Comments on: Read ‘em: Elsewhere in beauty standards

By: Emma Brown

Emma Brown — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:41:08 +0000

When I was a college then varsity runner, and played indoor volleyball in college, bun hugger briefs were mandatory right across the State and AFAIK nationally throughout the sports. I didn’t give them a second thought, to me they were comfortable and looked professional.

Now, 25 years on, my daughter is moving from a college where she ran in shorts to a varsity team that mandates bun huggers. She’s majorly nervous about making the switch. I can’t help thinking if they’d been standard issue in college she wouldn’t have had this concern now.

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:34:02 +0000

An article from the Star Tribune today – the comments…speak for themselves I suppose.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/olympics/27159779.html

By: wiscck

wiscck — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:24:57 +0000

The thing that I think is terrible is that quite a few male beach volleyball players would prefer to play shirtless, since it’s cooler and there’s not the extra fabric, which makes it easier to get net violations, but they’re not allowed to.

Really, unless there’s a safety issue, athletes should be allowed to wear pretty much whatever they want to. In a lot of cases there is a reason behind the skimpier clothing – in gymnastics, a high-cut leg hole gives the appearance of longer legs, which can make your performance look more artistic and graceful, thus giving you a higher score. But if someone wanted to wear, say, boy-cut shorts (which, judging by all the practice film, is what they wear when not in competition), they should be allowed to.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:37:04 +0000

I’d noticed the disparity in the outfits as well, especially in the beach volleyball.

I have, however, seen men not only in the budgie-smugglers, but also showers and in the hot tub! Shock horror! I admit, this was in the men’s synchronised diving, so limited to one occasion, but I just thought I’d put it out there that there was /some/ coverage. Not very much, but oh well.

By: MargB

MargB — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:54:47 +0000

I felt so sick when I read what had happened at the Olympic opening ceremony to Lin and Yang – one girl denied the spotlight because despite having the most beautiful voice she was not deemed “cute enough”; the other girl put up on stage an not even told that her voice would not be broadcast as they only wanted her for her image. It will be a miracle if either girl manages to grow up with healthy self-esteem.

By: StarWatcher

StarWatcher — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:08:32 +0000

Liza — And in diving the men are actually wearing
less than women (banana hammocks vs one-piece
racing suits).

At first glance, it seems that the amount of coverage is
reversed for men and women divers. But the women’s suits
kept bothering me, so I did a little analysis the other night.

Male divers — suits are tight and skimpy, but the bottom
hem goes down almost to the crease where leg joins
buttocks, and the side of the suit is cut at the same level.
Female divers — the bottom hem is halfway up their
buttocks, giving a distinct ‘wedgie’ effect, and the side is
cut so high over the hip that they feel obliged to “tug”
everything down as they exit the pool. I haven’t seen one
man need to “tug”; their suits, even though skimpy, are cut
to stay in place. And, as someone pointed out — how the
camera lingers as the women adjust their suits for comfort.

By: atiton

atiton — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:03:19 +0000

@Pat: I think it might actually be a myth that the beach volleyball players have to wear the skimpy two-pieces. They have a choice between a one-piece and a two-piece bathing suit. If, however, the two-piece is chosen, the bottom part cannot be more than 7cm high on the sides.

There does not seem to be any room in the regulations for any type of shorts.

See page 42 here for the regulations for the Athens games:

http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyBall/Competitions/Olympics/WATH2004/2004%20Specific%20Events%20Regulations.pdf

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:40:47 +0000

Does anyone have a link to the Olympics dress code requiring women to wear such skimpy outfits?

By: LS

LS — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:48:51 +0000

I played volleyball in high school. First year we wore short but loose shorts and t-shirts. Second year they decided to get these bike-short type things. They rode up horribly on me, although it seemed to be less a weight issue than a body shape issue, as the two other large girls didn’t experience the same trouble. I wore them with the same bike shorts I wore to practice underneath; the bike shorts were a much stiffer spandex and actually compressed my legs, as opposed to the uniform shorts which were more like tight-cut cotton with a little stretch to help get them on. This was worrisome at games because if my under-layer showed, I’d get in trouble with the refs for not being “in uniform.” They were utterly fanatical about that, to the point where one girl had a 10-minute argument with them about the lettering on her shirt being a different shade of blue. Because it had faded in the wash.

My senior year the coach decided she was tired of watching us roll up out shirt-sleeves, and we got skimpy tanks to go with the skimpy shorts. That year, one of the freshmen who joined the team was a very large girl. The shorts didn’t come in her size. Lord, the production my coach made out of finding a substitute uniform bottom… I felt so sorry for the girl. I told her so. Wish I’d told the coach too, but the coach already pegged me as Fatty McFat in her head and I was laying low on such matters. (Because Fatty McFats can’t play, y’see, and it’s dumb to put them on the court. Even if they’re better than your starting setter. I wanted play time, so I kept my mouth shut.)

By: Sweet Machine

Sweet Machine — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:47:50 +0000

uh, what?

Ditto! Learn to punctuation.