In a recent advertisement for Novig, a U.S. sports prediction market and trading platform, actor Sydney Sweeney appears nearly nude, using sports equipment as props to cover various parts of her body.

The visual plays on the campaign’s tagline — “Just Sports” — and hints at the idea that, unlike other platforms, Novig doesn’t offer betting on politics, war or death.

Novig is regulated as a financial exchange rather than a sportsbook, but its users still put real money on the outcomes of games. Sweeney is not just the face of this new campaign. When it launched in September, Novig announced that she had joined the company as a strategic partner and equity holder.

The ad captures two troubling trends: how routinely women’s bodies are sexualized in digital media and how gambling companies use sexual appeal, and the implied promise of romantic or sexual reward, to target young men. Together, they pose risks to young people’s well-being and social relationships.

Its release also comes at a time when sexual objectification continues to shape the daily lives of girls and women, and as women increasingly turn to cosmetic procedures to change their bodies and appearance. Meanwhile, addictive online betting is rising among young men in Canada.

How women learn to see........

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