(23 Apr 2021, 20:53 )Culmor Wrote: [ -> ]What can I say? Madness.
German gymnasts' outfits take on sexualisation in sport - BBC News
Young, fit women considered to be sexy, shock, horror! I don't think covering their legs in shiny lycra is going to change that.
I read the article and I can only agree with her.
You come for the gymnastics, train for it etc, and then, when your leotard is not sexy enough because you want it to be a bit less uncomfortable they take off points......
Remember the Japanese gymnast in the previous olympics with about a whole forest in his armpits? They did not take points off for that.
With the legs it can be much more comfortable and they do not run the risk that if something moves a bit their photo will be in all newspapers.
Of course I prefer to see pretty girls in sexy leotards, but let us not mess up things.
It is not a bunny competition. That is a different thread.
Very true. They risk their lives for ... for what, actually? Sport is a strange thing. Fun to watch, pain to participate.
Quote:With the legs it can be much more comfortable
But catsuits are less comfortable, with legs goes a vertical seam through the crotch. Less comfortable and almost certainly leading to cameltoes. Just allow the gymnasts to wear dance tights under their leos, problem solved. OK, dance tights have centre seams but they're not under the same tension as those in catsuits.
Quote:They risk their lives for ... for what, actually?
Incidentally, safety is the reason the asymmetric bars became the uneven bars. In my Grumpy Old Man mode I thought it was just dumbing down but the apparatus is different in that the uneven bars are further apart. It prevents the gymnast standing on the upper bar and effectively falling on to the lower one, they have to leap instead. Landing repeatedly on a bar with all their weight on their lower abdomen isn't healthy for young women.
I'd also spotted this article and had been just a little puzzled by it all....
Firstly, to me at least, a gymnast in shiny leggings will almost always appeal more than one with bare legs.
Then there is the whole 'sexualisation' thing itself: I'd happily admit that an attractive, well toned, young lady will always appeal to me, but when I do watch gymnastics I'm always amazed by the sheer athletic prowess of the competitors and hardly notice what they're wearing.
Finally it's my turn to get into 'grumpy old man mode' - the biggest problem I have with gymnastics is people classing it as a sport - No its not! It's a performance, because all the scores of subjective (re: the comments about losing marks if your clothing isn't 'right').
I mean - someone does a triple back-flip, with quadruple Kasperov's (or whatever they're called) then a triple something else and all they can talk about is "Oh, they took a step on the landing, that's cost them points"!!!!! WTF? The gymnast was in the air for over a minute and flew like a swallow, but all the judges have a foot fetish so that's points lost???!!!!
Rant over 😁
MJ
9 Fascinating Facts About Team USA's Sparkly Leotards
Cosmo article by Charles Manning, AUG 10, 2016
The U.S. women's gymnastics team is dominating the competition at this year's Olympics in Rio — both with their sick flips and their sparkly leotards. Cosmopolitan.com spoke on the phone with Kelly McKeown, chief design officer and EVP of corporate relations for GK Elite, which has been making Team USA's Olympic leotards since 2000. Turns out there's a lot more to these leotards than just spandex and Swarovski crystals.
1. It takes two years to design and produce the leotards worn by the U.S. gymnastics team at the Olympics. "There's a lot of research and development that goes into it," says McKeown. "It's something you don't want to rush. If you want to use a new technique, if you want to experiment, then you have to wear-test it, you have to wash-test it, you have to make sure that it's not going to fail on the competition floor."
2. Sleeveless leotards are considered unpolished for competition, but covering your legs is frowned upon. According to McKeown, there is no rule against covering your legs, but when it does happen, people always notice and comment on it. Even if that wasn't the case, McKeown doesn't believe any of the women on the U.S. team would choose to do it. "There's a lot of beauty that can be put into the arm of a leotard that is part of the showmanship when you're moving your arms around and the design is so beautiful," says McKeown. "but I think it would be a little too much to have the legs covered, and with all the tumbling that they do, I don't think they would ever want that.
"There are athletes from countries with religious rules about skin exposure that have worn [coverings on their legs], but I haven't seen that at the Olympics. I don't think those countries are really that highly involved in the sport at this level. I can't speak with absolute authority on that, but I've been in the industry for a long time, and I know I've seen long legs, but in a random case where everybody talks about it like, Oh my gosh! Did you see that?"
3. Every leotard is custom-made to fit the athlete's body perfectly. "The athletes have such extreme body types that there is no way we could just cut a standard pattern," says McKeown. "For example, Simone Biles is incredibly muscular, but she's a mighty little package, so she has big shoulder and very little hips, so literally every part of her leotard is custom."
This custom fit is how McKeown ensures the leotards don't bunch or ride up when the athletes are competing. In other words, no wedgies or camel toes.
4. Athletes get up to three fittings for each leotard, the same number of fittings most women get for a wedding dress! McKeown and her team travel directly to the athletes, meeting up with them at competitions and training facilities to conduct the fittings in person. First, every athlete is measured. Then, prototype suits are brought for key athletes to try on before they are produced for the team as a whole.
It takes about four to six weeks to produce each leotard, at which point they are brought to the athletes for a preliminary fitting. The leotards are then adjusted and a second fitting is conducted just a few days before heading to the Olympics.
Usually, only two fittings are needed, but sometimes, due to training or stress, athletes bodies go through significant changes between the first and second fittings, in which case a third fitting is added, just to make sure everything is as close to perfect as possible.
5. Athletes also get custom bras and briefs to wear underneath their leotards. These are essential because exposed underwear can result in a deduction at competitions like the Olympics.
6. The athletes do not get to pick their own leotards. They offer their opinions at fittings and when testing out prototypes, but coach Martha Karolyi has the final say.
7. A female gymnast's Olympic wardrobe can cost up to $12,000 and many of the pieces will never even be seen at the Olympics. Each member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team gets 12 practice leotards, which cost between $60 and $200 each, and eight competition leotards, which cost between $700 and $1,200 each, depending on how many crystals are used in the design. With only four competition days and most members of the team not competing all four days, that means that many of the leos go unseen at the Olympics, although the athletes are welcome to wear them at other competitions later.
8. The leotards worn by Team USA in the qualification round had almost 5,000 crystals each. GK Elite only uses Swarovski crystals, which is part of why the leotards are so expensive.
9. The gymnasts do not pay for their competition wardrobes. USA Gymnastics, the national governing board for the sport of gymnastics in the United States, covers all those costs and more.
Sounds more like her case is one of personal insecurity - especially since she herself states she hasn't been duped yet, by this sexism.
The sexually biased judge phenomenon is probably a real issue from time to time, but I am sure there are plenty of female gymnasts who don't have any issue with the outfits as they are.
But hey, women's tennis was once also a very dress code strict sport and look what happened when the Williams sisters played.
I think there should be a certain freedom in the sport to allow different outfits - on the other hand, the article suggests that the standard leotards are cause of the sexism which I think is a misdiagnosis; symptom ≠ root issue.
(24 Apr 2021, 11:22 )madjack Wrote: [ -> ]the biggest problem I have with gymnastics is people classing it as a sport - No its not! It's a performance, because all the scores of subjective (re: the comments about losing marks if your clothing isn't 'right').
Like pretty much all jury/judge based competitions. E.g. wrestling, boxing. Even football. Beauty contests is also a sport 😁
As for the sport definitions, the wiki one sums it up quite nicely:
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators.
1- competition
2- any skill
3- entertainment
Quote:But hey, women's tennis was once also a very dress code strict sport and look what happened when the Williams sisters played.
Umm...it was fetishised? 😊
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