Sexism in Sports
Yesterday I cut back some of the
growth on our fig tree and looked at the leaves. No wonder the Creator didn’t
think they were sufficient clothing when Adam and Eve stitched them together to
cover their more intimate body parts. Even though the fig leaves in Eden
probably were larger than the ones in my garden, the material was not ideal for
the purpose. Adam and Eve certainly had perfect muscles and figures and could
have been proud to display their beautiful bodies, but they felt the need to
cover up.
Athletes have beautiful, toned
bodies. They train and take care of their health to reach their highest level
of performance. They concentrate on being their best at just the right time.
They should be able to compete in whatever clothing fits best and they are
comfortable in. For male athletes, this is no problem. They wear shorts and
tops and nobody seems to bother about what they wear as long as they are not
against the regulations – and their regulations seem quite decent. Women are expected
to compete in skimpy clothing and display their bodies to the public.
Jules Leotard was an acrobat (born in
1842) who invented the close-fitting all-in-one knitted suit that allowed
freedom of movement. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 28, but the leotard
lived on and was adapted for women and became the standard clothing for female
gymnasts. A male gymnast wears a competition shirt and stirrup pants. For
women, the standard competition outfit is a leotard.
The German women’s gymnastic team has
made quite a stir by preferring to wear unitards covering arms and legs to
competitions. They say that they feel more comfortable in these suits as they
can concentrate on doing what a gymnast does instead of worrying that some part
of their body might be unwittingly exposed during their performance. Today‘s
super zoom photography makes them the prey of voyeurism on the internet. They
want to be free to decide what they want to wear and in gymnastics, the unitard
is accepted. The team
says that the outfits are a protest against the "sexualization" of
the sport. "We
women all want to feel good in our skin. In the sport of gymnastics it gets
harder and harder as you grow out of your child's body," German gymnast Sarah
Voss said of the decision. "As a little girl, I didn't see the tight gym
outfits as such a big deal. But when puberty began, when my period came, I
began feeling increasingly uncomfortable." The German gymnasts' full-body
suits have inspired other athletes. Danusia
Francis, who is representing Jamaica at Tokyo 2020, said: "Whether it's
for culture reasons, whether it's for reasons of periods, whatever it might be,
women have to be able to have that choice." US gymnast Simone Biles said, "I
stand with their decision to wear whatever they please and whatever makes them feel
comfortable. So if anyone out there wants to wear a unitard or leotard, it's
totally up to you."
"I think it's really cool that
they have the guts to stand on such a huge arena and show girls from all over
the world that you can wear whatever you want," said Norwegian gymnast
Julie Erichsen. "I applaud them for that." In recent years the sport
has been rocked by widespread cases of sexual and physical abuse, prompting the
introduction of new safety protocols meant to protect athletes. While the
gymnasts' outfits comply with the rules of the International Gymnastics
Federation, other teams have faced opposition to attempts to wear more modest
competitive clothing.
A beach sport I had not heard of
until recently is beach handball. At the European Championships, the Norwegian
women’s team had requested to be allowed to play in shorts instead of bikini
bottoms. The request was not granted as it would need a change in regulations
and could only be taken up later. The team played in their shorts despite a
fine that was imposed on the team for violating a wardrobe requirement when
they opted for shorts rather than bikini bottoms. The singer Pink offered to
pay the fine in support of their action against sexism, but the Norwegian
Handball Association was happy to pay for the players. At home, they always
play in shorts and wanted to compete in what they felt most comfortable in. "It's
completely ridiculous," Norway's Minister for Culture and Sports Abid Raja
tweeted after the ruling. "What a change of attitude is needed in the
macho and conservative international world of sport."
Not all athletes feel that skimpy
clothing is an issue. Beach volleyball developed from people playing volleyball
at the beach in their swim gear and even competitive beach volleyball is still
played with women in bikinis. At a Beach Volleyball Tournament in Katar, the
German team Karla Borger and Julia Sude refused to play in the desert heat in
T-shirts and knee-length shorts demanded by the organizers and preferred to
withdraw. They also wanted to be free to choose what they wear.
The problem of sexism in sports is
not only about what the athletes wear. It is about concentrating more on their
bodies than on their achievements. Looks versus performance. The Brazilian
beach volleyball player Rebecca Cavalcante Barbosa Silva made her debut with her
teammate Ana Patricia Ramos at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 25. They beat
the Kenyan team in the match. Their first victory was overshadowed by the
criticism that was raised against Rebecca. It was not about how she played, but
about her body. Various social media users insulted her, writing that she was
overweight and not in the physical condition to participate in the Olympics.
Body shaming.
Others took sides with a clear, loud
message for the player: "Bodies are different and it's unbelievable how
people get upset when a body deviates from the norm in sports. And that's
exactly what happens at the Olympics. First, it was goalkeeper Bárbara from the
women's soccer team and now they're criticizing Rebecca's body in beach
volleyball."
The reference to Bárbara Micheline,
goalkeeper of the women's soccer team came as a result of a vicious comment
made by Dutch journalist Johan Derksen after the July 24 match between Brazil
and the Netherlands, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
"The goalkeeper had a bit too
much on her ribs, didn't she? She was nothing but a pig in a sweatshirt. It's a
total mockery of the Brazilian national team. They couldn't hold a decent ball
and they couldn't get off the ground," Derksen said in a television
broadcast. He also said that he did not enjoy women's soccer.[1]
This is insulting defamation and far from Olympic ideals.
As the history of women in sports
shows, women have always had to fight for their rights. While we are happy that
women can compete in sports, the sexism attached to women’s sports is another
area where women will have to fight more consequently for their right to be
protected. They have put up with sexism for too long and as it is getting continually
worse it is time they step up and say, „No more!“
[1] https://de.sports.yahoo.com/news/brasilianische-volleyballspielerin-in-tokio-wegen-ihres-aussehens-angegriffen-121409976.html
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