Sydney Sweeney and the right to be sexy: “your body, your choice” also applies when a woman chooses to show it

Sydney Sweeney returns to advertising and, once again, the internet ends up talking about her body. That's not exactly new. In recent years the actress has become one of the most photographed, commented and sexualized women in Hollywood, to the point that she has told herself how frustrating she can be simply reduced to her physical appearance. But there is an important difference between being reduced to a body by others and knowingly choosing when and how to use its own sensuality.

And this is where the conversation becomes much more interesting: we spent years repeating your body, your choice. Your body, your choice. A phrase that should be very simple and that instead seems to work only until we approve the choice in question.

We want women to be free to not depilate, not to make up, to age, to cover, to refuse aesthetic standards and not to make themselves desirable for men. All right. Then comes a woman like Sydney Sweeney, perfectly aware of her sex appeal, decides to play with that and suddenly female freedom becomes much more complicated.

Why? Showing your body does not necessarily mean being victims of it. And above all female empowerment cannot become yet another set of rules that explain to women how they should present themselves to be considered fairly emancipated.

Of course this does not mean that advertising cannot be criticized. In fact! But this time in the conversation came also “women in sport”. And that's where I got lost.

Since when does Sydney Sweeney represent women in sport? It is not an athlete. He didn't build his career talking about women's sports. He never presented himself as a sports spokesman or promised to represent a specific model of athletic femininity. She is an actress, celebrity and one of the most photographed and sexualized women of modern pop culture. But apparently it is enough to make an advertising video for a sportsiv betting site to be accused of ruining the sports world for women

If we really want to discuss it, there are more interesting questions to ask: why in 2026 we continue to need female sexuality to sell practically anything? Where does the provocation end and where does an advertising strategy start as old as marketing itself? And above all, when a campaign simultaneously uses sensuality and products that also open ethical issues, where do we decide to track the line? These are critical to advertising. Criticizing Sydney Sweeney because she decided to use her body is another thing.

And it is an important distinction, especially because Sweeney has already talked about the discomfort of feeling observed only through his own body. Recognizing this does not mean to establish that, from that moment on, I must hide it to prove to be something more. A woman can hate being reduced to her breasts and, at the same time, decide to show it when she wants. The two things do not contradict each other.

And maybe we should ask ourselves something about men. Because if in 2026 we are still convinced that it is enough to put a beautiful woman in front of a camera because a man suddenly loses any critical ability, perhaps the most offensive representation of the campaign is not even the female one.

Sydney Sweeney knows she's hot. The audience knows. Brands know. To pretend that this component of his image does not exist would be almost more absurd than using it. The question should be who decides how to use it. And if the answer is Sydney, then we may not love the campaign, we can find it vulgar, antiquated, genius or simply a perfect marketing operation. But we cannot talk about freedom of the female body only when that body is used in the way we like it.

Your body, your choice only works if we are willing to accept also the choices that we personally would not do. A woman can be empowered in suit. It can be without makeup. It can be completely covered. And yes, it can also be in lingerie.

Feminism should not decide how much fabric a woman needs to be taken seriously. You should make sure she can decide how much she wears.