Was Eugenie Bouchard’s twirl sexist?

Eugenie Bouchard. Photograph by Christian Mesiano

They got their knickers twisted Down Under after courtside reporter Ian Cohen asked fetching Canadian tennis player to do a little twirl, showing off her pink and yellow dress following her second-round win at the Australian Open.

Was it sexist? Sure. Was it ageist when she called him “an old guy”? Probably.  

We see people in shorthand. She’s pretty, and that will always be part of her play.  

But many fans enjoy it, too, when Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray change their shirts, or Grigor Dimitrov does a faux striptease. Tennis players are sexy people, male and female.

I have no objection to the enjoyment of female sexuality as long as we can enjoy male sexuality as well. The problem is our society tends to be a bunch of Ian Cohens, asking pretty girls to twirl. (To be fair, courtside reporters often ask Nole to dance.)

Me? I prefer Nole’s balletics. And I’m looking forward to Rafa’s underwear campaign for Tommy Hilfiger.