Megan Anna Rapinoe (born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays for and captains Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League. As a member of the United States women’s national soccer team, she helped the U.S. win the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as gold at the 2012 London Olympics, and finish runners-up at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Since 2018, she co-captains her national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan.

Rapinoe is internationally known for her crafty style of play and her precise cross to Abby Wambach in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals against Brazil, which resulted in an equalizer goal and eventual win for the Americans after a penalty shootout. During the 2012 London Olympics, she scored three goals and tallied a team-high four assists to lead the United States to a gold medal. She is the first player, male or female, to score a goal directly from a corner at the Olympic Games.

(Wikipedia)

Social Justice

Here is the Rapinoe quote that appears behind her on this print: “If we want to be proud to be from a country like America and all the things that we hang our hats on, like diversity, equality, land of the free and home of the brave, it’s everybody’s responsibility to ensure that everyone in the country is being afforded the same rights.” In 2016, Rapinoe got a lot of attention for taking a knee during the national anthem to support Colin Kaepernick’s protest of racial injustice. She was one of the first white athletes to do so. She continues to protest during the National Anthem. “It wasn’t easy for me,” Rapinoe told Yahoo Sports about the backlash from taking a knee in 2016. “But it shouldn’t be. Whenever you’re trying to be an ally, and it’s super easy and comfortable for you, you’re not an ally.” She is an out lesbian and supporter of LGBTQ rights and other social justice issues. Before winning the 2019 World Cup, when asked, she had already refused to visit the White House because she didn’t want to be part of a platform legitimizing the injustices she sees in the current administration. “I feel like I’m a walking protest.” On International Women’s Day in 2019, all 28 members of the women’s national team filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation seeking equal pay and treatment to the members of the men’s team. Their whole performance during the world cup was equivalent to them saying, “We are worth it.”

I love this language describing her on the ussoccer.com website: “Megan Rapinoe is an irresistible force—on and off the field. Playful, inventive and out-of-the-box, she injects the U.S. WNT with the creativity and hunger she’s had since she grew up roaming the fields in Redding, CA…”

About the Image

Every image of a woman is a message—especially an image of a woman with a public job. Megan Rapinoe knows this and uses this. The whole women’s world cup team knows that part of their job is to entertain and celebrations are a deliberate part of that. I knew I had to make a print about Rapinoe when I saw the many versions of this image—her arms up, receiving and projecting power—and both the positive and negative comments attached to it (“She sure is full of herself”—is that a bad thing?). I thought, this will be easy to write about: an outspoken lesbian activist feminist athlete. But of course there is a lot to parse and it gets me thinking about many things, a few of which I have the time to mention here.

As is the way of the Web, I was led to many things as I researched Megan Rapinoe. Really, there’s too much, as always. 1. She pronounces her last name “Rah-PEE-noh.” 2. I found an article on the BBC site about how Afghan women athletes (and many woman seeking government employment) are harassed by officials and their coaches. They are asked to provide sex in return for jobs and advancement. No sex, no job, no place on the team. Slowly Afghan women are able to get attention focused on this injustice. Just think how complicated this is, and how compromising to women in power (what little power they can eek out), whether or not they had sex with the men who control their advancement. 3. Rapinoe and three of her soccer comrades have created a lifestyle brand to create non-binary clothing designs, among other unspecified things (re—inc) 4. while wearing a low-cut tuxedo jacket-with-shorts outfit (which she is wearing on the re—inc splash page but is not offered for sale there), Rapinoe flashed a nipple on live TV when she was filmed getting up from her seat on a ESPN awards broadcast. Is this a bug or a feature of non-binary fashion? Why is a nipple inappropriate? 

5. And this is very interesting to me: previously the most famous photo of a female soccer player (that I could find) was a 1999 image of Brandi Chastain celebrating after kicking the winning penalty kick in that year’s Women’s World Cup. [You can see and read about it here.] She has pulled off her shirt and is kneeling, showing her sports bra—there was a big hoopla about the bra. (I bet if it had been called a tank-top instead, people would not have gotten so worked up). Her fists are in the air, her eyes are closed, her mouth open: bellowing in joy and relief. She looks amazingly strong and athletically fit. What I didn’t see mentioned is that we can see a prominent scar on Chastain’s left knee where she has obviously had surgery. Athletes pay a price for their “fitness.” (Rapinoe also has had knee surgery.) It is a beautiful image, perfectly composed. She got a lot of attention for this image. After this they made a rule that both women and men soccer players have to keep their shirts on. 

I would like to highlight a few contrasts that color my interpretation of the image of Rapinoe. Chastain’s posture is unrehearsed, while Rapinoe’s has been deliberately created and repeated. Chastain is kneeling with her eyes closed and Rapinoe is standing with her eyes open. The open eyes directly acknowledge the audience, while closed eyes demonstrate an internal, more personal, event. Chastain’s image is mostly about her strong body and her joy. Rapinoe’s is perhaps more abstract than physical, and certainly more outward. It really is an acknowledgement of pride, but it also looks like an offering of pride. She seems to be saying to the crowd, “this is yours, too”. In Chastain’s posture I see strength and joy. In Rapinoe’s posture I see power and pride. Both images are humorous. Both express triumph.

Speaking of images, Rapinoe is modeling swimsuits on the Sports Illustrated website here. I’m sure a better writer than I would have much to say about what these photos mean about the male gaze and the female gaze and desire. I can tell that Rapinoe enjoys her own body. I feel like she has no shame about her carefully crafted body. It’s beautiful to see.

This design is based on a photo captured by Jamie Smed in May 2019 and it is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. I have abstracted and colored the photographer’s work and Jamie Smed has not made any endorsement of my work.