Beach volleyball’s never-ending joust over bikini uniforms
‘If the <skin-tight> uniform was so great and enhanced your ability to move, then males would be wearing speedos. But they’re not’
The Australian Sports Commission complained to the FIVB after a rule change in 1999, saying the sport’s governing body “introduced uniforms intentionally to focus attention on the athletes’ bodies rather than for any technological, practical or performance-enhancing reasons.” Namely, women were told they had to wear a bikini. The new regulation quickly drew scorn from some top female competitors of the day, like American Gabrielle Reece, who told CNN: “You take one step, that bathing suit goes straight up. You’re always yanking and fiddling.” Reece preferred her long Lycra tights.
But rules were rules. “They were essentially told if they don’t wear it, they don’t play,” Weaving says.
And yet, the majority of the female competitors still choose to wear the bikini, even with other options available to them. “I don’t blame the players,” Weaving says. “That’s really important. It’s not their fault. The blame needs to be on the systemic sexist federation and culture that that’s how women feel they need to dress.”
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I'm not sure whether the rules have been changed for federation play or just for the Olympics - ? As far as I can tell the change is ONLY for the Olympics.
And we should keep in mind that this isn't all just a matter of choice for elite athletes, even if it were.
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Why are girls volleyball shorts so short?
That led to a quick and fraught education on volleyball fashion. My daughter found the shorts she wanted at a sporting goods store, but I was sure she had made a mistake. These were tight, stretchy and short. Crazy short. Cage dancer at a Vegas nightclub short.
Those must be a bikini bottom, I thought, not a piece of athletic gear. I refused to buy them.
This dichotomy comes up again and again in sports from tennis to track and field: Male athletes wear clothes seemingly designed for the activity, while female athletes are criticized for wearing clothes that appear scantier than required.
While this could be due to personal choice, cultural pressure or a calculated ploy for attention (looking at you, beach volleyball), the overall effect threatens to turn female athletes into sex objects. Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA and one of the most powerful figures in sports, summed up this attitude while pondering ways to increase the popularity of women's soccer:
"Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball," he said. "They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so."
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