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?

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.

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia
When I was a young woman, I liked being looked at by men. Not all the time, but some of the time. I liked having the freedom to choose when and to wear what I wanted. I don’t think there is anything wrong or unwise with women dressing or choosing swimwear that is sexy/revealing what have you to attract male attention.

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.

I'm pretty sure in the individual events athletes will choose their own.

Agree team events are different.

When I was a young woman, I liked being looked at by men. Not all the time, but some of the time. I liked having the freedom to choose when and to wear what I wanted. I don’t think there is anything wrong or unwise with women dressing or choosing swimwear that is sexy/revealing what have you to attract male attention.

Yep I agree. I definitely enjoyed my body in a different way in public. I would have been very put out to be told not cover up or not wear the little bikini.

Thankfully I can choose something else now.

Thankfully, as in, the bikini days are over and I can find something different and less revealing to feel comfortable in.

Professional athletes for individual sports don’t really get to choose either- their sponsors control the design of their kit to maximise marketing and sex sells.

Amateur athletes, yes they can choose.
Professional athletes don’t have free choice whether team or individual.

Me too. I am past my string bikini days in terms of comfort.

their sponsors control the design of their kit to maximise marketing and sex sells.

Ok I don't know an individual professional athlete, but say someone like Dina Asher Smith wanted to run in an all in one ( seen that ) or a in two piece set which I've also seen her in she wouldn't have any choice in it?

Surely those considerations are all part of the "incremental gains" process. The more comfortable she is the better she can perform.

I'm prepared to be educated.

Depends on how famous an athlete is how much influence they have over their kit. Usually they sign sponsorship agreements and the sponsor simply requires they wear a certain product/piece of kit that they want to sell. Refuse to wear it, and they move on and sponsor an athlete who will wear it.

If the athlete is very high up the ladder and can pick and choose between many top brands of athletic wear, then they can influence what kit they get sent to wear.

The professional athlete’s function is to be a walking advert for a certain athletic company’s clothing and equipment. The sexism & sexist thought process in our society then means that female athletes need to look sexually appealing in the sponsor’s gear in order maximise the boost to sales from using them as marketing.

It gets worse for women. If they do general fitness or bodybuilding, many are literally forced to get breast implants to win fitness and bodybuilding competitions.

I didn't say it was wrong to wear small swimwear. It requires life experience for most women to understand that the choice to do so isn't made in isolation and that the flooding of the swimwear market with tiny bikinis is part of a wider attitude that women's bodies are men's property for the looking at and the taking.

It requires life experience for most women to understand that the choice to do so isn't made in isolation and that the flooding of the swimwear market with tiny bikinis is part of a wider attitude that women's bodies are men's property for the looking at and the taking.

Which is a bit different from what you said before tbh . That a lack of wisdom prevented younger women 'challenging' the idea of revealing clothes.

The implication being that they wouldn't be wearing it if they had more life experience.

@IslaWinds my post referenced two stories, only one was about professional athletes. The other was about school age girls being turned off sports, which is important because that's an effect that can last beyond school. Damage the interest, and they're not doing the sports or fitness stuff at all, its a noteworthy and worth exploring because lack of physical activity in significant numbers of women it contributes to is a health issue for women. Particularly when they hit piri-menopause/menopause and hormone changes can lead to weigh problems

Although not all girls are the same your post shows how easily things become fashionable with groups of girls. Sometimes those trends are good, sometimes they are bad.

I doesnt require much life experience to realise that free choice is an illusion. Most 5yr olds who tell their parents they have had enough of school and don’t want to go back or that they’d rather wear a navy blue jumper instead of a grey one for their uniform quickly understand this.

The attitude of some men viewing women’s bodies as property isn’t driven by tiny bikinis or by the wearing of one. Men with this view have it no matter how a woman is dressed whether she is topless in a string bikini or in a full burkini.

Choosing not to wear a tiny bikini doesn’t change this attitude in some men.

Choosing what to wear based on what you think men will think about you is giving them ownership of your body and too much headspace.

That is why women and girls should wear whatever they want and to hell with what men may think about it. I loved wearing my string bikinis when I was a young woman. I’d pop on board shorts when doing my kayaking or paddle boarding for comfort- not as some sort of ooooh I had better cover up my bum before a man decides to write “property of Bob” on it.

My DDs school PE kits were never sexualised so I don’t think that can be linked to girls becoming less interested in sports. I think it is more lack of funding for girls team sports in schools and co-Ed PE classes where girls are leery of being pushed and shoved and taunted by boys when playing a sport- these put girls off sports from what I have seen.

The attitude of some men viewing women’s bodies as property isn’t driven by tiny bikinis or by the wearing of one. Men with this view have it no matter how a woman is dressed whether she is topless in a string bikini or in a full burkini.

Choosing not to wear a tiny bikini doesn’t change this attitude in some men.

You've got the causality the wrong way around. The pushing of tiny bikinis by the fashion industry is because of the idea that women's bodies exist for men to look at, not the other way around.

After multiple sexual assaults, the first at age eight, I'm not in the least unreasonable in wanting to prevent men from looking at my body. My painful first-hand experience is that they will take your body whether you "give them ownership" or not.

And yes, I was perved at at the swimming pool as a pre-teen. Men are disgusting.

You've got the causality the wrong way around. The pushing of tiny bikinis by the fashion industry is because of the idea that women's bodies exist for men to look at, not the other way around.

Sorry I don't agree. I don't deny that many men think women's bodies exist for them to look at though.

And I'm sorry to hear how you've suffered in the past

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia

"You've got the causality the wrong way around. The pushing of tiny bikinis by the fashion industry is because of the idea that women's bodies exist for men to look at, not the other way around."

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia Can you elaborate on what makes you feel that way? I'm not trying to express a view either way, just looking to hear your thoughts

Ladies board shorts are for you

And a rash vest

1. Men have most of the money in the world and hold most individually-held shares. Fashion industry makes money for shareholders. Sex sells.

2. Women are trained from early in life to want a man and become tied to him. Trap is baited with fairy stories ("and the prince married Cinderella and they lived happily ever after") and the big unnecessary wedding with huge dress and sit-down dinner when you could have two witnesses at the register office. "Spinster" and "old maid" are insults to make us fear unmarried life. We are told we will be "left on the shelf". Mrs and Miss advertise whether we are available for courting, no such terms exist for men. Dressing sexy is how we attract the man that we've been told we're incomplete without. The clothes being pushed to us is part of the marriage trap.

How come my board shorts are shorter than his?

There are tons of swimsuits that cover up, shorts style, skirts etc
men have small tight brief pants as an option, most just don’t choose them

Please find me these in the Bravissimo catalogue. I take 34HH so I need bra-sized swimwear.

I'll wait.

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia I hear that, particularly the second point. A lot of who we all are is affected by how we're socialised growing up, and numerous other influences in the world around us. It can be very interesting reflecting on how and why we feel a certain way about all kinds of stuff, that on a surface level feel like our own "free" choices

You know some people avoid using any title as often as they can get away with it? I wouldn't mind if it was always entirely optional, personally, I can't recall ever using it outside of forms that require it. Probably never happen because it'll upset all people with the posh titles like lord, lady etc ..

The nearest they do is a swim dress, but that's still going to flash my Danazol pubes-to-mid-thigh.