A Brazilian beach volleyball player at the Beijing Olympics. (Brazil Women's Beach Volleyball Team/flickr)
When it comes to the Olympic games, it’s hard not to be captivated by the human body and what it can accomplish. But looking at uniform changes over the years, it's clear that some people think those bodies — if they belong to females — are best shown half-naked. After all, the average WNBA game is watched by less than 300,000 basketball fans, while the Lingerie Bowl is watched by millions.
Thus, in recent years, we’ve seen the emergence of Olympic beach volleyball, along with requisite bikinis. And other sports have tried to follow suit, with mixed results.
Shira Springer, of the Boston Globe, has researched the world of sports and scantily-clad female athletes. She’s on the ground in London, covering the games.
"Originally, the plans [called] for the badminton players and women's boxers to wear skirts," Springer says. "They wanted a more 'feminine look' to their athletes, and that raised a lot of eyebrows because it wasn't about competition. It was about appealing to, perhaps, the 18 to 34-year-old male demographic and others, and that did not sit well with many athletes."
Outcry from both female athletes and supporters led to a change in boxing and badminton officials' tunes. Queen Underwood, the American favorite to win gold in the lightweight division, hasn't worn a skirt in years, and says she would feel distracted and uncomfortable. Female Scottish badminton player Imogen Bankier called the attempted ruling "dated and sexist."
These pushes for the feminization of female athletes has been balanced out in recent weeks by the ongoing discussion on the incorporation of Muslim headscarves, or 'hijabs', into Olympic uniforms. The Iranian women's soccer team was disqualified from competition in 2011 for donning the headscarves, but FIFA recently lifted the ban in time for the London games.
"There was a lot of disgust among the female athletes who compete in [badminton and boxing] because they felt they were being valued for their looks as opposed to their athletic ability, and any time that happens with a top athlete, you know that's going to anger them. So it is a problem, and nobody makes these comments about men; nobody tries to sexualize the male athletes or say they should look more male when competing," Springer says. "It just seems patently unfair."
In the case of beach volleyball, bikinis actually do serve a purpose of utility, athletes of the sport say. "Not a single one said that wearing a bikini made them feel sexy, but what they did say was that it was the most practical uniform for the sport in which they were competing," Springer says. Sand from the court gets everywhere, the athletes told her, and wearing shorts and a t-shirt would make for extremely uncomfortable play.
Devastating Tornado in Oklahoma City, What James Rosen Case Says About Freedom of the Press, Syrian Conflict Deepens
Why We Stay When We Know We Should Leave
Defining Normal After a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia, The Mayor of Oklahoma City, A New Kind of Commencement Speech
The IRS Scandal: The Criminal Investigation, Afghanistan and the Struggle to Walk Away, Does Medicare Part D Care About Safety?
Tornadoes Tear Through the Midwest
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
Major funding provided by:
Comments [9]
I agree with "L"'s comment in regards to clothing.
Too many people have been conditioned NOT to react, to conform or just OGLE at the women in this pathetic SEXIST display in sports.
But, then again we are talking about SPORTS here, definately NOT the domain of intellectuals or moral consideration, so...
But it is sad, I was happy to find this article online adressing this issue (no pun intended.
WHY are there silly clothing rules in the first place? We need to grow up, look around us and realize that the REAL mess in this world and society exists in peoples MINDS, for whatever reason, and, that when such blatent perversions and descrimintation is condoned by the olympics, it says not only alot about their TRUE moral stance, it also says loads about just how sad contemporary culture is.
Let's return to the original 'gymnos' ethos for both sexes. That should make things interesting for the wrestlers, at least.
As a female volleyball player myself I really don't understand the need for wearing bikini's during play other than not wanting to have "farmer's tan" lines. I don't have a problem with wearing bikini's while playing but having played beach volleyball I can attest that sand definitely gets EVERYWHERE whether you wear a bikini or a potato sack. So that logic is out of the window.
I've heard from a number of women's volleyball competitors defending the bikini outfit as essential, because of the 'sand problem--also the 'tripping on the warmup pants.'
Let the temperature fall to near 50 F and the sand problem disappears--as does the 'pants problem.'
They look good and want to show it off. Fine. A little honesty is good, too.
Attractive people will appear attractive in pretty much whatever they wear.
I do not appreciate nor support the Olympic games
to even be viewed in my home as long as they feel they are most
comfortable playing the sports with great athleticism
while their butts hang out for the whole world to watch.
No Thanks. I believe in moral vaules and that clearly
violates one.
Women Boxers in skirts? Put men Boxers in skirts and see how they fight this summer.
I like the idea of Nude Olympics... Now, there would be an Olympics that would definitely never lose money
Your photo for this segment, made me examine this issue closely. Thank You.
There seems to be more "disgust" over the revealing attire of Western athletes who have a say in their wardrobe than the "modest" attire that Saudi authorities demand for female athletes and every other woman in their society with total disregard of their opinion.
Those who are apparently so concerned about sexism tend to pick their fights very carefully.
Skirts in women's boxing?
Just when did boxers ever wear skirts? Why start now?
From what I heard of the discussion between Celeste Headlee and the guest it is the governing association of each sport that decides what athletes playing that sport should wear and that the athlete(s) have no say in the matter and if a woman athlete did not want to wear some skimpy suit she would not be allowed to participate in the sport competetion.
Outrageous. It makes you womder who are the people who get to decide what an athlete should wear and of course this exclusively is anissue that only relates to female athletes. Probably there must be something to be found out about the governing bodies that determine the dress codes of certain sports and athletics.
Just like certain doctors would recommend certain brands of medications or overrecommend certain medications because a certain pharmaceutical company pays a doctor to do so, certain individuals who are members of a governing body must be paid or somehow incentivised by the television industry and/or the manufacturers of skimpy women's clothing or athletic apparel so as to make rules that require women athletes to dress in such a way.
After all, the idea is that when well- known women athletes wear those horridly sexist bikinis or skirts or whatever that are more appropriate for a hooker to wear in a brothel, more of those suits will become popular and get sold , and by the way it should be illegal for young girls such as female gynnasts tend to be, to perform in thongs as if they were pole dancers.
The sad thing is that people think that it is oppressive to women to have them wear body-covering clothing and that women athletes from Saudi Arabia or Iran are "set back" because their culture gets in the way of doing what it takes to run or swim or move fast.
As far as the "practicality" of women beach volleyball players wearing skimpy bikinis because shorts and t-shirts would "not work" since the sand will get into the clothing and restrict movement, how come male beach volleyball players wear shorts and some kind of modified t-shirt?
Women's beach volleyball has really become a circus of objectification.
It seems that there could some kind of biker-like shorts that are tight enough to prevent a lot of sand from getting into them and likewise for a more-tasteful top or shirt.
Also, as far as I know marathon running does not require women to wear any particular kind of "suit" or "uniform"
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.