Brittney Griner's Media Persona Surrounding Dress Attire By: Brian Nedved

        Brittney Griner is not like most other females when it comes to her dress attire. Brittney prefers to wear clothing that is typically made for men, she feels especially more comfortable in a bow tie. She has never felt comfortable in clothing that is made for women. The last time that Brittney can actually remember dressing is women's clothing was for her high school graduation, and that was because her mother requested that she do so. She is not overly concerned with how she is viewed when she wears clothing that is obviously not made for women. Griner has actually signed a contract with a company that makes menswear to model their clothing. This is the first time that this company has signed a female to model their clothing, it has been strictly men that were the models. During her rookie year in the WNBA she decided to skip the orientation that taught women how to apply makeup onto themselves, even going as far as to say “I don’t need that shit.”

        The way that she dresses and the way that she conducts herself has caused many people to ridicule her about being a man that plays in the WNBA. She says that people that talk about her and even post their thoughts on social media in such a way only drives her to be even more prominent about how she dresses and how she acts as a female. Brittney struggled with how she looked when she was in Junior High and High School because of her low voice and the type of build that she had for a female. She would have kids her age pick on her and make fun of how she did not develop like most girls did as they grew into adolescence Griner states that while in high school she found that basketball gave her a sense of security that she was looking for especially after the ridicule that she received from her peers while growing up.

        What has been a large change in the WNBA as of late has been the idea that sex does not always sell, it can actually undercut the actual ability of the athlete. This has come in handy for Griner because she is not the typical female athlete when it comes to selling sex, she is marketed more for her abilities. This works out not only for the WNBA but also for Brittney because she can actually be and sell who she really is, she can sell herself.

Sources:

1.      Abraham, Laurie. “She’s All That.” November 4, 2013. http://www.elle.com/life-love/society-career/brittney-griner-on-her-sexuality
2.  http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Brittney.Griner.png