Hope Solo: Is Stripping for ESPN Body Issue Selling Out for Women's Soccer?

Hope Solo was one of the stars of the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany this summer. The USWMNT goalkeeper earned high praise for her performances, and was a deserving winner of the Golden Glove award.

Solo's athleticism and shot-stopping unquestionably played its part in winning over a new audience for women's soccer. Indeed, any notion of the women's game being devoid of passion and personality would have been soundly crushed by watching her heroics in the penalty shootout victory against Brazil.

This was a footballer with absolute belief in her abilities, stepping up on the biggest stage when her country needed her most. Just as she had during the USWMNT's run to gold at the 2008 Olympics, Solo showed a steely mental resolve in the heat of battle. She's a winner, and she knows it.

Then came Dancing with the Stars and the opportunity to turn all that sporting acclaim in hard currency. Sure, Solo has made some money from women's soccer, but nothing close to what her male counterparts bring home on a weekly basis. Why shouldn't she be rewarded financially?

Solo's certainly not the first sports star to don sequins, and she won't be the last. It's all good-natured fun, and arguably good publicity for the sport that made it all possible. If Solo can bring a bigger audience to women's soccer and make some money along the way, everyone's a winner. Right?

I say yes, but now we have to ask the same question of her looming appearance in ESPN The Magazine's third "Body Issue."

This time Solo will be stripping off. OK, it's billed as an "ode to the athletic form," and we're not talking cheap smut here, but ultimately Solo will be dining out on her sex appeal and titillating her way to wider fame. She's not the only one, but when you carry an entire sport to the masses, do you have a greater responsibility?

There will be those who think she does. There will be those who accuse Solo of selling out, of cheapening women's soccer by feeding the sexist stereotypes attached to every female sphere of athletic endeavour.

Remember when Brandy Chastain celebrated in her bra? You'll be reminded next week—that's for sure.

But just as Chastain had every right to celebrate that moment by removing her shirt, mimicking the actions of hundreds of male footballers in professional leagues all over the world, so too should Solo be free to get her kit off without judgement.

If it's OK for David Beckham, Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry and Co. to get naked, then the same rules must surely apply to Solo?

The fact they don't makes Solo's appearance in "The Body Issue" all the more vital. Male sports stars have been trading on their sex appeal for decades, so why shouldn't women do the same?

After all, it's not Solo's sex symbol status that threatens to undermine women's soccer, it's the outdated stereotypes which continue to linger in the stuffy corridors of male thinking.

The only way to flush them out is to behave like they're not really there, and Solo's next star turn is as bold an act of defiance as I can think of.

All power to her, I say, and let all those who accuse her of selling out take a look at tapes of her keeping goal for the U.S. this summer—for those were the performances of an athlete with a dedication to her craft that matches anybody on the planet.