Girls trampolining and leotard glue AIBU to be shocked

[rookiemere]

So my friends 10 yr old DD has taken up trampolining. she's showing great promise and is competing already. However I was totally shocked when she told me that they aren't allowed to wear pants and therefore have to use leotard glue to keep it in place. They are also not allowed to wear bras. Boys who do the same routines wear tracksuit bottoms.

AIBU to think this is a sexist outmoded practice and actually a bit creepy?

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

God I'll never forget the humiliation of doing gymnastics as a pre-teen going through that awkward phase of puberty and some white discharge (sorry for tmi) soaked through my leotard and some of the nastier girls saw it and started laughing and told everyone knickers are a must!

[pollymere]

For competitions maybe. Seems a little excessive for practice. Why can't they wear dance trousers underneath too?

[AlexanderHamilton]

Dd is a 28DD/30D. Good quality ballet leotards are supportive enough for most girls.

As I said before she does wear knickers. She also takes medication for her periods but that's only because without it she is incapable of normal life never mind dancing (floods after less than one hour & frequently passed out without them)

She would never contemplate taking them otherwise.

[Butteredparsnip1ps]

Ballet mum here. I hate this. Both DD's have not been allowed to wear underwear for exams, even from age 6. It is ridiculous. Unfortunately I seem to be the only Mum the objects - the others all agree that underwear spoils the line of their costume. FFS.

Their exam marks should be about their dancing ability. Full stop.

Until other Mums (and I'm afraid it is Mums, not Dads) stop going along with this it wont change though.

I wish the arts / sports councils would stop awarding grants unless this misogynistic crap ends.

[AlexanderHamilton]

Parsnip - that is a school rule, not an exsm board rule. The only rule is that underwear should not be visible.

Dd got a Distinction in her Intermediate exam wearing knickers & is currently working towards Advanced 1

[38cody]

My little one always had her pants sticking out of the leg of her leotard! Mind you she was only 6 and a crap ballerina🌝

[Booboo66]

Guessing the bra part might be a safety thing regarding underwirings and piercing, like horse riding.
32 years of riding and competing and I didn't know this

Back to topic though, my daughter wears leggings under her leotard in gymnastics so solves that problem, I doubt she'd have a problem with the no pants rule though if necessary!

[TheRugbyValkyrie]

So they have to take hormones and disrupt their natural cycles so that men can gawk at them?

(And to those who will now wail about it not being about that, you will never in a thousand years convince me that it is women who insist on costumes that show this much skin and apparently make it impossible to perform while wearing pads or even tampons.)
The rules for female gymnasts are pretty crap to be honest and I really don't know what the rules are for attire, my gymnast was male. But I do know that ALL female athletes at a highly competitive level are managing their cycles in the same way. I used to do the same and my daughter does now, admittedly neither of us took/take part in sports with outfits as revealing as gymnastics.
All I CAN tell you is that you become so focused on becoming the best that you can be, that yes, you are willing to use hormones to fit your menstrual cycle around training and competition.
This isn't because of pads and knickers or anything like that, it's to do with the fact that your body behaves differently and competition times/matches cannot be changed to suit the individual.
To be honest, I would do the same now. But I'm old now!

[Ericaequites]

Skating costumes often feature flesh colored illusion to give the impression of nudity, but allow easy and secure movement.
The dress standards for girls trampolining and gymnastic are inappropriate. I would not allow my daughter to take part in such activities. Knickers are important for modesty and hygiene.

[GrinAndTonic]

Have you not seen what beach volleyball players wear? The men are in shorts and singlets and the girls are in a skimpy lycra two piece. There are rules that state the MAXIMUM amount of material that women can wear and it isn't a lot.

[nick247]

Sorry OP, I have absolutely nothing of any use to add, but I love your user name. Can we start an 'I love Hamilton' thread!!!!!

[rookiemere]

Thanks nick but I have no idea what the reference is !

[QuentinSummers]

The OP is misinformed, I regularly judge trampolining competitions and all the girls wear bras. It would be very uncomfortable not to
Not all wear knickers but their leos are not high cut and don't ride up - if they were it would distract them from their routine and you would know about it because they'd fall and score 0.
There are judging guidelines for uniform but they don't specify anything to do with bras/knickers on show.

[QuentinSummers]

Oh and the boys don't wear tracksuit bottoms to compete, they either wear "whites" which are the gym trousers that are tight and can be pretty revealing. Or short shorts.

[AlexanderHamilton]

Wonder if nick got confused with you the OP Rookie & me a contributor.

[primaryboodle]

quentin is right but we were told no underwired bras - health and safety - but it was the pants thing that made me stop. Even if we were allowed pants the leos did ride up and i wasnt comfortable with all of my thighs and a flash of bum on show - girls should be allowed to wear tight leggings

[nick247]

Sorry OP , I did actually mean Alexander Hamilton , not you.

[AlexanderHamilton]

[iMogster]

Girls and women don't wear bra or knickers under a swimsuit, I'm not sure why it's such an issue.

[honeyroar]

That was discussed earlier in the thread, along with why people find it an issue, if you read back. You're not so exposed while performing in a swimsuit, you're underwater. Plus you have to wear tight fitting items (as do the men who race) due to the drag of the water on fabric. And it's the same for both sexes, not one rule for one.

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

You also are not required to bounce up and down or do the flying splits!

[honeyroar]

Both sex divers wear tight costumes for the same reason as swimmers. The point is, they HAVE to wear tight fitting clothes, there's no other possibility, and there's no discrimination.

[QuentinSummers]

If divers don't wear tight fitting costumes it'll cause more splash on entry (so they get worse marks) and there is a risk of wardrobe malfunction
I cannot stand this air that there is something pervy about leotards. They are comfortable and practical for acrobatic sport, they can't ride up or fall down or flap in your face.

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

Maybe leotards are comfortable and practical for acrobatic sport (although the reason for male competitors being allowed to wear leggings-style things has yet to be made clear to me). But if you look at images of Simone Biles in action and compare them with, say, Nadia Comaneci thirty years ago, there seems to have been a crucial inch or two cropped off the buttock area of Simone's leotard. Actually, I'm sure the same could be said of the costumes swimmers and divers have to wear now - they seemed to be constantly tugging at them during the last Olympics. It can't be comfortable and must be distracting.