Cavinder Twins Slam 'Sexist' Article on NCAA's 'Hot Girl Problem'
Haley and Hanna Cavinder, the twin basketball players who helped the Miami Hurricanes to the Elite Eight of this spring's NCAA tournament, slammed a story written in The Free Press that referred to the sisters as the "'Hot Girl' Problem" of college sports, now that it is legal for athletes to earn money off their own brand.
In a post shared on Twitter Tuesday night, Hanna — on behalf of herself and her sister — said the piece "not only demeaned our athletic and business accomplishments," but also "furthered the narrative that hard working, creative, and driven women can only do well if they are deemed attractive."
The twins, who were interviewed for the story, claim the outlet misrepresented the angle of the profile as a serious account of their successful brand-building. The Cavinders also expressed a desire "to support a woman ran news outlet" in The Free Press, which was founded by former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss in 2022.
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"We are both disappointed and disgusted by this journalism practice and blatant sexist trope," Hanna said. "We only wish to inspire young woman [sic] to chase their dreams, work hard, think big. Now we must also defend them against men that wish to sum their potential to physical appearance."
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In his article, author Ethan Strauss likens the Cavinders' approach to building their social media empire — which has garnered 6.4 million followers across all platforms — to "girls in bikinis making mindless videos — OnlyFans with a dollop of 'wellness.'"
He implies that their resulting financial success is due to their status as "attractive female college athletes" in "a world in which most people who watch sports are dudes."
The twins say that characterization "disregards our work ethic" and "fails to acknowledge the young girls/woman [sic] that follow us and that we work so hard to inspire."
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In the article, the Cavinders acknowledge that they "are privileged, in a way" as white, blonde women in sports. Hanna says: "We don't deal with the same things that other women deal with or other people deal with, and that's just how our world is, and it's awful."
But in their Twitter statement, the twins slammed Strauss for focusing on nothing but their physical appearance, despite only asking them one question on that topic during their weekend-long interview.
The story generated backlash online, spearheaded by a viral Twitter thread from Amanda Christovich, a reporter for Front Office Sports who has covered the Cavinders for years.
"Of course they make money off their looks. But how about instead of singling out the Cavinder twins or Livvy Dunne for making money off IG, TikTok, and their looks, we look at the issues SOCIETY HAS CREATED that they're trying to navigate," Christovich wrote.
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Strauss did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.
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