Olympic gymnastics humiliates and infantilises grown adult women

[Thebellofstclements]

The ridiculous leotards, the twee hairstyles. Having to do the ridiculous flicky "dance" moves (artistic expression, ha!) and grinning inanely (insanely) in between moves and when presenting...
Arguably the best athletes in the world but these grown adult women have to present themselves in a ridiculous, almost grotesquely infantile manner, looking fairy cheap and tacky.
The men do not.
My family argues that the gymnasts choose to do this.
We know that historically female gymnasts have been abused with no voice, so I'm not convinced this is all what they would necessarily choose given the option. AIBU?

My family argues that the gymnasts choose to do this.

Yes, these grown adult women choose this so it's pointless you feel offended on their behalf.

This. The men wear tights too. No doubt it is also quite a well paid job.

Well paid? Most of their money comes from endorsements. I read somewhere that each USA Olympian gets paid $37,500 if they win a gold
medal. That’s peanuts compared to major league sports. Some players wouldn’t get out of bed for that.

Oh give over.

Do they though?

Is it really a free choice, or is it a 'yeah its my choice but if I choose NOT to, I'll stand out, I'll draw attention, I'll be the subject of discussion, be marked down for not conforming to tradition....' etc etc.

I don't think its a free choice at all.

Gymnasts are incredible athletes who dedicate decades of their life to perfecting their sport, and you’re on here shitting all over it because it’s not your cup of tea.

Go watch something else and stop denigrating women in their chosen sport.

I'm with you OP.

Well said

Your'e intentionally missing the point.
The poster is clearly not shitting over the sport but the presentation which in fact they have little say in just like the volleyball team who complained last olympics about their humilliating uniform.

Good grief OP never got to see a ballet.

Gymnasts choose to dedicate their lives to this sport because they love it. The dance and artistry and leotards and show(wom)anship that OP thinks so little of are part of that sport in the same way that waving a racket is part of badminton. They work their tails off for the artistry that OP finds so laughable. There are plenty of other sports that don’t incorporate those elements, and despite what OP thinks these women are not agency-less idiots who don’t know other sports or life paths exist.

Let’s review the words that OP has used to describe what she thinks of these women and the performances they’ve spent tens of thousands of hours perfecting:
ridiculous
twee
inane
grotesque
infantile
cheap
tacky

This is just another way to tear down women by belittling the sport they work so hard at.

Wait until you see the synchronised swimmers walking on to the poolside.

They don't look "cheap and tacky'.
Those are horrible misogynistic words to throw at them, ironically.

I'm pretty sure they know what the costumes are for competitions when they sign up. If they find them so dreadful they don't have to compete. They don't have to take up gymnastics at all.

Are you just jealous you didn't get picked to compete?

Maybe you could find something more suited to your sensitive soul to watch OP.

I agree about the costumes tbh. The rest of it I think is amazing.

They are skilled athletes and while I slightly agree regarding their cakes, what else would you suggest they wear. You would only want something basically skin tight as far as I can see from a logistical perspective

This

This is very difficult because the history of gymnastics is so appalling -- so many girls who are barely teens, abusive coaches and doctors, promotion of eating disorders.

Making a minimum age of 16 is a good start. It's wonderful to see competitors in their 20s now. The system for training gymnasts and burning them out before they're even adult has got to go.

There free to choose not to compete

It is vital to remember that many gymnasts are not grown women, and they've been put in intensive training for years before that. There's incredible pressure. I don't think all of them have true freedom of choice here. Simone Biles certainly does, but she has teammates who are barely 16.

But this isn't different from any success sports person, musician etc. It usually comes from the parents. Then you have some parents who can't even be bothered to teach their kids the alphabet or numbers before they start school.

Gymnastics leotards cover more than most of the swimsuits in diving and more than quite a few of the athletics athletes wear. Unitards are also an option for gymnasts that prefer them - two of the three German gymnasts wore them today in fact. There is no competitive reason for gymnasts not to wear plain black leotards. But, believe it or not, quite a few of the women who seek out a sport where dance and artistry are central actually like girly things. When GK asked the team USA gymnasts what they wanted in their leotards the answer was as much sparkle as possible. Team Brazil’s leotards are designed by one of their gymnasts.

It’s ok for women to like makeup, sparkly outfits and dancing and to choose a sport that lets them feel girly, graceful AND powerful all at the same time. Being feminine isn’t inane or infantile.

If you want to GR rally criticism for a sport the athletes don’t choose themselves, go check out dressage.

^Arguably the best athletes in the world but these grown adult women have to present themselves in a ridiculous, almost grotesquely infantile manner, looking fairy cheap and tacky.
The men do not^

This is the OPs point. All gymnasts are incredible athletes but only the women have to do the 'decorative' bits and wear the very revealing leotards.

Then men just get to do the athletic bit while wearing loose and long trousers.

I disagree. They enjoy the “actual” gymnastics and have to put up with the nonsense that goes with it otherwise they can’t compete.

My daughter is 8 and loves vaulting, throwing herself onto crash mats, cartwheeling and back flipping, but absolutely hates the dance performance that comes with it. She has to tolerate it otherwise she can’t go to the classes. The boys in her class don’t have to do those bits.

The vast majority of Olympic gymnasts in Paris are adults. Simone has one teammate under the age of 21. The sport has changed, and none of the things OP is complaining about are related to abuse.

Stop infantilizing women because you don’t like their chosen sport.