‘will become a part of history’
women having the opportunity to do something they haven’t had before, and to see the athletic ability of our players, not necessarily the gender.
‘‘It’s obviously playing a pivotal Tayla Harris
role in marketing just by people re-posting it. Let’s see if we can improve the position of female athletes through something that hasn’t been exactly comfortable.
‘‘I hope it is a turning point for AFLW, in terms of respecting women and female athletes.’’
Harris admitted she was chuffed with the photo itself. ‘‘It’s pretty cool. That’s how I kick,’’ she told media in Melbourne on Wednesday.
‘‘I feel like this image . . . obviously it’s going to be used to promote AFLW, that’s cool, and that’s awesome. I’m happy that it’s me and I’m happy it’s going to give AFLW exposure.’’
But Harris said some of the comments made about her left her feeling genuinely uncomfortable in her workplace and compelled her to take a strong public stance.
‘‘It’s behind a screen, I know, but you’ve got to question if that’s going to be something more,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s referring to my body – not what I was doing, which was playing footy. It was obviously quite graphic . . . repulsive things.
‘‘Comments about football or whether I did a poor kick – whatever. This is a whole different area. This isn’t about me anymore, it’s about broader society stuff.
‘‘I could push this aside and I have the ability to do because it has not affected me personally, but I have decided this is a platform [where] I can help other people. If I’m not going to say anything, what about the people who don’t have a platform for themselves?’’
‘‘This is a whole different area. This isn’t about me anymore, it’s about broader society stuff.’’