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

[ThatsWotSheSaid]

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?

Sorry that was supposed to be 'bare' legs

As far as I am aware, gymnasts have no choice in the team leotard they wear.
Women wear leotards that either require removal of pubic hair or the scrutiny of the world's media. Hardly a choice. Men appear not to be held back by their "leotards with legs"

Incidentally, a lot of girls gave up gym on reaching puberty at my dd's club. Wearing a leotard was given as a contributing reason by many of them. They all had "shorties" but were only allowed to wear them for warming up.

TaraCarter wrote:
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.

That is almost certainly correct. As someone who has done a bit of cycling (recreational but some quite long distances). - the biggest thing for comfort is the saddle and it's position. Bought one bike with a mens saddle and it was agony after 20 minutes. Fitted a women's saddle and could go for hours. The tilting the saddle slightly down for women advice has been around for years. All they did, I guess, was study it more closely. The state of my pubes or lack of them never made a difference.

But bert they can wear flesh coloured leggings underneath, not a popular choice but a choice. I don't expect you to accept this though, they all must be forced and ridiculed in to the tiny sexist leotards that require forced pubic hair removal by patriarchal cretins!

And I'm sure the sport has survived after a handful of girls decided the costume wasn't for them, like in many other sports, because its a personal choice what we are happy to wear, and if you are not happy to wear regulation kit with or without regulation leggings then you can't compete, but again I know this argument won't be accepted and its the pressure of the patriarchy forcing young girls out of gymnastics.

No leggings of any colours allowed at my dd's club.

Why do you think women wear high cut leotards and men wear leggings?

Gymnasts at the top elite level choose their leotard. So can chose the cut.
At a lower level they get given their comp leotard. No complaints from any that I know, and they are more modest than the bikinis most girls of the same age chose to wear to the beach.

Boys have to wear 'unitards' Far more embarrassing for them than for the women actually.

Is your daughter happy to wear a leotard Bert?

Sorry choose not chose. Don't know why that happened

Bert then I suggest you download the British Gymnastics Regulation Handbook and highlight that leggings are allowed, and take it to the coaching staff.

We as coaches should never disallow regulation kit that gives an athlete a choice, or comfort/confidence.

So your issue is to do with a individual gym and not the sport as a whole, a isolated case.

The cut is also not that high, it must not be higher than the Iliac bone, you get higher cut swimming costumes.

Still high enough to mean that pubic hair has to go.

I don't think the coaches at dd's club would have known how much the girls didn't like wearing the leotards either. It was a pretty tight ship and they would have been worried about being seen as a trouble maker.

Just letting them leave their shorties on would have made a big difference.

An attitude I am finding it increasingly easy to understand, reading the comments of coaches on here!

My position on this,as a feminist, is that I find it far more concerning that we have to discuss the looks of female athletes at the top of their game.
The gymnasts have done extremely well this games, I don't think its coincidental that we've now had a few threads implying the gym is dangerous, its bad for them physically and mentally, they are forced into hair removal etc etc. We aren't discussing the divers or athletes the same way.
I think the gymnasts are successfully doing something that challenges our views of what girls should be (ladylike, modest, slender, body conscious) and these threads (and some of the wider media debate about the team being bitchy to each other especially gabby Douglas) are a backlash.
Its very sad.
I wish we could celebrate the fact the gymnasts are showing a generation of girls that its ok to be sporty, muscular and strong, that its valued and worth pursuing. But instead we have to analyse the state of their pubes :(

But it does not have to go, you will not loose marks for pubic hair!

I'm not a gymnastics coach, but I know of the tight ship you refer to. This is sometimes done to avoid arguments and snide remarks, if everyone is dressed the same in a club leotard everyone is equal.

In my sport athletes will always have different costumes and dresses to each other, so it's not a problem as such, but we ensure all dresses are to regulation to avoid point deduction.

Coaches have to run a tight ship at top level, what the coach says goes and its final. More time training less time arguing .

I tilted my saddle down yesterday and it was way more comfortable, just thought I'd add that

Gymnasts at the top elite level choose their leotard. So can chose the cut.At a lower level they get given their comp leotard. No complaints from any that I know, and they are more modest than the bikinis most girls of the same age chose to wear to the beach.

Boys have to wear 'unitards' Far more embarrassing for them than for the women actually.

Highlighting another sensible post (of which there are many knowledgeable posters answering the same questions over and over). Yes, the boys unitards far more embarrassing. The younger boys are always a bit when they get their first 'leotard'

And no, you don't get marked down for pubic hair!

"I wish we could celebrate the fact the gymnasts are showing a generation of girls that its ok to be sporty, muscular and strong, that its valued and worth pursuing. But instead we have to analyse the state of their pubes sad"

Couldn't agree more Felas. Less patronising commentary on awful it must be to have to remove pubes or wear a certain uniform. And more celebration of dedication, hard work and sheer talent.

This is an interesting article, good to see that athletes like the Williams sisters are being great role models across different sports.

No, you won't lose marks for pubic hair.

But can you just imagine the media attention on the woman who didn't?

"I wish we could celebrate the fact the gymnasts are showing a generation of girls that its ok to be sporty, muscular and strong, that its valued and worth pursuing. But instead we have to analyse the state of their pubes sad"

I wish we could, too. But we are celebrating that they can be sporty, muscular and strong- so long as they are hairless and wearing a full face of make up.

Thing is Bert that's a wider societal problem than a gymnastic problem. Women are constantly censured if they don't conform tosocieties expectations of femininity. Look at the way Serena Williams has been treated. We could be talking about this across women's sports as a whole, yet the gymnasts get singled out and the only reason I can see is its somehow offending even very feminist thinking women's sense of what is acceptable femininity.

Well, I would single gymnastics out because of the very different expectations of men and women when it comes to appearance.

And because it's a sport that a huge number of girls take up - so it is a perfect platform for questioning such expectations.

Felas I could agree more with you, this seems like nothing more than an attack on a single sport.

Bert the media attention would be the media's probalem not the sport!

The reason male and females costumes are different is because judges are looking at different parts of the body in the disciplines. Men perform with pare arms and shoulders, women perform bare legged because of this.

And I'll add the reason more girls take it up is because for some reason boys are ridiculed, sexism against male gymnasts by the wider public is atrocious. Young boys are bullied by peers. So there is a sexist a problem, but it's not a female one so I imagine it will get brushed aside.

I bloody hope top level gymnasts choose their own leotards. According to the cycling article, they only recently worked out that properly fitting kit could help with nether pain.

One design was supposed to fit all, despite a wide variation in not just thigh circumference but also undercarriage arrangements. “Some of the girls were complaining that their shorts were rucking up, particularly the sprinters, who slam into the saddle at high speed,”