To think that girl's and women's swimsuits are sexualised

[DieselBlue89]

Why should I have to make sure I've tidied my pubic hair before going swimming? None of my other clothes cut so close to my genitalia.
Is it about aerodynamics? (the swim shorts worn by most men definitely aren't)
Or were they designed by men and now we're all just conforming to societal norms?

Who has said that? You’re not referring my comment on society influencing mens choices just as much as society influences women’s choices are you?

Because if you are society= everyone in power. Society isn’t “female expectations” alone although that is a part of it. Say you wanted to choose to wear hot pink bikini bottoms, wear your long hair down, a bit of dramatic eye makeup and a lovely colourful sarong/or robe…how do you think women would react to that at the beach? Do you think they’d cast you admiring glances or would they flee with their children thinking you were some sexual fetish pervert?

*I'm interested to hear more about how my clothing options, has a man, are driven by female expectations.

Genuinely interested, it's not something I have felt throughout the entire 47 years of my life. I don't recall anyone I know talking about it either. Not scientific I know, it's just a measure how alien this is to me. Maybe if we talking about wearing skirts and dresses, but that's not really comparable to this topic*

Lucky you. I'm sure it passes lots of people by.

Maybe if you were 16 and on Snap Chat, Insta, Be Real, TikTok and watched Love Island and idolised most of Arsenal FC you'd get it a bit more.

@IslaWinds have you willfully ignored how I said the kinds of things you gave examples of are not reasonable comparisons? Give me some comparable to the OP please

@sunglassesonthetable evidence and examples? I'm not convinced they're comparable, for starters they sound limited to an age group and likely transient trends, but I don't mind reserving a solid view until you provide more details

evidence and examples? I'm not convinced they're comparable, for starters they sound limited to an age group and likely transient trends, but I don't mind reserving a solid view until you provide more details

evidence and examples of what?

You're 47, of course you don't have the same influences as a 16 year old.

@sunglassesonthetable evidence and examples of your claims that you reckon are comparable. Why do you sound so irritated? Asking people questions and more information is a very reasonable request

Where did you say that? I only see one post since my post and it’s not from you.

evidence and examples of your claims that you reckon are comparable. Why do you sound so irritated? Asking people questions and more information is a very reasonable request

Sorry I don't understand what you want.🤷‍♀️

"my claims that are comparable"?

Tbh I think you sound rather curt and brusque but we all know that tone doesn't really translate on a screen, so i'll reserve judgement.

@sunglassesonthetable oh right, I dunno typing on a mobile isn't my favourite and I've been busy cooking with an oven at this house I'm minding that's been bloody annoying & slow. Maybe hunger's affected me 🤷‍♂️ I wasn't looking to upset, annoy etc

I also feel uncomfortable in swimming costumes. They are too tiny and smaller than the knickers I wear.

There should be much more choice for women.

Like why can't women just wear long swimming shorts like men

They can. Literally every female competitive swimmer wears a knee-length swimsuit.

I don't mean competitive swimmers.

I mean normal women wearing them to the swimming pool. You never see them

I'd actually be a bit nervous to wear baggy swim shorts to my local swimming pool as I think the lifeguards might say something to me

I've been so conditioned to wear the skintight womens swimming costumes even though I don't like them.

Has anyone on here wore men's style swimming shorts to the swimming pool

For large chunks of human history, fashion has been a means of conspicuous consumption and social messaging by the rich of both sexes. Look at the portraits of the nobility throughout history.

Mass-produced clothing has made fashion accessible to all strata of society, but at the same time several large-scale mechanised wars have conditioned us to expect short hair and sober clothing on men. As a consequence, the brighter colours and more revealing styles are worn by women. Pornification (e.g. page three, the rise of online porn) have reinforced the message that women are there for men to look at, which drives sales of revealing clothes amongst younger women who lack the wisdom that comes from life experience to challenge this.

Which makes buying warm comfortable clothing, swimwear that contains large breasts and doesn't allow thigh "chub rub", etc difficult.

@Mooshamoo I've got these Lands End shorts. They are definitely not skin tight.

Do the lifeguards say anything to you? I'm a bit nervous about the lifeguards in my pool telling me I'm not sticking to regular wear

No. It never occurred to me that they were not regular swim wear tbh.

@Mooshamoo yes, many women wear kneesuits to our not-at-all-fancy council swimming pool for lane swimming sessions. And competitive swimmers are ‘normal women’.

Which makes buying warm comfortable clothing, swimwear that contains large breasts and doesn't allow thigh "chub rub", etc difficult.

warm comfortable clothing? Difficult?

Warm, comfortable, and smart? I could live in tracksuits all the time, but I'd get reprimanded at work for breaching dress code.

Clothes shopping is a living nightmare anyway for me, because of the bright lights and THUMP THUMP THUMP noise music blasted in clothes shops. Loud music and bright lights are used as torture at Guantanamo Bay, why the fuck are clothes shops inflicting this sensory hellscape on their staff and customers? They might as well just put a sign on the door that says "fuck off autistics, we don't want anyone neurodivergent in our clothes".

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia

Just looked at Calypsa which a poster mentioned earlier.

It's impressive. You can put together a swim set from different tops and bottoms and multiple styles , like lots and lots, and then different styles of swim bra to go underneath.

This is as well as many different types of other more covering swimwear. It seems like its probably bit pricier than high street.

But a great deal of choice there.

Apologies if you're already aware of it or not bothered anyway.

I didn’t notice that, I’ve seen women in them at the pool though, I will ask if they have missed off the option from the document.

Has anyone on here wore men's style swimming shorts to the swimming pool

I have a pair of jammers (which are bloke shorts, but not what PP meant).
No one would care if a woman worse old fashioned trunks.

Running, jumping, spitting, throwing balls, groping, eating in the pool. Those things give lifeguards headaches. They aren't going to care about burkinis or women in bloke clothes.

I wear below knee capri leggings and a vest with inbuilt bra shelf. Sometimes I will wear ankle length speedo leggings, when I can get into them, as speedo think a teeny tiny 14 is an xxl!
I have never been told off by lifeguards.
I love swimming but I have terrible cellulite and I would avoid showing anyone my knees.
That Calypsa site has some wonderful costumes but they are rather expensive. Much more expensive than mens jammers and without the pockets. Our pool makes you have tiny 50p sized fobs for lockers...men put them in their pockets and women shove them in their bras. So unfair.
Slightly off topic but my daughter now buys mens socks as you get thicker better quality socks in packs of 5 for less than cheap nasty packs of 3 womens socks. Why? Do they think we are stupid?

That looks so much better from the back than those bare arse wedgie swimsuits.

Oh the general subject of the OP. Invite some reading of the subject. This article lists numerous examples of professional women athletes complaining:

https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/story-telling/11095/12920340/sexualised-ill-fitting-and-inappropriate-is-womens-sport-kit-fit-for-purpose

Then there's a study showing it has a harmful impact on women doing sports at school:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/apr/07/girls-put-off-sport-by-clothing-requirements-tess-howard

You'll find numerous other stories via a Google search

https://www.google.com/search?q=women+clothes+sport+sexualised+&oe=utf-8

That's not to suggest every women feels that way, it does however feel like enough do to acknowledge there's a legitimate issue rather than dismiss or minimise it

Professional athletes are quite different from the average mum who wants to take her little girls to the local swimming pool. Professional athletes don’t get to choose their sports kit- it is chosen for them by the team manager/owner and these are still largely men.

So what I see here is when men choose swimsuits or sports gear for women, they go for sexy.

It’s about who is choosing what women wear, not the product itself.