Sportswear..question on behalf of dh

@Peakpants I can't talk for other sports like beach volleyball but in athletics they 100% do choose. All athletes could wear cycling shorts to their knees and vests in international competitions.

Sometimes it's mandated by the sport. I knew someone who played beach volleyball at international level. Iirc, there was a maximum size of knickers allowable for competition. She was not happy about it.

Oh and I presume her DH asked the question because he felt that female athletes were being degraded, not because he personally got a hard-on watching them

Answers like this make me wonder how feminist some of these posters are. Come on- they choose to and they don’t give a shit if men wank over them? Nice bit of neoliberalism there! It’s a good question and my guess is that it is part of the wider pattern of female athletes not being taken as seriously as male athletes and not being paid as much. It’s a form of degrading and devaluing them, in the same way that bars that stipulate ‘sexy’ uniforms and offices that insist on high heels do.

I wear a short top with my leggings to the gym purely because there are no long gym tops available.
I would prefer to cover my bum but the only gym like tops that do that are men's baggy T-shirt's and I want a fitted top so I can see my progress!

I think the OP is getting a bit of stick for asking the question. I presume she means ‘is this what athletes would wear if they could have an absolutely free choice’. And when you think that for, say, pop stars, I presume it isn’t, it is a valid question.

Pole fitness is incredibly demanding. We wear stuff that shows skin for grip - some moves need side grip, most need leg grip and some need armpit grip. I'm constantly covered in bruises from the pole, it's painful and hard on your core

And another thing....how is what he is saying any better than saying women who get a breast out to breastfeed in public are showing themselves off to men and therefore shouldn't be respected as mothers? In both cases women are doing what's required to get the job done, the male gaze has got nothing to do with it, and in fact the last thing you want in either situation.

Women, on average, run with more hip abduction and internal rotation

What an awful, biology obsessed, thing to say.

Some people who are women run in that way, others don't. So what if not doing so gives an advantage? So what if the women who's hips are differently aligned have penises and more muscle mass? It's all just a quirk of biology and you can't discuss it or you're a Nazi.

On a final note, I'm sure the athletes don't give a f* if men sitting in their armchairs and wanking over their outfits respect them.

By the way, I'm not saying your dh shouldn't find athletes sexy, but to undermine their sporting achievements and all they've worked for just because he gets a stiffy looking at what they're wearing just sounds like woman-hating.

GemmeFatale I'm not an expert, but I do know that competitive dancing is more like gymnastics or using the trapeze and doesn't involve the kind of gyrating that you'd get in a strip club. I don't think it's a feminist act as 3rd wavers do, but I do think it can be quite beautiful at requires a lot of athletic ability.

Well pole dancing in its current form traces back to travelling circuses and the like.

Mallakhamba goes back to the 12th century and I’d say the more sporty/competitive side of pole dance holds as much, if not more in common with that form.

Also, what would be the alternative? The clothing would have to be tight fitting for athletics or else it would hinder motion, men would still be tugging themselves off if these women were wearing tight catsuits. Men sexualize women for whatever work they do - athlete, office worker, nurse, businesswoman etc etc it's a way for them to degrade an otherwise powerful woman and feel in control when faced with a woman who poses a threat to their manhood, so perhaps tell your dh to have a think about why he doesn't respect a woman who's dedicated her life to a sport to reach the pinnacle of athletic achievement simply because she's wearing short shorts.

I think the wording is actually along the lines of “adequate coverage of the chest area” - in particular front fastening tops must be fastened. I think most triathletes would understand that wording to be a prudish reference to nipples. Got no problem with nipples myself but there’s zero chance of not wearing a sports bra while running.

This question is a bit like asking if an intensive care nurse wears a uniform because she's trying to turn on her patients.
How does that help teach men to respect them for their athletic capability?
The drooling idiots probably don't have a fraction of these women's sporting ability for a start, so I dunno, perhaps they should consider that perhaps women are sentient beings and not everything they do is done for male approval.

I'd love to see your dh ask Jade Jones that question

Half a minute's thought answers the question: fashion. In many sports there's a uniform - martial arts, eventing, football, most team sports. These are about tradition (I can spar just as well in leggings and t-shirt as my gi, but eh, why would you when there's all that history and pride attached to the white suit?), team cohesion, that sort of thing. Individual sports like running give more range for individual expression, and with the advance of technical fabrics, of course people are going to play about with expression and style. There's a fantastic but very obscure book which traces the evolution of Victorian bathing costumes through the development of man-made fabrics, and the shortages after the wars caused a real culture change in female dress of all kinds.

I'm actually seeing the reverse in swimming - women are turning up in swimsuit-fabric shorts and t-shirts which cover far more than the traditional one-piece suit or even tanking. To me they look impractical and ride up on the belly, but again, eh, if it gets women in the pool, so be it. I can see why anyone with body issues from fat to scarring, or modesty concerns, might make that choice, and more power to them. Likewise if you're more comfortable in less, so be it.

it doesn't' change the fact that it has been sexualised for men

That seems like a rather disingenuous comparison considering pole dancing was conceived for titillation. Criticising or dismissing the sport (or, worse, the athletes) itself because it's been sexualised places the blame on women.

There’s a rule in triathlon events that nobody can show their nipples

I'm glad it extends to both sexes but is there a reason for this bit of victorian fear of nipples?

There’s a rule in triathlon events that nobody can show their nipples - it’s led to disqualification when male athletes unzip their cycling/running tops in hot conditions. Some have got round this by wearing a cropped bra-like top.

I wear fairly short shorts and vest (not cropped though) as like a pp I tend to get very, very hot whilst exercising - to the point that this is what I was comfortable running in during 8 degree torrential rain earlier this week. 🤷‍♀️ I do worry a bit that people think I’m after attention (couldn’t be further from the truth) , which is ridiculous and sad as I’m sure a man wouldn’t think the same.

That's another point, if you're wearing a sports bra (as you must) and a t-shirt then you're wearing an extra layer compared to the men, and a close fitting synthetic fabric one too. Even tops that have an incorporated bra still have an extra layer for support.

Getting caught short is a real concern for serious runners isn't? I don't think I could ever do a job that meant I could risk shitting myself in front of millions of people.

dangermouseisace you should do the crop top thing anyway, f* anyone else.

If I were younger I’d do the crop top thing. My running bra has 2 layers of man made fabric and it doesn’t half get hot in the summer... just running in the bra would be more comfortable. And I read Paula Radcliffe saying she had a poo in her knickers during one race and from the discussions she had it wasn’t obvious to others. Maybe tight elastic pants have better poo holding properties!