The thing I hate the most - without even seeing an issue - is the presumptuous title.  "SI for Women" gives me a poke and a jab, telling me that the "regular" SI is NOT for women.  Oh, that's right.  Women don't like men's sports (SI's primary focus), do they?  We need our "own" SI.  Gee, if only "Baseball Weekly" would print up a women's version, my life would be complete.  They must be asleep at the wheel.

I even contemplate buying an issue, primarily just so I can write this rant.  Then I remember the internet, and decide to surf on over and have a look-see instead.  Guess what?  This month's mag is the inaugural "Swimsuit Issue!"  Oh boy, just look at these highlights:

Is anyone else nauseated yet?  Did you catch the little part about "sports?"   Good news: Sure, there are swimsuits there...bad news: they are WOMEN's swimsuits!!  So, big surprise -  looks like just another Vogue or Cosmo with a sprinkling of sports here and there.  It's the same old "women's" schlock, which always seems to boil down to this:

"How to look your prettiest and find that ever-elusive smidgen of self-esteem."

So now we're supposed to buy a "sports" magazine for women, so that we can look at other women in bathing suits, learn which suit styles best flatter our flabby bodies, and get workout, fashion, and beauty tips.   Why?  I'd guess it's so we can LOOK PRETTY and get some self-esteem.  ARRGH.   The sad thing is, I'm sure SI did their homework before launching this mag, and they know it will sell.  Why, WHY do women buy this drivel? Can you imagine a "sports" magazine for men, with male models, telling them which swimsuits best flatter THEIR body types?

I also have to wonder if SI is implying, with their female-centered swimsuit issue ("for WOMEN"), that only GAY women like women's sports*.  Why do women need a separate swimsuit issue, if most of the models in both the February SI as well as "SI for Women" are female???  The bigger question, and one that men and women alike have pondered for years, is, of course:  What on god's green earth do bikinis have to do with SPORTS, anyway??**Likewise, what do "fashion and beauty" have to do with sports?  Most athletes wear UNIFORMS, and incidentally, are also quite "beautiful" on account of their competitive drive, training regimens, and perhaps -- associated self-esteem...not due to cheap, mag-fodder, cosmetological "tips!"

After browsing some back issues, and looking HARD, it seems "SI for Women" does provide some decent coverage of women's sports, notably the Final Four and the Lady Huskies' trip to the NCAA Championship.  Further, the "men's" SI seems to have given women's sports a reasonably fair shake, even if it does obsess over "pretty" female athletes.  So, let me now re-boil my frustration down to this:  WHY CAN'T WE JUST STICK TO THE SPORTS?  I mean, somehow men have been muddling through their sporting lives without all those hair-do and shopping tips.  I'll bet we WOMEN can, too! 
-yf

*Dennis Miller on gender profiling in women's sports: "Female athletes must deal with a host of stereotypes, the most prominent being that women's sports is the exclusive domain of lesbians. Some people actually believe that LPGA stands for 'Look Prick, Go Away.'"  (back to rant)

**My brother, who is fairly enlightened to things that piss me off, would add: What about people who buy "The Swimsuit Issue?"  Why don't they just suck it up and buy a Penthouse? (back to rant)