Men on Twitter up in arms over football star’s nude ESPN cover

Ezekiel Elliot's cover made quite the splash, as male Twitter was upset at seeing him posing naked, while holding a football.

TheGrio Staff

Jun 28, 2017

On Monday morning, ESPN revealed its 2017 Body Issue cover stars: NFL running back Ezekiel Elliott and Danish tennis champion Caroline Wozniacki.

Elliot’s cover made quite the splash, both literally and figuratively, as Twitter, especially male Twitter, was upset at seeing Elliot posing naked, holding a football under splashing water. Apparently, they were upset to see a man naked on the magazine, since men usually aren’t nude.

But the double standard came out in full force just the next day when Wozniacki’s cover debuted. She was also posing nude, but that didn’t seem to bother the exact same group of people who had been decrying Elliot’s cover. In fact, the comments switched from being upset over nudity to a more lewd variety.

You can now add “cover boy” to Zeke’s resume. pic.twitter.com/DSS8r0Jzef

— ESPN (@espn) June 26, 2017

It’s a stark example of how men’s bodies are viewed as opposed to women’s bodies. We’re so used to seeing naked women on magazines, but even partial nudity, carefully photographed, is apparently not allowed when it comes to a man, especially an athletic one.

You can check out examples below of the comments for some of the toxic masculinity that was on display as the men of Twitter blasted ESPN for the same thing they praised it for one day later.