Sarah Voss - sexualisation of costumes in gymnastics

The full body suit looks so much better imo, surprised how much tbh

It looks so much nicer.
I really do hope it's accepted internationally

Fabulous. Also the gymnast looks so much stronger and more, well, sporty in the full body suit.

When I saw this news last night, there were lots of supportive comments under the article, plus a sizeable amount by men saying "No point in watching anymore if they wear this". Now, if I were organising a sport at a national level and knew men were watching it for sexual thrills, I'd be wanting to make sure my sportswomen (and girls!) weren't being used sexually, even indirectly, to increase revenues, but were instead being viewed for their talent and skill.

Exactly. This IS an issue, and people have to keep the comments turned off on youtube videos of children's gymnastics because of it.

@midgedude if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

And if gymnastics deducts points for 'a line under a costume' then that needs stopping right now. I know that sports with an 'artistic' section are always iffy but that could be easily solved.

And we still have examples like Venus Williams and her wearing a bloody tutu after having been told her jumpsuit wasn't good enough for tennis!

So many men hankering after female sports always being like that Athena poster!!

I think gymnasts get points deducted in competition for having any line under their suits, so can't wear bras as well as pants.

The first time I went to a children's gymnastics competition was to watch a friend's son. I felt really uncomfortable with what the girls were wearing. I felt embarrassed actually to be an adult watching preteen girls doing the splits etc. in such skimpy clothing. I'd never seen gymnastics off the TV. Nobody was perving, but it just didn't feel right. I think the girls should wear what they want but the question isn't that, it's why would adults want to watch girls in such little clothing? However, it's even a hard question to ask because there's an implication that everybody watching is perving. I don't think they are at all, I think that you just get totally used to seeing leotards and don't see it with fresh eyes.

For every gymnast on TV, that are literally thousands of girls on a Saturday morning turning up at local gyms for competitions. They're mostly all wearing leotards and have no alternative if they want to keep doing their sport. It's actually ridiculous.

I hope this really opens the way for gymnasts, most of whom across the sport are under the age of consent, to wear something else.

When I saw this news last night, there were lots of supportive comments under the article, plus a sizeable amount by men saying "No point in watching anymore if they wear this". Now, if I were organising a sport at a national level and knew men were watching it for sexual thrills, I'd be wanting to make sure my sportswomen (and girls!) weren't being used sexually, even indirectly, to increase revenues, but were instead being viewed for their talent and skill.

The new costume shows off (in a good way) how muscular her legs are.

Gymnasts have a pretty limited shelf life once they reach a certain age so the majority of their time in the career spent in skimpy leotards is as children. That’s what concerns me. The boys and young men have always worn very tight outfits too? I know whatever any gymnast wears needs to be practical, but some of the children in particular have to wear very revealing ‘outfits’z

Another German athlete - Elizabeth Seitz

www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/german-gymnasts-compete-at-euros-in-bodysuits--hail--important-signal--14683756

I like the look of that full-length leotard. It's much more sensible. I always disliked the costume inequity in gymnastics. It bothered me to see girls being expected to have such a tight-fitting, revealing costume fitted right in to their crotch when boys just wore shorts and a vest. Why can't the girls wear shorts and a vest? There's just no reason for them to have such tight-fitting clothes but I like the look of the full-body leotard with sleeves and covered legs, like Sarah Voss wear.

Same with ice-skating. Girls in flimsy 'skirts' but basically showing their underwear underneath while the boys wear leggings and vests. I don't know how these traditions started but they need to end.

The options then are

Wear tiny clothes
Wear all covering clothes

It's a reflection of the real life attitudes to women. There was a cartoon with a woman between two men. One covers her, the other one uncovers her. Two sides of the same coin.

In many sports the attire changes through the years. Footballer shorts were v skimpy in the 70s as an example.

I also think the idea that women's sports are optimised when women wear very little while men can do them fine in more clothes is a pretty iffy.

True, curious.

Yes, I don't see how anyone could reasonably object to this. They such trust women to know what they feel most comfortable and safest in. I'd be interested to see if people do object, and if they come up with reasons that aren't based on wanting to see women in skimpy outfits.

It did sound to my ears more like rationalisation to justify than anything else

Jeez, sounds like no one should be doing this sport.

And yes, regarding track and field - females have to run in bra and small knickers while men wear practical kit. Why?

It looks excellent and appropriate for professional athletes. It’s time female sports competitors were allowed to dress in clothes which are suitable for the activity, not trussed up like they’re competing in a retrogressive beauty pageant.

Erm, really?

The leotard allows fingers to probe when a gymnast is being held, guided, caught during a move.

Wearing an all in one won't stop the hand that supports from 'feeling' the body beneath it, but it will stop the skin on skin contact, the fingers inside the elastic, the most intimate touching.

And if this woman, and others, tell you that they feel safer, less likely to be molested or leched at if they wear a full body suit, why would you choose to question their feelings based on their experience?

She, and others want to push the control they have over what they wear because they think it will make a difference. That it will help while they continue to train and compete, waiting for the NGB to catch up and make some real changes. Don't ridicule it.

No it wasn't purgatory but I dread to think.

The idea it will stop sexual abuse is bonkers.

Let's not focus on that though- it's a brave move and a statement so well done.

I disagree with the notion that legs on a leotard will protect against sexual abuse (predators).

Gerbil, I think that might be an oblique reference to the nature of the comments that get left on gymnastics videos by male viewers, which get seen by the girls who also watch the videos.

Love it. Good for her.

The leotards have got tinier and tinier. They didn't used to not cover the arse etc.

And when they do eg a splits handstand it's just, how many women and girls would feel genuinely comfy with that.

Also getting points deducted when they pull it out their arse? I mean FFS.

The thing I was ??? was I think it said something about tackling sexual abuse which seemed a bit strange.

Great news. I hope all sports that women do take note. Clothing needs to be fit for purpose. No more.

I hated the leotards as a gymnast, especially when I started my periods and growing pubic hair and getting fat on my thighs.

They say we need them but male gymnasts didn't have to wear them. I was longing for a pair of shorts.

Thank goodness for that. I hope the track and field kits follow this trend. How can it possibly be comfortable to have skimpy pants disappearing up your bottom? (Not to mention an y other considerations)