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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That having a bikini wax shouldn't be a necessary part of any job?

794 replies

ThatsWotSheSaid · 16/08/2016 09:49

I've been watching the amazing gymnastics at the olympics and every time I can't help but wonder if they are all happy to have such revealing gym costumes. I would hate to have a camera doing a slow mo when I'm legs akimbo in the air wearing so little even if the camera angles seem to be discrete.

I have tried to look up if there is a rule about the cut and if they wanted could they wear little shorts but I can't find anything. I did read if they remove a wedgie they get marked down?!

AIBU to think that in this day and age it seems a bit odd that these elite athletes need to be so scantily clad and that they probably have more to worry about than waxing, ingrowing hairs and itchiness in the run up to the games?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
meck · 18/08/2016 12:55

These days they tend to wear nude underwear for exams and performances. It's not something you could be marked down for in exams in any case, underwear showing

VitreousEnamel · 18/08/2016 13:31

Male cyclists and swimmers wax/shave too to improve aerodynamics

JacquettaWoodville · 18/08/2016 13:46

Vitreous, the thread title is about bikini waxing

Cyclists and swimmers of both sexes shave legs for aerodynamic reasons. This makes sense as any advantage eg helmet shape etc is seized on.

InformalRoman · 18/08/2016 14:34

It's not proven that shaving makes much difference to aerodynamics for swimmers - it's more about changing the feel of the water to give the sensation of being faster and a psychological boost.

TheRugbyValkyrie · 18/08/2016 16:24

Cool1Cat - you beat me to it!
The article was absolutely fascinating. Who knew that keeping your devil's beard would lead to such fantastic results and no pressure sores in 6 months?
www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals

JigglypuffsCaptor · 18/08/2016 16:33

So it's ok to be told to keep pubic hair against your wishes for sport, but not ok to be told to get rid of it against your wishes for sport Confused I'm sorry you can't have it both ways!

SoupDragon · 18/08/2016 16:56

Cool1Cat - you beat me to it!

Actually, Sootica posted it back on Tuesday.

SoupDragon · 18/08/2016 16:59

So it's ok to be told to keep pubic hair against your wishes for sport

Being told to keep it because it will stop you being in pain from sores is hardly the same is it?!

JigglypuffsCaptor · 18/08/2016 17:05

But what if you were happy with the pain or you weren't affected, and then had a e-mail saying no you have to keep it? That would be unfair would it not?

But I'm guessing your going to say "there is no comparison" so people can keep shouting about how unfair and sexist it is Grin

Dozer · 18/08/2016 18:00

Neither is OK!

JudyCoolibar · 18/08/2016 18:55

I thought the whole point of women cyclists being encouraged not to shave is that none of them were happy with the pain they were suffering? Indeed, why would they be?

clicknclack · 18/08/2016 19:20

MrsMac, I live in Southern California where beach volleyball is so popular that you find courts in business centers in the same way you might find a basketball hoop or a gym at a large company. Trust me, you do not want to wear full length anything for the vast majority of the year, sand or no sand.

At London 2012 some of the players did wear long sleeves and leggings though because the matches were at night and it was chilly. That isn't really the case here or in Hawaii where it is really popular.

TaraCarter · 18/08/2016 19:32

So it's ok to be told to keep pubic hair against your wishes for sport, but not ok to be told to get rid of it against your wishes for sportI'm sorry you can't have it both ways!

Well, now this has jumped the shark.

There is no comparison between:

  1. being told to wear blah-di-blah-di-blah, or being told to wax, or having to wax because whatever giddy clothes designer didn't consult you about a leotard,

and

  1. being given medical advice for a complaint you yourself raised!

Or would you normally kick up holy hell about being "made" to do x, if a physiotherapist suggested some particular exercises for an issue?

JigglypuffsCaptor · 18/08/2016 19:43

But what if you were on the cycling team and didn't share the same complaint, by then felt forced to copy the others, you know like those gymnasts, only shaving and waxing because the others are?

But again I know you won't see it this way, keeping pubes is a ok, getting rid is horrid and due to sexist male pressure.

TaraCarter · 18/08/2016 19:55

Because people commonly feel forced to take medical advice for non-visible complaints they don't have, don't they?

Indeed, I remember it well as a teenager. Along with begging for the latest trainers and a lava lamp, I also wanted athlete's foot cream and insulin injections to be like the other girls in my class.

Oh wait...

I'd understand where you were coming from if you'd said women (why does that article call the team "girls"?) would feel they were losing out on their chance of winning by shaving, in a similar way to how some past athletes have felt obliged to take performance enhancing medication.

TaraCarter · 18/08/2016 20:00

On a sidenote, to be honest though, until they do a careful study, I'm going to think it's tilting the saddles that made the biggest difference. The pubic hair bit is just the bit that made it mediaworthy.

I wonder why they didn't tilt their saddles before... Oh, yeah, it was because they couldn't, because it was against regulations...

Where have I heard that one before.

TheRugbyValkyrie · 18/08/2016 23:35

Jiggly - if female cyclists chose to depilate against the advice of the team medics then that is their choice.If they subsequently get saddle sores - lesson learnt.
It is ADVICE, not mandatory. No one is going to see either way.
I understand why leotards are cut they way they are but it still bothers me that these girls and young women feel that they must conform to the pube-police. On the other hand could you imagine the furore that would erupt if a gymnast went au naturel? Any confidence that young woman had would be utterly destroyed in a heartbeat.
In order to become elite athletes these people make many sacrifices but self-confidence should not be one of the.
The saddle angle regulation is an interesting one because men had problems too. When the British team showed their evidence to UCI the governing body changed the rule. I would imagine that the rule was set there wasn't the scientific evidence to contradict it

JigglypuffsCaptor · 19/08/2016 09:34

Yea your all right, I think you should keep any daughters you have out of this horrendous sexist sport till its changed. Maybe boycott some gyms, that would be a fab idea! Crying 5 year olds in baggy bottoms and t-shirts will really be fantastic.

So now please stay away from the sport of gymnastics and kindly turn it off in protest. I feel you would be doing the world of sport a favour. Smile

Oh and women's diving that's atrocious to, you know what anything that a woman may be partly undressed and chooses to be different from what is obviously the best option to you a full set of pubic hair and fully clothed stay away from, don't get involved in the sport and don't watch it Grin

Felascloak · 19/08/2016 09:41

In order to become elite athletes these people make many sacrifices but self-confidence should not be one of them what? Are you seriously suggesting the gymnasts/divers/beach volleyball players have no self confidence? Because that's complete bollocks. I agree with a PP, spending lots of my teenage years in a leotard (and the muscles and flat stomach that came with the exercise) gave me amazing body confidence.
Gosh, this thread is weird......

MrsLion · 19/08/2016 09:58

Why on earth do people assume that people are removing pubic hair against their will?

For people out in the real world pubic hair removal is as much of a non-event as getting a hair cut or shaving legs. There is no moral dilemma, there is no breach of human rights or crushing pressure to please men. Hair is simply removed if you want to.

This idea that public hair is sacred and Different To All Other Hair and by removing it you are some pathetic, downtrodden stepford wife is ludicrous and frankly quite patronising.

SpeakNoWords · 19/08/2016 10:08

I don't think too many people are saying otherwise MrsLion. The discussion, to me, is about the fact that the clothing for gymnastics seems to make it obligatory to be hairless. People were discussing whether it was actually compulsory, whether there is flexibility in what you're allowed to wear, and if so, why is it that no one seems to take up any of the alternate clothing options. The whole point is that each individual gymnast should be able to choose for herself the level of hair removal that she's comfortable with, without anything being required or heavily suggested.

MrsLion · 19/08/2016 10:16

Yes, this thread is very weird.
People are simply unable to comprehend that wearing a leotard is far from confidence-destroying for gymnasts, it's empowering. And so it should be- they are athletes with amazing bodies that do amazing things.
I know a lot of competitive gymnasts and truly, the last thing on their mind is 'does my bum look big in this?'
They are more concerned about breaking their elbow on a vault gone wrong, or showing off their splits. Hair removal? Meh. A non- event.

JigglypuffsCaptor · 19/08/2016 10:20

No MrsLion you are wrong!! Didn't you know they all must be forced by gunpoint to remove hair and wrestled in to a leotard against their will. Don't attempt a valid retort back, it won't be accepted 😂 Gymnastics is the work of the patriarchal devil, didn't you know?

MrsLion · 19/08/2016 10:23

Speak, there are no deductions for pubes on show. But why is choosing to remove seen as such a big deal?
There is flexibility in leotard cut and options for flesh coloured tights etc. but apart from a few gymnasts, most choose the bars legs, high cut look.

MrsLion · 19/08/2016 10:24

Jiggy Grin