Nike’s official kits for the US women competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics were described as “a garment born of patriarchy” by one track athlete and “treating women as equal citizens”. both” is a comment on Nike’s Instagram page for a skimpy reason. swimsuit shape and leotards.
Meanwhile, France has been criticized for its decision to ban its sportswomen from wearing the hijab.
Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed international athletes to wear the hijab, French sportswomen will still be banned from wearing their chosen clothing during the Summer Olympics, which started on Friday and continue until August 11.
Whether it’s a matter of sexy clothing or a ban on the headscarf worn by some Muslim women, the orders can hinder women’s freedoms and needs, activists say. Women should be allowed to wear clothes they feel comfortable in, they say.
Let’s look at the controversy surrounding women’s athletic attire.
Why have Nike’s Olympic kits been criticized?
In April, the first appearance of Nike equipment for men and women in the US sports teams for the Paris Olympics were released by Citius Mag, a website about track and field.
The men’s clothing is a tank top and shorts that hit below the toes of the mannequin he is wearing. For women, the kit is a leotard with a high bikini line, which draws attention to female athletes.
“A garment born of patriarchal power” is how US track and field athlete Lauren Freshmen described the kit in an Instagram post.
He said: “If this garment was very good for physical activity, men would wear it.
Jaleen Roberts, an American Paralympic athlete, wrote about a picture of Nike’s new equipment: “This mannequin is standing and everything is visible…
One commenter on Nike’s Instagram page wrote: “Shame, shame, shame on Nike for treating women like second class citizens with their Olympic apparel.”
However, some athletes pointed out that female athletes will have a wide variety of designs to choose from, and can choose to wear men’s kits if they wish.
Katie Moon, an Olympic champion, said: “I absolutely love women’s bodyguards, but we have at least 20 different uniforms to compete in and all the surfaces we have. .”
Sports giant Nike defended the apparel by saying, “The goal was to provide options that satisfy athletes’ desires for choice, comfort and performance.”
It described the app as “the most athlete-informed, data-driven and visually integrated the company has ever produced”.
Why has France banned the hijab for its athletes?
In September, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera justified the hijab ban by saying the government was against the display of religious symbols during the world’s biggest athletics event.
The IOC decided that athletes are free to wear a headscarf. However, French athletes are still subject to the rules of their sports federation and are not allowed to wear the hijab during sports.
Muslims make up about 10 percent of France’s population, and human rights experts say the hijab ban is part of a move by policymakers to “reconstruct” France’s “laicite” culture ( secularism) to distinguish Muslim women and girls in French society. They are considering laws to ban the scarf and the abaya, a loose, long-sleeved dress, in public schools by 2004 and 2023, respectively.
Timothee Gauthierot, a basketball coach in the Paris district of Noisy-le-Sec, told Al Jazeera that there are. few hijab-wearing girls who dream of becoming professional athletes in France because “there is a lot of discrimination” against them. “We don’t let them get to that level,” he said.
However, this is not a story that started in April or September. Female athletes have long been unhappy with the sports equipment they have to wear.
When have female athletes fought against kit rules before?
- Leaving 1934-1997, The uniform of the England women’s cricket team was white blouses and white split skirts. The pants were introduced only in 1997 following the demands of female players.
- To 2018, American tennis champion Serena Williams wore a red and black full body suit during the French Open. She had just given birth and the suit was specially designed to stop the bleeding. The World Tennis Association (WTA) did not have a clear rule against wearing a full suit for tennis tournaments. However, his outfit sparked outrage, prompting the head of the French Tennis Federation to impose a new dress code, banning the suit from the upcoming French Open.
- However, for 2019 timeThe WTA has announced it will allow leggings or compression shorts to be worn by women without skirts after criticism and pushback.
- To July 2021, Norway’s women’s beach handball team has decided to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms to a match as part of their dress code commitment. They were fined 150 euros ($177) per player as a result. On the other hand, men had the right to wear shorts as long as they were four inches above the knees and did not have too many pockets.
- During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the German women’s gymnastics team wore ankle-length bodysuits instead of bikini-cut unitards, which were said to be too revealing. “We wanted to show that every woman, every person, should decide what to wear,” team member Elisabeth Seitz told CNN.
Do sports equipment laws keep women out of professional sports?
It depends on who you ask because there is little research on the topic.
New Zealand’s Massey University faculty conducted a study to examine the impact of a similar plan on the self-confidence of female athletes. Those findings were published in February.
The research, which interviewed women from various sports in New Zealand’s National Sports Associations, showed that the manufacture of sports equipment “may contribute to increased anxiety in female athletes, particularly -mainly about the appearance of the body, the appearance of menstrual blood and the appearance of underwear while wearing them. uniform”.
English hockey player Tess Howard also researched this as a student at Durham University, concluding that gendered sports equipment such as skirts often led teenage girls to drop out of the sport. Her research involving more than 400 women was published in April. 70 percent of the women interviewed said they have seen girls quit sports because of sportswear that causes physical discomfort.
The University of Victoria in Australia conducted a survey of 727 girls to find out what they believe about sports uniforms. Sixty-five percent did not want to wear dresses during school sports.
Are women’s sports equipment too sexual?
Experts say that one reason why many women are excluded from professional sports is that female athletes are often more concerned about their dress and body shape than their ability and performance. see.
“It’s unfortunate that so often, so much attention is focused on the way female athletes look, as opposed to their strength, hygiene and performance,” Danette Leighton, CEO of the Women’s Sports Association founded New York, he told Al Jazeera in a written statement. .
“We believe that clothing should help athletes feel empowered to do their best, not cover up their efforts or cause them to be scrutinized unnecessarily.
Leighton said: “There is an opportunity for governing bodies, sponsors and all stakeholders to think and be inclusive.”
#Paris #Olympics #controversy #focuses #sexist #womens #sports #equipment