Positives and negatives of the Olympics.

When the Saudi team marched out at the OC, the women were at the back, walking behind the men!

yes, Casey, I'd rather much more invest in the competitor's choice of what to wear, than a fear of some people's judgement of it. The women on one team last night were wearing leggings and a t-shirt - their opponents where in bikini-style. Little chance of sand-intruding either way.

Blimey - precedent.

Melpomene there were loads of women in that section when you saw the close up shots.

I thought the suffragettes were great, and I think the fact that all countries have female competitors for the first time is fantastic.

Hated that Gary Lineaker spoke first when the BBC opened the coverage. Sue Barker does much more general sports presenting than he does, he mostly does the football and I think it is rude that he was given president.

DH and I were discussing the contrast between the men's and women's beach volleyball attire last night realistically, when you're dealing with sand either loose baggy clothing (so the sand falls out again once it gets in) or minimal skintight clothing (so the sand doesn't get in in the first place) are good options. And I can see that each sex's attire is a logical development of what that sex generally wears on a beach in the circumstances in which beach volleyball evolved so to a great extent is the "fault" of attitudes to appropriate beach attire rather than of the sport itself. If it had sprung up somewhere where men typically wear budgie-smugglers then it might all look far more equitable.

I rather enjoyed watching the women's synchronised diving this afternoon, with informative and respectful commentary from Leon Taylor. Beth Tweddle is almost always a joy to watch on the bars - I saw her qualifying routine.

Re: gym leotards - wait until you see the rhythmic gymnasts' outfits. DD is a rhythmic gymnast and there are some shockers, even at junior level. There are some people within the sport who want to go back to simple leotards in team colours, but commercial forces (TV/advertising pressure for high level, leo manufacturers themselves for junior/club level) aren't having it.

I've been watching both the men's and women's artistic gymnastics - the women all seem to wear shiny and/or sparkly leotards but I haven't seen any men wearing anything sparkly. For male gymnasts, their outfits were just clothes to wear while performing their sport; for female gymnasts the appearance of the leotard and hair/facial grooming almost seemed to be part of the act.

The contrast between the men's beach volleyball costumes (baggy knee length shorts and baggy tops) and the women's costumes is ridiculous.

During the opening ceremony, the suffragettes (and Mary Poppinses!) were great. However, the actors depicting workers in the industrial revolution looked to be overwhelmingly men, when in reality significant numbers of factory workers at that time were women and children. The second table on this page says 56.8% of factory workers in 1833 were female. Though I suppose the ceremony organisers might argue that they were focussing on the metal industry, which would have had far fewer women workers than (say) the cotton industry.

I was thinking that too - they are all so sweet and small and huggy and like a happy family.

It is, isn't it? Are the men sparkly too, I've not seen any?

It is rather nice the way the American women all go and air-kiss each other at the ends of things, and the others hug. Especially when some of them are 15/16 and there's that teen-girl stereotype of 'mean girls'.

Gymnatsics seems very sparkly.

Loving the flurry of makeup recs on Feminism.

Still seems odd to me, but each to their own I suppose.

www.makeupforever.com/360-pro/aquatic-ballet.html,9,3,0,0,13#.UBWby7R8Cb8
If it works for swimmers, it'll work for sweaty gymnasts.

I'm not so sure the beach women were unwise to play in skimpy stuff. I was a fairly meh about the entire sport, but seeing some of both men and women games you can see why the less clothes the better for both sexes. And I'm not seeing much difference between their attire and that of the track athletes.

Or maybe they have super waterproof eyeliner - can we get them onto S&B to tell us what they use?

True, I'm just watching the gymnastics and it's amazing.

I liked how one of the commentators has just said 'she's enjoying this', which just seemed lovely too.

Not sure what I make of the fuck-off heavy eye-makeup though ... I mean, each to their own but it's a strange look IMO. Surely if you sweat it runs into your eyes?

I saw the Regency girls and thought they were very Jane Austen-ish :)

I like seeing all the muscular thighs and general strongness of the female competitors. Strength and fitness vs just thin-ness.

Plus: Women's archery was awesome (loving the big glasses look), as was Beth Tweddle on the bars. Those things scare the life out of me, I keep expecting a gymnast to come off flying twirling across the hall...

Minus: Women's beach volleyball. Yeah complicated I know as they chose to get their kit off, but depressing nonetheless that they feel the need to do it. However on the plus side they did win.

I did think: WHY? Why, when you're making the point that you are playing a serious sport that isn't just about jiggling in bikinis, would you play a piece of music that is associated with scantily-clad, large-breasted women running around to be ogled? Although I suppose they could be trying to reclaim it, à la 'Slutwalk'.

Benny Hill being played at the beach volleyball was a definite downer www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jul/28/london-2012-beach-volleyball-horse-guards?intcmp=239

And it does have the same connotations elsewhere, at least it does in parts of the US, where Benny Hill is huge

Oh, that's true fallen. Still!

As I say, it wasn't my point, but one that interested me.

edith - oh, yes, she's awesome! 'Quiet baby, mummy's shooting'.

And a plus: the participation of the (possibly) most pregnant competitor: Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi of Malaysia (8months+).

Big minus: commentators still referring to "girls and men"

Also, the Benny Hill theme tune at the beach volleyball (yes, it has different connotations beyond UK, but not what I'd expected to hear here).

'Caliban's speech is the speech of a would-be rapist'
Who was caught and punished for his intentions.

Ahhh, I didn't see that dilys! Oh, that's lovely.