I have a confession: Im in love with Conor Dwyer.Its a wholly irrational love, entirely unrequited, based largely on Dwyers visible ab muscles.Oh, sure, he won a team gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, in addition to an individual bronze in the 200m freestyle -- but have you seen him rock a pair of jammers? Now thats a skill.Of course, Im not the only one creeping on the stunning men competing in Rio. (Im not even the only one creeping on Dwyer; we are all Leslie Jones.) But the bevy of Twitter declarations, Hottest Hunks lists and gratuitously suggestive photos of divers in their skivvies (and, of course, the coverage of Tongas oiled-up flag-bearer) have caused many people to call out a perceived double standard in the objectification of male and female athletes.Its not hard to see why many find this confusing. Read any one of those posts linked above, or even the opening paragraphs to this column, in the voice of a man discussing female athletes, and it might make you cringe. The narrative in Rio is built largely around the acceptance of drooling over male Olympians, and four years ago in London, there was much outrage over the sexualization of women, particularly Lolo Jones. So whats different now?If Im being completely honest, my initial reaction might be to react the same way to the objectification of men and women. I might otherwise get upset when my male friends make winking comments about beach volleyball players, but Id probably keep my mouth shut because Im making similar statements about the likes of Dwyer and Marvin Bracy.And yet, the double standard of objectification hinges on the double standard of the treatment of mens and womens sports. When mostly male fans and commentators sexualize female athletes, its most often in the service of undermining the legitimacy of womens sports -- to which they only pay attention when given the proper amount of eye candy. Coverage of female Olympians praises their sexuality over their athleticism, and even uses their athleticism to enforce unfair beauty standards. The most dominant tennis player of our lifetime still faces criticism that shes too muscular, while other womens players actually resist building muscle mass in order to maintain their sex appeal and marketability, even at the expense of their tennis game.Even in this years Olympics, Mexican gymnast Alexa Moreno was dismissed as a pseudo-athlete and body-shamed for supposedly being overweight (she weighs 99 pounds) instead of celebrated for being the best gymnast from her country.On the other hand, the sexual capital of male athletes banks largely on their athletic success -- for them, sex appeal and winning go hand in hand. When we celebrate male Olympians for being beautiful, it doesnt come with the implied understanding that thats the only reason were watching them compete. And unlike female competitors, men who arent conventionally attractive arent dismissed as having no value as athletes.Part of the reason these dynamics are heightened during the Olympics is the outsized coverage given to these athletes -- particularly the increased attention given to womens sports. With the sheer number of television and streaming hours broadcasters have to fill, theres plenty of opportunity to showcase all thats wrong with the medias treatment of female athletes, from saying Katie Ledecky swims like a man to crediting Katinka Hosszús accomplishments to her husband and coach.Even still, the Olympics offer a rare opportunity for women athletes to receive the attention they deserve. Once every four years, patriotism bordering on jingoism leads fans who spend most of the time complaining about the WNBAs smaller ball to cheer on Team USA with full force.Womens sports are devalued whenever theyre not benefiting from the exaggerated connection to country, or the targeted marketing of a female athletes sexuality, or, as we see in the Olympics, a combination of the two.That simply isnt the case with mens sports. Ill apologize for objectifying male athletes when their earning potential depends largely on their ability to cash in on their sex appeal -- when their sexuality offers the primary road to professional success simply because the athletic avenues have been blocked. As the Guardians Lindy West notes, Ill apologize when the objectification of male athletes -- of men in general -- carries the same implications for their physical safety as it does for women, who see our sexuality constantly used as both a marker of our worth and a weapon against our humanity.When it comes down to it, the fundamental question here isnt about the morality of objectification in itself. I think thats what often trips up fans and commentators confused about what they perceive to be inconsistencies in a feminist stance.I dont speak for all feminists, and theres certainly disagreement among feminists on this point, but all things being equal, I see nothing wrong with celebrating beautiful, healthy, athletic bodies that have been cultivated to achieve superhuman feats. Thats the philosophy behind ESPN the Magazines Body Issue, which features male and female athletes equally in all their toned glory.On the other hand, even the Body Issue highlights how far we have to go to achieve that even playing field in objectification. The issue is forward-thinking in its treatment of bodies as the means to an end -- winning -- and in celebrating every muscle and curve and sinew, not just for their aesthetic beauty, but also their athletic function. In that, we see a remarkable diversity in body types, many of which dont conform to typical notions of femininity or even our ideas of what an athlete should look like.Prince Fielder appeared on the cover in 2014, which was a huge step toward challenging the aesthetic we expect from a professional athletes body. Michelle Carter posed in 2009, and she went on to win shot put gold this year. Thats progress. 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Greg Maddux Jersey . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No.PITTSBURGH -- A classic sinkerballer, Charlie Morton has gotten out of countless jams by inducing a ground ball. On Wednesday, one turned his entire outing around. Morton shook off a shaky beginning to retire his final 11 batters over seven strong innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates maintained the best record in the majors with a 4-2 victory over the Miami Marlins. Morton (4-3) beat Miami for the second time in an 11-day span despite allowing six hits over his first three-plus innings. "Hes got pitches to get outs and to get on a roll," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Weve seen it in the past. The challenge in front of Charlie is consistency." The Marlins had a single during each of the first three innings against Morton, and they took a 2-0 lead when they opened the fourth inning with three consecutive hits. Donovan Solano drove in Giancarlo Stanton with a bloop single over Neil Walkers head for the games first run. But conceding Miamis second run was a trade-off Morton and the Pirates were willing to make. Logan Morrison scored when Adeiny Hechavarria followed by grounding into a double play. "Hes capable of getting two outs with one pitch with somebody on base more than anyone we have," Hurdle said. "I do think that did give him a boost of confidence going into the rest of the game." Morton did not allow any of the remaining hitters he faced to reach base. "Initially, I give up two runs, and I dont want to give up runs," Morton said. "I dont want to put anything on the shoulders of anyone else -- I want to do my job. So when I dont and I give up runs, thats frustrating. But I have trust and faith in the guys in this clubhouse; theyve been amazing all year. Its a lot of fun to watch." Morton, who also had an RBI single, did not walk a batter and had five strikeouts in allowing two runs on six hits. Justin Wilson pitched a perfect eighth, and Mark Melancon was aided by Walkers catch on Stantons line drive in earning his seventh save. Second baseman Walker went to his right to stab a ball that was heading up the middle, then in one motion quickly threw to first to double up Ed Lucas. Andrew McCutchen homered for the Pirates (69-44), who have won four straight and are a season-high 25 games over .500. Chriistian Yelich had two hits for Miami, which has lost four in a row and scored eight runs in that span.dddddddddddd "Weve had some good at-bats but were not stringing them together," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Were piecing together one run here or one run there. Believe me, its very frustrating. I know our guys our frustrated. Youve got to keep plugging along and hopefully have that day where we string a bunch of hits together." The go-ahead run came sprinting home in the Pittsburgh fifth when Tom Koehlers pitch to Starling Marte almost struck Marte in the face as he squared around to bunt on a safety squeeze. Marte went down hard, and as the ball went to the backstop he jumped up to get out of the way as Jordy Mercer ran in from third. That was one of two wild pitches by Koehler (3-7), who also hit a batter and allowed four hits and a walk in five innings. The rookie was the losing pitcher the previous time Morton beat Miami less than two weeks prior. "Im still a little aggravated about the fifth, to allow two runs and make the team fight back," Koehler said. "Youve got to be able to shut it down, slam the door there. You give them a chance and theyre going to capitalize on it. They didnt necessarily score their two runs as much as I gave them to them." With one out and no one on in the fourth, McCutchen took a 3-1 pitch to right-centre for his 16th home run, the second homer allowed by Koehler in his past seven starts. McCutchen added an infield single in the eighth, and Pedro Alvarez followed with a sacrifice fly to pad the Pirates lead. McCutchen, who is batting .359 at home this season, has a streak of five straight multihit games. NOTES: The start of the game was delayed by rain for 36 minutes. ... Pirates LHP Wandy Rodriguez, on the disabled list since June 11 because of left forearm tightness, threw off a mound for the first time in his rehabilitation Tuesday. ... The Marlins have lost five straight at PNC Park, dating to last season. ... Two of the top rookie starters in the National League will pitch the series finale Thursday -- Pittsburghs Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.69) and Miamis Jose Fernandez (8-5, 2.54). They faced each other July 28 at Marlins Park, when Fernandez had 13 strikeouts in a 3-2 victory. ' ' '