Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Aly Raisman Poses Nude For Sports Illustrated

Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman posed nude for Sports Illustrated once again. The 23-year-old participated in the “In Her Own Words” campaign, as it is being called by the magazine. In the picture, you can see words and phrases painted across Raisman’s body such as “Women do not have to be modest to be respected” and “Fierce.”

In an interview with the magazine, Raisman explained her choice of words like this:

“I would like to remind everyone that being a survivor is nothing to be ashamed of, and going through a hard time does not define you. I hope that we can one day get to a point where everyone realizes that women do not have to be modest to be respected. We are free to draw confidence and happiness in our own way, and it is never for someone else to choose for us or to even judge us for that matter. For me, ‘In Her Own Words’ serves as a reminder that we are all humans, we are all battling something, and it is OK to not be OK. We are not alone and we need each other.”

Raisman recently testified against Larry Nassar, the former US Olympic doctor who was convicted of sexually molesting hundreds of underage girls. She has since been outspoken regarding a need for further investigation, alleging that a culture of protecting perpetrators is what allowed Nassar to commit his crimes for so long.

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.