney. Outraged by the statistics that women only receive 0.5% of the UK’s total sport sponsorship while women’s team sports only receive 2% of mainstream coverage as well as last year’s all-male shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, the Stylist team has made a serious statement of intent.
Stylist editor Lisa Smosarski explains, “Sport in this country is the last bastion of sexism. While it’s great that women such as Jessica Ennis, Paula Radcliffe and Victoria Pendleton are household names, there are thousands of talented and seriously dedicated women throughout the UK who are being overlooked by the media, sponsors and audiences. We want to change that for good.”
To mark this ground-breaking cover, Stylist commissioned renowned photographer Dean Freeman (who collaborated with David Beckham on his autobiography My World) to shoot six members of the England squad including Rachel Brown, Stephanie Houghton, Claire Rafferty, Jill Scott, Ellen White and Rachel Yankey, who commented, “I would like to think that one day there will be a female footballer who’s as famous as Wayne Rooney. I’m not necessarily saying they are ever going to make as much money as a male football player, but I like to think that within a few years a woman will be famous, recognised and known for female football.”
The cover will also be supported by a high-profile Twitter campaign featuring the Tweet “I demand a better deal for women in sport #fairgame” which will kick off at 9am on Wednesday 25 April to coincide with the magazine’s on-street date.
However, this is not a one-off for Stylist. The magazine has publically committed to launching a regular sports page from July featuring profiles, news and ground-breaking stories focusing on women in sport. The magazine is also actively lobbying for:
• An increase in the coverage of sportswomen in the national media and online
• A boost in female participation of sport throughout the UK.
• Fair representation of women in the BBC’s Sports Personality Of The Year.
• An increase in levels of sponsorship.
