Not too long ago, a woman named Anna Chapman was deemed sexy and model-like. Her picture was splayed across magazine and newspaper covers. Everyone, it seemed, knew her name.
In addition to being constantly described as having a “Victoria’s Secret Body” by news outlets such as the New York Post, Anna Chapman was also charged with being a Russian spy. But that, it seems, is an after thought.
Today, another Russian woman, Anna Fermanova, was arrested on similar charges. It is being reported that she tried to smuggle night vision gear worth thousands of dollars from the United States to Russia. In her Ugg boots. On a plane.
Upon hearing of this news, I got a bit nervous. After all, how could I not question why Russia wanted this stuff? Why have they been collecting information about the government? Should I be concerned about my well-being?
But wait!
Not to worry. We can all breathe a sigh of relief. The New York Post has just informed me that Anna Fermanova is not a spy. Gah, how could she be? Yes, she may have been smuggling dangerous weaponry out of the country, this is true, but look how sexy she is! Are you reading this headline?! Anna Fermanova is the “newest spy hottie!” She’s not a spy! She’s a sexy spy. There’s a difference, you know. Since she looks like a Victoria’s Secret model, all of that stuff about her doing Russia’s dirty work is irrelevant and maybe untrue. Don’t believe us? Well here’s a photo gallery of Ms. Fermanova in tight clothing. Look at that ass! What a sexpot! Maybe she’ll make a porno!
Jeez.
The Post’s article is short. It took me less time to read it than it did to look through the low quality images of Fermanova, which were probably pulled from Facebook. From the article, I learned that she is denying the allegations, lives in Texas, and supposedly talks extensively about her body piercings on her Facebook page. Cool?
In all seriousness, does anyone remember the names of the nine other alleged spies that were charged along with the first sexy spy, Anna Chapman? I don’t. I didn’t follow the story too closely, but I did walk by hundreds of newspapers that were blaring sexual images of Ms. Chapman. Upon checking the New York Post’s website this morning, I was given more of the same, just with a new woman … which brings up a few questions for me.
Why is it that so much attention is paid to their bodies and not to the crimes they have allegedly committed? Why is everyone ignoring the fact that they are, indeed, spies?!
Why is it significant that Anna Fermanova has multiple piercings, and why do I not know anything about her besides the fact that she’s 24 and has a very toned buttocks?
Why have I never heard of a male criminal with sexy permanently attached to his name due to his good looks and muscular biceps?
And, hey, remember that article a while back about the woman who was fired from Citibank for being “too sexy?” The stories of Anna Chapman and Anna Fermanova strike eerily similar chords for me. All three of these women have had their achievements or wrongdoings downplayed due to the fact that they all have what society has deemed a sexual figure. I am not a criminal, nor a bank employee, but I am a tiny girl with double Ds, and have been approached in both the academic and professional world with requests that I cover up, even when merely wearing a t-shirt. All of this makes me wonder, will a time ever come where women can have “curvy” figures and still be taken seriously? Or are we already in that time, with a few many exceptions?
What are your thoughts?
I think what I find most confusing is that she was smuggling the night vision gear at all. Don’t they have the internet in Russia?
Night vision gear is not generally considered “dangerous weaponry”
“crimes they have allegedly committed? Why is everyone ignoring the fact that they are, indeed, spies?!”
Allegedly committed does NOT equal fact or proof that they are indeed spies.
I read more articles about this case. She isn’t being called a spy. She’s accused of smuggling. The articles she was smuggling are not secrets or proscribed weapons.
So…not a spy.
My sister was visiting so I haven’t been reading the news at all for the past week, your version makes much more sense then the spying and destructo powers of night vision.
But it’s totally way hotter if she is a sexy Russian spy!
In your post you ask “Why is so much attention paid to their bodies and not to the crimes they have allegedly committed?” The answer is simple and embedded in the rest of your post. People would rather read about something “sexy”, namely “the newest spy hottie”, than about something that makes them get “a bit nervous” and wonder to themselves “should I be concerned about my well-being.” It’s important to remember that the New York Post is a business and it is their job to sell as many newspapers as possible. As a result of this, they will inevitably concentrate on the details that will sell the most papers amongst their demographic. Its not that they are having “their achievements or wrongdoings downplayed due to the fact that they all have what society has deemed a sexual figure”, its just that sex sells better. Furthermore lets remember that this is the Post, head over to the NY Times and you’ll find almost no mention of this case much less a front page article on it with a half page photo of Fermanova in a bikini. The Post is simply capitalizing on the attention grabbing abilities of 1) sex and 2) the spy sensation of recent weeks to sell some papers
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