Naked Woman in a Wheelchair: Are You Vomiting Yet?

What can you say about an athlete who has won her last 396 matches, unbeaten since 2003? You could say, as England's Telegraph newspaper does, that she is "the world's most dominant athlete" (source), that she is a dedicated athlete, a beautiful young woman made even more attractive by her health, vitality, and confidence. You could say she has been photographed, nude, and that one jerk says that she makes him want to vomit. Check out the photo here. Note: this is SFW (safe for work). No "naughty parts" are visible.

Esther Vergeer (website) is a 29-year-old Dutch woman recognized for her achievements in two sports: basketball and tennis... technically, "wheelchair basketball" and "wheelchair tennis," but could anyone playing "normal" basketball or tennis compete in her sports, manipulating a wheelchair while playing the game, much better than she could in theirs?

Having won her last 396 tennis matches, Esther Vergeer is hailed as "the world's most dominant athlete." How can she exude health and vitality? Just because she lost the use of her legs in a botched surgery when she was eight years old does not mean she is not healthy and robust. (Have you won your last 396 matches?)

But, it was not until October 2010 that she attracted the world's attention, posing nude for the annual "Body Issue" of ESPN The Magazine, the first time a disabled athlete has been featured in the Body Issue. Editor-in-chief, Gary Belsky says "It's not about swimsuits and hot models. It's about bodies and athletes" (source).

Naked woman in a wheelchair controversy

Then, Adam Hirshfield, a "Featured Columnist" for Bleacher Report, went through the athletes portrayed in that issue, for which he proposed to "run through the largely vomit-inspiring images from most to least puke-inducing." (source). Esther Vergeer's image is sixth on his list - the first woman, whom Hirschfield refers to as "confined to a wheelchair." Then, he continues, "Doesn't it feel just a little wrong to be ogling a woman in a wheelchair?"

"Confined to a wheelchair?" Wouldn't confinement for her to be not to have a wheelchair? She cannot walk, but she is freed by her wheelchair. And, since she uses a wheelchair - it is not part of her - why is it wrong, even "a little wrong," to ogle her?

Can a woman be pregnant while blind?

There are some sentences so obvious that I hate to write them, but here goes: sex is an important part of a person's life and identity. If you deny the "poor little crippled girl," who happens to be a beautiful sports champion, the right to be ogled, you are denying an important part of her life and identity.

A friend of mine who is blind, whose husband is also blind, told me this story.

They were delighted when they learned that she was pregnant... just like normal people. (Please, those last four words are dripping with sarcasm.) They could not wait to tell their friends and family.

One friend refused to believe it. "You can't be pregnant. You are both blind."

My friend said she told her, "Our eyes may not work, but the other parts work just fine! We know, because we try them out as often as possible."