Olympic rugby stars Jasmine Joyce, Celia Quansah and Ellie Boatman are photographed wearing lingerie paired with sports socks and rugby boots for the controversial #StrongisBeautiful campaign
A campaign by a lingerie brand to promote keeping girls in sport has outraged some women who say it feels “regressive and sexist”.
The series of #StrongisBeautiful images feature three of Great Britain’s female rugby players, who are tipped to win medals at the upcoming Paris Olympics. They show Jasmine Joyce, Celia Quansah and Ellie Boatman in various lingerie paired with sports socks and rugby boots. In some the trio are posing with balls and in another they are practising formations, with two of the women holding up the other in the air.
The players say they took part in the photoshoot posing in lingerie to try and help girls feel empowered and change the perception that “the strong female form is not ‘feminine’”. Jasmine, 28, who says she has been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal for the last eight years after missing out in Rio and then Tokyo, said growing up playing rugby is tricky for girls.
She said: “I started playing rugby at seven-years-old at my local rugby club, but it was always tricky playing as a girl, as there weren’t as many clubs with girls teams so I had to take a few years out here and there, but it’s getting so much better now, there are clusters and hubs everywhere for girls and women to play rugby. The one thing I’d say to girls regarding body confidence is to enjoy who you are. You’re never going be perfect and there’s always going to be parts of your body you’re self-conscious of but embrace it all.”
Celia, also 28, added: “I think one of the biggest challenges for women’s rugby is people’s perception that you can’t be feminine and play rugby, that one comes up frequently. People love to say women shouldn’t play rugby or you’re too pretty to play rugby and all of those things that just aren’t true.”
This not the first time lingerie brand Bluebella has run its #StrongisBeautiful campaign, having worked with skeet shooter Amber Hill, para-athlete long jumper Stef Reid, and windsurfer Bryony Shaw in 2016 as well as synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe in 2021. They also worked with the most capped England football player Fara Williams and Chelsea footballer Reanna Blades in 2023.
Bluebella states: “For eight years, we’ve collaborated with some of the most inspiring women in sports and beyond to celebrate the strength it takes to do what they do. Nearly half of girls drop out of sports after age 13 and are three times more likely to drop out of sports than boys, with self-belief and body image concerns found to be key issues.”
But the campaign has raised eyebrows with commentators of social media, with Nicola Lambert on X saying: “There’s a new campaign to get teenage girls into sport. Called #strongisbeautiful it’s been kicked off by Team GB rugby players posing in lingerie. Feels really regressive and sexist to me. Maybe I’m old.”
Rubie on X agreed: “This isn’t a campaign to get girls into sports, it’s a campaign to sell lingerie by a lingerie brand”, while grasshoppy added: “You are shameless. These women are strong and beautiful and should be lauded for their talents and skills. They look beautiful in their kit, when they finish a match – always. Don’t try and sell soft porn to young girls and pretend it’s about sport.”
While Alice Crowe said: “Sorry, but as the mother of a teenage rugby player, I think that this sending her and her team mates the wrong message. She is beautiful in her kit, covered head to toe in mud – she doesn’t need to be wandering around in lingerie to be beautiful. This is regressive stereotyping.”
Although not all reactions have been negative. Rugby Julia posted: “Weird reactions to this. Two of these are openly gay players which is impactful and this appears to be the same Bluebella campaign the Lionesses took part in. They have autonomy over their bodies & they can choose to do this. If GB7s paid them more maybe they wouldn’t?”
Bluebella declined to comment.
