I don’t ordinarily repost anyone else’s interviews on my blog. But this one, from Snowsbest.com, aka Miss Snow It All, is so terrific that I got permission to post it here.
Why do I love it? Well, first, Jen Hudak is an amazing skier. At 29, she’s won nearly every skiing competition out there — X-Games, US Open, World Ski Invitational, Dew Tour, US Nationals. So she’s definitely a well-respected, world-class athlete.
But that’s not all. Because besides being a champion skier, Jen also exhibits a tremendous amount of wisdom. For starters, she doesn’t buy into the whole sexualizing-women-to-make-them-marketable crap that much of the ski industry and media helps perpetuate. Yes, this is something I’ve talked about many times before: how women athletes should be acknowledged for their achievements, not for how they look in a bikini. Sure, it’s legal, they’re adults, and they can do whatever they like to pick up a few extra bucks before their moment in the sun expires. But I think it’s sad and a poor commentary on our society. These are women who’ve worked hard to become amazing world-class athletes. Posing half-naked only diminishes their accomplishments and turns them into sexual objects. Truly, they deserve better than this.
This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time; I first did a post about it in 2006, a second in 2007, and a third in 2014. This makes #4 because clearly, things haven’t changed. But right now, let’s listen to what Jen Hudak has to say, because she’s well worth listening to.
