Group Sinks Swimsuit Issue

A group of local residents surrounded Harvard Square's Out of Town News yesterday to protest the release of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue.

Sponsored by the Woman's Alliance Against Pornography, the rally included about 20 protesters, many of whom said they thought the swimsuit edition was a form of degradation against women.

Rhea B. Becker, a member of the Alliance, said her organization targeted Sports Illustrated in part because of its wide circulation.

"Traditionally this issue sells about two million more copies than any other [Sports Illustrated issue]," Becker said. "The point is that it's a sports magazine, but in this issue it objectifies women just like pornography does.

Several of the protestors accused the magazine of trivializing the achievements of female athletes by failing to give men's and women's athletics equal attention.

The protestors' shouts of "Sports Illustrated, eat our cleats" were met with derision from a crowd of bystanders which had gathered at the newstand.

Many in the crowd called the protestors misguided. One onlooker, Joe M. Carvahlo, Jr. of Somerville, dismissed the demonstrators' cause as "ridiculous."

"They should be protesting something useful right now like supporting the troops," Carvahlo said.

James Gallagher of Boston said the protestors were trying to exer- cise a form of censorship in their demonstration. "These women got paid to model," Gallagher said. "It was their personal choice, their freedom. What's the problem with that?"

But Jackson T. Katz, founder of a group called Real Men and a fellow protestor, said men, too, must take responsibility for the swimsuit issue.

"The presence of men here helps to mute the criticism," said Katz, who described the goal of his organization as "getting men to take responsibility for sexism and violence against women."

Katz said that his sister was one of the best female athletes in his home town, yet despite her abilities she received much less recognition than her male counterparts.

"I grew up reading Sports Illustrated myself, and I can see how little attention is paid to women's sports. There is no good justification for this type of exploitation of women. It borders on soft porn," Katz said