TIME Olympic Covers Feature Women Athletes as . . . Athletes

The aesthetics of these photos are notable for another reason as well. They draw the reader’s gaze to the female body without sexualizing it. Instead, women’s athleticism is featured. We are accustomed to seeing the chiseled musculature of male athletes in sports photography. Women, however, are more commonly sexualized, with shots of female athletes often indistinguishable from the gratuitous pictures of models and movie stars found in fashion layouts and men’s magazines.