Sydney Sweeney, Wolf Whistles and the Exhaustion of Being a Woman
Written by Katrina Fox, Founder & CEO
Katrina Fox is a 28-year-old founder and owner of RFRM. Studios, the inclusive Reformer Pilates brand she launched in 2023. From her roots in the Midlands, she’s now expanded to Covent Garden, creating welcoming spaces where 'every' body belongs, challenging the exclusive vibe of Reformer and making it more welcoming than ever.
I walked home from the gym recently and got wolf-whistled. Nothing particularly remarkable happened. I didn't stop. I didn't confront anyone. I wasn't traumatised by it. I did what I imagine thousands of women do every single day: rolled my eyes, carried on walking and thought very little of it.
Perhaps that's the remarkable part. We're so used to it.
Around the same time, the internet was exploding over Sydney Sweeney's latest campaign for sports prediction platform Novig. The imagery is deliberately provocative: Sweeney wearing little to nothing, with sporting equipment strategically positioned across her body. Unsurprisingly, people had opinions.
Some saw a beautiful woman confidently owning her sexuality. Others saw yet another example of a woman's body being used to sell something. The reaction from female athletes was particularly interesting. Women who have dedicated their lives to sport questioned why, after generations of fighting to be recognised for what their bodies can do, women's bodies are still so readily sexualised in a sporting context.
Somewhere amongst all the outrage, I found myself wondering whether we're talking about the wrong woman. Because Sydney Sweeney isn't the problem.
The much more uncomfortable conversation is why, in 2026, a woman's appearance still has quite so much power over how the world responds to her.
We learn it before anyone tells us
Most women learn very early that the way we present ourselves changes the way people interact with us. Nobody necessarily sits you down and explains it. You simply experience it enough times that eventually you understand the rules.
Wear the nicer outfit and suddenly the door gets held open. Put your makeup on, do your hair and strangers seem that little bit friendlier. Walk home from the gym in leggings and discover that somebody driving past considers your body public enough to comment on.
Look particularly good one day and, sometimes, the world becomes ever so slightly more accommodating.
I'm not suggesting that every man behaves this way, nor am I suggesting that every kind gesture towards an attractive woman has some sinister motivation behind it. Of course not. But I think a lot of women will recognise the uncomfortable feeling I'm describing. You notice that the version of you who has made more effort with her appearance can sometimes receive a different response from the world than the version wearing an oversized tracksuit with her hair scraped back. Yet you're the same woman.
You're just as intelligent. Just as interesting. Just as capable. Just as worthy of somebody holding the bloody door open for you.
Once you notice that difference, it's quite difficult to unnotice it.
The impossible middle ground
Women are constantly being asked to occupy an almost impossible middle ground.
Be beautiful, but don't be vain. Be sexy, but don't seek attention. Be confident in your body, but don't show too much of it. Look after yourself, but don't look as though you're trying too hard. Be ambitious, but remain likeable. Be successful, but don't intimidate anyone. Embrace your femininity, but make absolutely certain that nobody mistakes femininity for weakness.
Above everything else, make sure you're taken seriously. It's exhausting.
I don't think the answer is telling women to cover themselves up. In fact, I think that completely misses the point. Sydney Sweeney should be allowed to pose naked if she wants to. A woman should be able to wear a tiny dress because she feels incredible in it. Another woman should be able to wear an oversized tracksuit and no makeup. Neither decision should determine how intelligent, talented, respectable or valuable we believe that woman to be.
That's why I find the conversation surrounding the Novig campaign so interesting. Sweeney wasn't simply an actress hired without any involvement in the campaign. Novig announced her as a strategic partner and equity holder, and the company's CEO has said that she approached the business about a partnership. This is an adult woman making a commercial decision about her own image.
She has every right to do that. But women having the freedom to sexualise themselves and society having an obsession with sexualising women are two very different conversations.
We should be capable of discussing both.
What does a woman in sport look like?
British sprinter Amy Hunt's response to the campaign particularly stuck with me. Following a 200-metre final, she looked into the camera and said, "Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like." Muscles. Hard work. Sweat. Blood. Tears.
Olympic cyclist Sophie Capewell made a similar point, asking people to imagine a world in which women were seen for what they could do rather than simply what they looked like.
That doesn't mean female athletes can't also be sexy. Of course they can. An Olympic athlete can win a gold medal and wear a tiny dress to celebrate afterwards. A woman can deadlift twice her body weight and love getting her hair and makeup done. Femininity and strength have never been mutually exclusive.
In fact, perhaps that's part of the frustration. Women have spent years proving that they can be both.
I founded RFRM. because I loved movement, but over the years, I've realised that fitness spaces give you a fascinating window into women's relationships with their bodies. I've watched women walk into studios wanting to change how their bodies look and gradually become far more interested in what their bodies can do.
I've seen women become stronger. I've watched confidence grow. I've watched somebody finally nail a movement they couldn't do weeks earlier. I've watched women exercise through different chapters of their lives and discover capabilities they didn't realise they had.
Yet, even within fitness, women's bodies remain under constant observation.
Be fit, but not "too muscular". Have curves, but only in the correct places. Be lean, but not "too skinny". Have strong legs, but make sure they're feminine. Wear leggings and a sports bra because they're practical for exercising, but somehow accept that somebody might decide that outfit gives them permission to comment on your body.
There always seems to be another rule.
The problem isn't being beautiful
I also think we need to be careful about where conversations like this lead, because criticising the sexualisation of women can very quickly turn into criticising women for being sexual. Those aren't the same thing.
There is nothing inherently anti-feminist about Sydney Sweeney knowing that she's beautiful. There is nothing wrong with a woman benefiting commercially from her appearance. There is nothing wrong with posting the bikini picture, wearing the short skirt, getting Botox, wearing no makeup, having cosmetic surgery or doing absolutely none of those things.
Choice matters. But we also have to be able to acknowledge the environment in which those choices exist.
The uncomfortable question isn't, "Should Sydney Sweeney be allowed to do this?" Of course she should. The more interesting question is: why is a woman's body still one of the most reliable ways to make the world look?
What does that teach the next generation of women?
The pretty privilege nobody really wants to discuss
There's another uncomfortable part of this conversation that I think many women recognise, but we're often reluctant to say aloud: pretty privilege exists.
Attractive people can be treated differently. We know this instinctively because many of us have experienced both sides of it.
The interesting part isn't whether being considered attractive can occasionally make life easier. It's what happens when attractiveness starts to become confused with worth.
Because beauty is a strange form of social currency. It can open doors while simultaneously making people question whether you deserved to walk through them.
A beautiful woman succeeds and somebody wonders who helped her. A successful woman dresses sexily and suddenly her intelligence becomes secondary. A woman posts a bikini photograph and apparently that gives strangers permission to decide how seriously she should be taken professionally.
Women are encouraged to invest enormous amounts of time, money and energy into being attractive and are then occasionally punished for succeeding at it. That contradiction fascinates me.
We tell young women that looks don't matter while an enormous proportion of the world around them quietly demonstrates that they do. Advertising tells them. Social media tells them. Dating apps tell them. Sometimes complete strangers walking down the street tell them.
Then we wonder why women become obsessed with how they look.
I don't want women to become smaller
I don't want the conclusion of conversations like this to be that women should make themselves less attractive, less feminine or less sexual in order to command respect. We've done enough shrinking.
I don't want a woman to reconsider her outfit because somebody else might misunderstand it. I don't want a female founder to feel she needs to dress differently to be taken seriously in a room. I don't want a young athlete to believe she has to choose between being strong and being feminine.
I certainly don't want girls growing up believing that the safest route to respect is making themselves less visible.
The answer isn't less female sexuality. It's separating female sexuality from female value.
There is a difference between appreciating beauty and reducing somebody to it. There is a difference between finding somebody attractive and believing their attractiveness gives you access to them. There is a difference between a woman choosing to celebrate her body and the world deciding that her body is the most valuable thing she has to offer.
Perhaps that's where this conversation needs to go.
Sydney Sweeney isn't the problem
I don't know Sydney Sweeney. I don't know exactly how she feels about the campaign beyond what has been said publicly about it. I'm certainly not interested in joining another internet pile-on against a woman for decisions she has made about her own body.
If anything, blaming her entirely would recreate the very problem we're supposedly discussing.
The campaign has become controversial because it touched something much bigger than one actress, one advert or one sports company. It landed directly in the middle of a conversation women have been having, consciously or unconsciously, for generations.
We want to be seen. But we want to be seen completely.
Not just when we're beautiful. Not just when we're sexy. Not just when we're wearing the right outfit or fitting whatever version of femininity happens to be fashionable that year.
We want the muscles, the intelligence, the humour, the ambition, the cellulite, the business, the softness, the strength, the makeup, the bare face, the motherhood, the decision not to become a mother, the short skirt, the oversized tracksuit and everything else that makes up a whole human being to be allowed to coexist.
Maybe progress isn't creating a world where Sydney Sweeney can't take her clothes off.
Maybe progress is creating a world where a woman can take them off without that becoming the most interesting thing about her, and where another woman can keep hers on without becoming invisible.
Until then, women will continue navigating that strange line between wanting to feel beautiful and wanting to be recognised for everything beyond our beauty.
Perhaps the fact that we're all so tired of walking that line is exactly why one advert has managed to start such a big conversation.
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Read more from Katrina Fox
Katrina Fox, Founder & CEO
Katrina Fox has transformed RFRM. Studios into more than just a Pilates brand, she's built a vibrant community where movement meets mental well-being. By dismantling the cliquey barriers often associated with Reformer Pilates, Katrina has created a space where everyone feels welcome and supported. Her studios aren't just places to take a class. They are sanctuaries for building confidence, fostering connections, and embracing personal growth. Through her unwavering commitment, Katrina has cultivated a culture of inclusivity and empowerment, proving that when we support each other, the sky's the limit.
