Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies is leading a boycott of Nike for its partnership with a transgender influencer to promote its sports bras and female sports clothing range. The Mail has the story.
Dylan Mulvaney, 26, posed for a series of pictures and videos promoting the brand’s sports bra and leggings.
Mulvaney identifies as a woman and uses the pronouns ‘she/they’ but has not yet had gender reassignment surgery.
It is not the first time that Nike has partnered with a trans star in its marketing, in 2021, it launched its ‘Play New’ campaign with Mara Gomez, who plays in Argentina’s professional football league.
The controversy could impact sales, which had received a huge boost in recent months from stars like Lioness Chloe Kelly being seen wearing their products. She famously whipped off her shirt to celebrate scoring in England’s World Cup win, revealing her sports bra with the famous black tick logo.
Ms. Davies, who won silver for Team GB in the 400m individual medley at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, said the move was a “step” back after several sports bodies moved to give biological women their own protected category in competitions.
“It’s so frustrating. We take two steps forward with World Athletics and Swim England protecting women’s sport and then Nike does this,” she told Dan Wootton Tonight on GB News.
“The ad feels like a parody of what women are. In the past it was always seen as an insult to say, ‘run like a girl’ and here we’ve got someone behaving in a way that’s very un-sporty and very unathletic and it’s so frustrating when only 1% of USA sponsorship dollar goes to females in sport. That Nike would do this feels like a kick in the teeth.”
Advocating a boycott, she said: “We can protest. It’s what is left for us at the moment. No one seems to be listening. The only way we can make these companies and governments sit up and listen is to boycott with our wallet. It’s the only thing they listen to.”
Ms. Davies argued it was not possible for a biological male to effectively promote products, such as bras, which have to work for women’s bodies.
She replied: “Dylan is advertising sports bras when there’s nothing to put in the sports bra – when actually it’s really important women get proper support when they do sport. It just doesn’t make sense. For a long time, Nike sponsored Allyson Felix, one of the world’s most incredible track athletes. Then, when Allyson got pregnant, they reduced her sponsorship by 70% when she had something happen to her that happens only to women. Women are being treated with total disdain at the moment, particularly in the world of sport where physiology makes so much difference.”
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