Ahead of Olympics, athletes call out sexist uniform practices Having to combat sexist standards that echo what they're already dealing with isn't the only thing that can turn girls away. The 19th thanks our sponsors. "Far too often, attention is paid more on how female athletes look, versus their power, grit and performance," one expert says. Some schools may override a coach's choice and banspandex. Womens athletic wear is usually tight-fitting [and] shows off those nice WebIn 2011, the Badminton World Federation decreed that women must wear skirts or dresses to play at the elite level in order to help revive flagging interest in womens badminton. You can change your selections at any time. Elsewhere in the Olympic program, female athletes have avoided that kind of sexualization. So far, German gymnasts, inspired by the Norwegian beach handball players, have led the way at these Games by scrapping their traditional and far more revealing uniforms in favor of more modest, and some say more comfortable, performance gear. The uniform guidelines were changed four years agoto be more culturally inclusive. The Australian Sports Commission accused it of introducing uniforms intentionally to focus attention on the athletes' bodies, the BBC reported. WebIn 1949, Gertrude Moran was accused of bringing vulgarity and sin into tennis when she wore a dress at Wimbledon that revealed lacy shorts underneath as she ran. Not everyone agrees that the more revealing uniforms are exploitive. A spokeswoman for the International Handball Federation said she did not know the reason for the different rules, according to The New York Times. I dont feel like a girl or a boy when I step on a board. Slowly, female athletes are pushing back on outdated uniform regulations and demanding that athleticism be prioritised over aesthetics. Then she ran, swam and cartwheeled in them to see how they would either help or hinder her performance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Forgot your At The 19th, we remain committed to exploring new opportunities to better serve you, our readers. Overt sexualization: Why Olympic women athletes ran into Earlier this year, German gymnast Sarah Voss also took on this issue by opting for a full-length bodysuit as opposed to the standard leotard. Model Rain Dove poses in both typical male and female volleyball athletic wear. Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Although rather daring compared to 40 years earlier, Marian and her teammates' outfits would be considered loose fitting at a modern-day competition, A Russian gymnast competing at the next Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, 1952, show that not much happened as 1940s became fifties in terms of leotard styling. IndyStar tracked down uniform rules at all levels of play, from middle school to professional, and found thatmost allow female athletes to cover upif they wish. Scurry, who has played in three World Cups and has two Olympic gold medals, recalled representing the U.S. in the Olympics in the 1990s and the women's team having to wear "hand-me-down jerseys and shorts from the men's team" because the sponsor made the uniforms with only the male team in mind. Customize your lineup with your favourite leagues and teams. One Victoria University study about athletic uniforms in Australia found that 88 percent of the girls surveyed preferred to wear shorts for sports and 90 percent preferred to wear t-shirts. The reason people wear the things that they wear and accept the standards that they accept is because most athletes make a good portion of their money in advertising and doing campaigns afterwards, Dove said. Like most of these issues, it hasno clear-cut answer. Connecticut voters approved early voting. Then, at the Games, four members of the German womens gymnastics team, Sarah Voss, Pauline Schaefer-Betz, Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui, showed up for the qualifying round in full-length unitards instead of the bikini-cut leotards usually worn by female gymnasts. The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) relaxed those rules after receiving criticism. Contributing: Sandy Hooper, Alex Ptachick. Flexibility is therefore apparent in some female sporting dress codes, but certainly not in all. Currently, beach handball is part of the Summer Youth Olympics, but not the regular Games. Its not a village of athletes, its a village of people still defined by their genitalia, androgynous fashion model and activist Rain Dove told NBC OUT. The 2016 Rio Olympics were a reminder of the often striking differences in how male and female athletes dress. For them, thats their uniform.. All rights reserved.Privacy PolicyAd ChoicesTerms of Service. Without doubt, their corsets and full-length dresses would have severely restricted their capacity to lunge and leap across the court in the way that todays female tennis players do. The gymslip and tunic released the body from restraining garments such as corsets and bodices. Members of Norways womens handball team told reporters they knowingly defied the rules to spark a conversation about the uniform requirements. Womens beach handball athletes are required to wear bikini bottoms with a maximum side width of 10 centimeters smaller than the size of an iPhone. They dont view it as swimwear or anything like a fashion statement. But vague wording in some of the policies gives officials broad discretion to determine what falls outside the rules. So if anyone out there wants to wear a unitard or leotard, its totally up to you.. Of course, these bare minimum uniforms must be all about sports performance. This paves the way for more sportswomen to oppose dress codes that are based on archaic ideas of what women should look like, often through the eyes of men. WebIts time we re-think uniform standards in sport, and design options that allow women and girls the courtesy to compete with confidence. In gymnastics, the German women competed in what they feel most comfortable in a unitard. Vera Cslavsk of the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) went on to win 5 gold medals at the 1968 Games - all the while wearing a plain leotard sans bling and glitter, pictured at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, 1972: Olga Korbut representing the USSR in Munich in modest competitionwear, 1976: Romania's Nadia Comaneci is sporting Adidas at the Montreal Olympics, 1984: Mary Lou Retton of the United States in action during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Back in the USSR: The late eighties shine through in the hairstyles of the Soviet Union team but the leotards are more generic than ever as they celebrate their gold medals at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. It is unfortunate that far too often, attention is paid more on how female athletes look, versus their power, grit and performance, said Axelson, who is the organizations vice president of advocacy. Their right to choose what they wore no doubt helped them feel more at ease when performing. Here is Team China in Athens eight years ago wearing something which with a bit of imagination and a lot more fabric would resemble traditional Chinese clothes, Tradition: Elements of their country's culture is displayed in rhinestones and elaborate flower design on competitors from Russia, right, Ukraine, centre and Spain, right. Flexibility is therefore apparent in some female sporting dress codes, but certainly not in all. German gymnasts decided to take a stand against their sexualisation, donning full-body suits. However, there is recent rebellion in the ranks. Voss and her team embraced the opportunity to compete as elite athletes in a uniform that best complemented their physical prowess. Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. A 2017 survey by BT Sport found that 80 per cent of elite female athletes in the United Kingdom felt pressure to conform to a certain look and body type, with 87 per cent of respondents saying the pressure to present a certain type of body image had influenced their diet. Where now the emphasis seems to be on revealing womens bodies, the opposite was once the case. After the team's repeated complaints about the required bikini bottoms were reportedly ignored, they wore shorts during a recent game in protest and were fined 150 euros (around $175) per player. The answer becomes clear when you consider that womens sports have long existed as a not-yet-fully-accepted subset of what has historically been seen as a mans field. The German women did not qualify for the finals, but in the eyes of their competitors they deserved a gold medal for gumption. Women athletes are taking control of their Olympic sporting Lecturer in human movement studies (health and PE), Creative Arts, Charles Sturt University. Womens dress codes in sport are determined by traditions that are both outdated and gendered. The men, however, can wear looser shorts that stop 10 centimeters above their knees. Tokyo Olympics: Female athletes face double standards over The team faced accusations that they appeared to look naked, and the president of the International Cycling Union at the time tweeted that the outfits were unacceptable by any standard of decency. But the uniforms did not appear to violate any rules on acceptable competition attire and drew comparisons to beige uniforms worn by a team of male cyclists during the 2010 season. The Women's Sports Foundation has been trying to change that, arguing that the norm sometimes iswhat women feel pressured to abide by. Their right to choose what they wore no doubt helped them feel more at ease when performing. The Rio Olympics were a reminder of the often striking differences in how male and female athletes dress. Golf and tennis are set by the United States Golf Association and United States Tennis Association. Opinion Its the 21st century. They competed in their sports debut here in pants and t-shirts, attire that best enabled their performance. "Womens beach volleyball uniform regulations are based solely on heterosexual sex appeal.". Why Were an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. In a statement to IndyStar, the foundation's Kelsey Curtis outlined its stance on women's athletic uniforms, saying, "athletes should be afforded maximum flexibility in the choice ofuniform fabricsand styles. Even then, the suits still cop a beating. 1976. The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. But theyre not. Model Rain Dove poses in both typical male and female gymnastics athletic wear. They competed in their sports debut here in pants and t-shirts, attire that best enabled Olympics 2020: why are skimpy womens uniforms still a thing? That can depend upon thehistory of the sport: what's been done before and what has become the accepted norm. The The swim cap discussion accompanies broader conversations about the systemic treatment of Black cisgender women athletes, as well as those who are transgender or intersex. Model Rain Dove poses in both typical male and female track athletic wear. Unfortunately, unreasonable expectations aren't new. There is another reason why the issue of objectifying female athletes has taken on a new urgency at the Tokyo Olympics these are the first Summer Games since the former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, Larry Nassar, was sent to prison for life for sexually abusing hundreds of female gymnasts, including some of the sports biggest stars such as Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and others. Their outfits have long tried to reconcile notions of femininity with those of athleticism, but this process has turned women into objects to be admired rather than being valued for their sporting skills. The International Olympic Committee does not establish or enforce uniform regulations. Although women's sporting performances have been historically hampered and sexualised, sportswomen are finally calling the shots in terms of how their bodies are regulated through what they wear. Here's what they think of a Voice to Parliament, Soccer spectator accused of punching out teeth of referee in 'outrageous attack' refused bail, MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo remembered for 'wicked sense of humour' as it happened, US authorities scramble to rescue First Republic Bank before markets open, Musician Broderick Smith dies peacefully at home, aged 75, after career spanning decades, Women charged with criminal neglect after children were found living in 'uninhabitable' Adelaide home. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. The ones we compete in are more supportive, more comfortable, [and] less revealing than a lot of the bathing suits youre going to see at the beach. The two piece bikini is easier to adjust and leaves no room for sand to get trapped against the stomach, she explained. On this side of the millennium however it seems it is just as much about winning the competition as it is about out-glamming each other in the fashion stakes. She wants to open up a dialogue around practicality vs. exploitation -- or what she views as sexploitation -- in athletic uniforms. But does the uniform really make that big ofa difference? It tells people this is what youre good for. The Norwegian women's beach handball team is in a battle with the sport's governing bodies to wear less-revealing uniforms.