SPENDING MY DAY WITH STUFF.

Byline: - Ramona Shelburne 

Hmmm. How do I feel about posing for Stuff Magazine before the last Olympics? I have to think about it for a minute because it's complicated.

On one hand, it was a really fun experience, like this whole world of modeling and acting I'd never seen before. They let me choose how I wanted to represent myself and I picked out a pretty floral dress that looked like something I might wear normally.

Then I spent eight hours in makeup and wardrobe, posing and taking pictures all for this one shot they used in the magazine. It was really fun and I felt good being able to express myself.

I wasn't really thinking about who'd read it or what they'd think when they read it. I was just having fun at the photo shoot.

When I saw it, I didn't really like all the comments they had on the pictures. It was like 10-year old boy humor. I was hoping they'd be more into the fact that we're athletes who are also attractive women.

I've never once regretted it, though.

I'm a feminist, so part of me feels like I shouldn't feel this way.

But I think it all depends on how it's done, what the picture looks like and how the athlete is treated.

I don't like it when a woman is this great athlete and beautiful and all everyone focuses on is what they look like. They're both. They're an athlete and beautiful. You wouldn't look at a good-looking male athlete, like Derek Jeter, and only talk about what he looks like or ask him to pose naked.

The first thing I said when people asked me about Amanda Beard (posing in Playboy) was, "Let me see it."

I really think you need to see the photos and how they're done before you judge. I've seen some that are really tasteless and raunchy and others that are really beautiful. I haven't seen hers yet, so I don't know how I feel about it.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

no caption (Stuff magazine cover: Jessica Mendoza)