Tennis star Serena Williams has posed nude for the ESPN magazine called Body. She is one of the six athletes who has posed nude for the magazine, which hits the stands on Friday. The chunky champion says in her news report about her posing nude that she has problems with her body image and size. But then goes on to give a message to other women that one should not anguish over one's body,

Athletes have posed nude earlier, for several calendars (to raise funds for charity) and magazines. When Steffi Graf was playing, several news reports had stated that she had turned down an offer to pose nude for Playboy.

The issue about athletes posing nude, especially women, is tricky. If it were an actress, singer, dancer or another professional posing nude, critics would be quick to term it titillation or exploitation of women; an eye to increasing magazine sales, objectifying women as sex symbols, bimbos or play things.

Women athletes posing nude are often exempt from such criticism though of course the debate about the issue rages. Some athletes who have posed nude say they do it to raise money for charity or to simply draw attention to their sport.u00a0
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For example in 1999, the Australian national football team called Matildas sought to raise the profile of women's football in Australia, and raise funds for the team, by posing nude for a calendar. The Matildas A New Fashion in Football calendar was published and considered a success, but not without its detractors. Several felt
it took away from judging the game on its merit.