"I enjoyed reading the article in Carolina
Blue concerning your wife and the special work she is doing.
Part of my caseload is devoted to investigating child pornographers
which I do not have to tell you is revolting to say the least.
A few years ago I had the pleasure of arresting one of the VP's
of Disney Productions who was a pedophile hiding behind his title
and employment with Disney. ... When I am able to put a 'small'
dent into their operation ... I am especially gratified."
-- From a letter by a New York law enforcement officer
to Smith's husband, May 25, 1996
"Next month marks the seventh anniversary
of the national girl's and women's sports day. The event was
established by the Women's Sports Foundation in memory of Flo
Hyman, a stellar Olympic volleyball player who died Jan. 26,
1986. Hyman was a dignified human being and a marvelous athlete
who advance the cause of women's athletics through brilliant,
graceful performances. That a woman of Hyman's stature to my
knowledge never made a SI cover but models wearing swimsuits
annually do, should by itself force a reconsideration of the
tradition." -- From New York Times reporter William
C. Rhoden in an article on Linnea Smith, January 23, 1993
"Certainly I agree with everything she's
saying. She's a caring person and very bright. She made a presentation
to our national coaches' association in 1986 about the preseason
Playboy spread. Immediately John Thompson said he wasn't
going. Then Bob Knight pulled out. They didn't do it just because
they like her. They did it because she was right." --
From an interview with Dean Smith by The News & Observer
on his wife's activism, February 11, 1993
"In 52 weeks [from February 1993 to February
1994], 6 women were awarded [SI] cover shots. The first,
of course, was in a bathing suit. The second, Monica Seles, was
wearing tennis whites and a knife in her back. Nos. 3 and 4 were
the widows of Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews. They
shared the cover. No. 5? The tennis player, Mary Pierce, her
father beat her up. The sixth, and last, was Nancy Kerrigan.
She was clubbed on the knee. They say there's a Sports Illustrated
cover jinx. When an athlete appears under its banner, bad luck
follows. Maybe it does if the athlete is a man. For women in
sports, it works the other way around. All you have to do to
get a cover is suffer." -- From an article in the
New York Timeson the Sports Illustratedswimsuit issue,
written by Lynda Truman Ryan, February 20, 1994
"We want to thank you for your opposition
to the SI swimsuit edition. It's far past the time for
objecting.... We dropped our subscription many years ago because
we felt that this particular edition contributed to the delinquency
of minors." -- JR,Savannah, Georgia
"Thank you for taking time to do what
you are doing to combat the immorality that has infected this
nation. We applaud you for your effort and stand with you."
--CL, Kansas City, Missouri
"Both my wife and I wholeheartedly endorse
your efforts and would be more than willing to help in assisting
you in your efforts. We have observed for a number of years the
continuing increase in exploitation and applaud your efforts."
-- PM, N. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
"Good people must stand up to these insidious
actions." -- MB, Greensboro, North Carolina
"As a mother and a physician, I am horrified
by the use of sex to sell --almost everything. I would be interested
in helping you with your campaign." --MS, Statesville,
North Carolina
"A few years ago, I cancelled my subscription
to SI (which I really enjoyed reading, being a sports
fan) because of this yearly issue, and wrote to the SI
editors why I was doing so. I have two teenage daughters, a teenage
son, and a wonderful wife. It embarrassed me that they would
think that this portrayal of women--and also of children,
especially female children--should go into homes in the
context of "sports" and as a normal part of life. We
determined that this abnormal portrayal of life was not
coming into our home. Thank you for speaking out. I admire you
for doing so, and I hope that you continue your campaign with
vigor. Because of your special expertise, you have much to teach
the editors of SI." --MC, Louisville, Kentucky
"I hope all right-thinking people will
thank and support Dr. Linnea Smith, wife of UNC coach, Dean Smith,
for her outspoken opposition to the way Sports Illustrated
cheapens womanhood and degrades childhood in their annual swimsuit
edition. If we do not support such courageous people as Dr. Smith,
we shall get the corruption of our society which we deserve."
--HW, Greensboro, North Carolina
"I want you to know that I support your
efforts 100% as I have long been opposed to this issue. I think
the issue exploits women in general and leads to a downgrading
of women by those who view this issue of the magazine."
--EM, Loisville, Kentucky
"For a couple years the swimsuit issue
went in the wastebasket as soon as it came. At last I told them
to stop sending it to me and if there was money still there to
send the balance to my son's wife. They did." --FR,
Washinton, Iowa
"I know you are receiving much criticism
for your position on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue,
but I want you to know that you have the 100% support of myself
and my wife.... I think it is high time that somenone who is
likely to be listened to take a public stand on the use of children
in such an inappropriate manner." --WO, New Albany,
Indiana
"Thank you so very much for taking your
time and for your professional expertise concerning the subtle
and not-so-subtle infiltration of soft pornography into this
magazine. You are absolutely right about the undesirable suggestion
of small children in the pictures in this issue, and I agree
with you. I hope publishers,readers, and on into television and
movie producers and watchers will realize the detrimental effect
on children and adults pornography definitely engenders. I have
cancelled the subscription to Sports Illustrated, which
all of us enjoy reading. Originally this was done because of
the publisher's involvement in the printing of Madonna's book.
Now there is an added reason." -- JO, Greensboro,
North Carolina
"I am not, nor is my husband, a subscriber
of SI. There have been occasions when I considered it
as a present to my husband, but the swimsuit issue was something
I objected to greatly. After reading the newspaper article I
am further horrified to learn of the use of children in that
issue. I know that I will not become a subscriber as long
as they continue the swimesuit issue. I have never understood
what skimpy swimsuits have to do with sports anyway???"
--CE, Long Beach, California
"I am a long-time college basketball
fan... I applaud your efforts in trying to organize a ban on
the swinsuit issue, which has nothing to do with sports but is
really a type of low-level pornography. Recently, I informed
Time-Warner, the publisher of Sports Illustrated, that
I would no longer be reading any of their publications after
their recent release of Madonna's book." --SW, Mission,
Kansas
"I admire your courage.... It's not easy
to take on the establishment and the so-called "sophisticated
elite" --but, on behalf of my grandchildren-->thanks!"
--TE, Raleigh, North Carolina
"I have become deeply concerned over
the past few years with the barrage of sexual inuendo in music,
TV, magazines, movies, books--it's everywhere! My husband
and I are middle income, professional everyday average people
trying to raise three children in these chaotic times. I just
feel, personally, that things are getting out of hand."
--CJ, Berwick, Maine
"This letter is long overdue, but I wanted
to thank you for your protest to Sports Illustrated regarding
their swimsuit issue. You have inspired me to do the same. I
am a high school guidance couselor and teach courses in Human
Sexuality. Although sexual abuse of children is primarily a crime
of power, the sexual reinforcement is a strong one and the media
does little to portray women as other than sex objects."
"I believe you are the only psychiatrist
that makes sense! I am behind your opinion 100%" --
CC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
"Thank you for your work, some of which
was reported in our local newspaper regarding your objection
to the Sports Illustratedswimsuit issue. I heartily concur
that not only is sexual abuse and violence being glorified in
the media, but it is increasingly bringing in a younger and younger
mindset and people to be victimized. I have worked with men and
women in my practice who have both been the perpetrators and
the victims of these abuses." -- EO, Bellevue, Washington
"I am 50. Happily married. Sons 22 and 12. A daughter 17. SIdoesn't come into my home because of that single annual issue. For over 25 years I have worked with offenders. Needless to say I have seen a great deal of the darker part of our society. How in God's name do you '...handle... with class and good taste' the sexual exploitation of children -or women either. Keep the heat on!" -- PS, Athens, Georgia
"I am overjoyed to see someone protest
Sports Illustrated's exploitation of women. But then in
this country, women are a sport, we can be played with, kicked,
hit, yelled at in public gatherings, have our stats talked about
at bars and taken less seriously than the Super Bowl. As the
mother of two sons and three daughters, I have long since refused
to allow the magazine in my home, even though I come from a sports
loving family. I am, however, heartsick about the statistics
on battery and rape for women in our society, all in the sporting
'boys will be boys' attitude." -- PD, Corona del
Mar, California
"This particular issue has annoyed me
for years, but like nearly everyone else, I just held my nose
and looked the other way. As a single mother of teenage and adolescent
boys, I do everything in my power to instill a sense of respect
for women in my sons. This one issue needs a lot of explaining
on my part and I would love to see it eliminated." --
CP, Bloomington, Minnesota
"The cheesecake photos of women do exploit
women and give the same old messages to guys growing up. For
Sports Illustratedto show them somehow makes it 'more
respectable' and that is wrong." -- MB, Alliance,
Nebraska
"Thank you so very much for what you
are doing to call attention to the harm our magazines, movies
and television is doing to our society. We are truly seeing the
results of what it is doing today with the rapes and child abuse.
What else can we expect of our society when immorality is glamorized
on our televisions, literature, and movies?" -- JL,
Greenville, South Carolina
"Women in extremely revealing outfits
have absolutely nothing to do with sports and everything to do
with selling more magazines. While SIhas had some very
good articles featuring women athletes, the past three issues
had only one article about women's athletics, and that one, 'One
Year Later...,' was an anniversary follow-up article on a story
that received major media attention. What kind of signal is this
sending to people? The best selling and most popular issue is
devoted to sexual icons but SI cannot even squeeze in
an article per issue concerning women athletes." --
BH, Ann Arbor, Michigan
"I applaud the Hyundai decision not to
advertise in the non-sports edition of Sports Illustrated.
I find it's sexist for a sports magazine to give more profile
to a bunch of female non-athletes who look good in swimsuits
than to female athletes who make great achievements in sports.
Men and women throughout North America have not yet embraced
equality of the sexes and this publication is just another way
to propagate the old sexist belief that women are not equals
to men, but sex objects for men." -- KM, Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada