Kevork Djansezian / AP

U.S. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard is shown on the July issue of Playboy magazine, billed as "the world's sexiest athlete nude."

Forget it. That argument that sounds noble, and maybe in someone’s idea of Utopia, that’s the way it would be. But in the real world, more people pay more money to watch men play sports than to watch women play them.

That’s not universal, though. In tennis, the audience comes to see both men and women, and both sexes rake in the same mountains off cash. In gymnastics and figure skating, more pay to see the women, and there the men lag behind — in gymnastics, far behind.

So if you want to say that it’s not fair that women in, say, the WNBA, don’t make the same money and draw the same crowds as the men in the NBA, you’ll also have to say that it’s not fair that Mary Lou Retton made way more money than Bart Connor.

Come to think of it, you’d also have to say that it’s not fair that Beard and other athletes who have answered Playboy’s call — Katerina Witt and volleyball star Gabby Reece among them — get paid all that money just to take their clothes off, while nobody’s offering Michael Phelps similar amounts to shed his Speedo.

Besides, the offer from Playboy is a recognition of Beard’s great athleticism. If she weren’t one of the world’s great swimmers, the magazine wouldn’t be interested. So she really is being paid because of her athletic ability.

I’ve seen her swim at three Olympics, and she and her teammates are a joy to watch in action. The fact she’s in Playboy doesn’t detract from that. Rather, it adds to it.

So don’t call it demeaning. What’s demeaning to women in general and women athletes in particular is imposing your moral and psychosexual hang-ups on them. Beard is an individual who made a perfectly legal and legitimate decision. It may not be your decision, but there’s not a thing wrong with it.

If you have a problem with nudity — or with tattoos, piercings, baggy pants, tight pants, no pants — do everyone a favor and keep it to yourself. If you disapprove, don’t buy the magazine. If you do approve, enjoy.

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