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?

Look for a tumbling & trampoline program for your daughter. Diving is another great option.

What is infantilising is being told what you should and shouldn't enjoy doing.

And you think that would be fair? A gymnast that has trained all of her life and just wants to demonstrate her power and skill has to just stop because she doesn’t like the sexism involved in the sport? Meanwhile men get to carry on as they were because their version of the sport is purely about strength and skill.

But they don’t. The women can compete in plain unitards with no makeup. Most don’t want that.

Dancing is part of women’s gymnastics just like still rings and pommel horse are part of men’s. They’re two different sports.

The Olympics Federation rules allow female gymnasts to wear unitards (or catsuits). These cover the legs. The German team has worn them in the past and has worn them in training for this Olympics. Generally, traditional leotards are preferred for freedom of movement.

As for the hairstyles? Hair does need to kept out of the way firmly for the duration of all rotations. That's the reason for the gel and clip overload.

They wouldn't be there right now if they weren't choosing to be - believe me. It's not a life anyone endures without a goal in mind. It's utterly gruelling and I have the utmost respect for all of them.

Any "uniform" which requires the removal of pubic hair is essentially misogynist.

Exactly

And as for the dancing it's part of female gymnastics. Same for rhythmic gymnastics, cheerleading, ballet, any kind of dance.

Also they don't have to smile they can use whatever expressions they feel matches their routine especially on floor but let's face it when you perform a suburb tumble your going to smile

Pictured: misogyny, apparently.

Some of you are being pretty harsh with your comments. A pageant look has entered the phenomenally difficult sport, particularly for the floor exercises, with almost drag levels of make up and glitter on very young women. Some competitors may love it but others may not and it has somehow become part and parcel of their performance that shouldn’t make any difference to their athletic result. It is by no means the only sport you see it in though.

it is disengenuous to suggest they knew what they were signing up for. It has become the expected way for the women to look and perform in a way it hasn’t for the men.

@AGoingConcern Men can wear more "covering" trunks if they want to. Many do. Male gymnasts usually wear tights.

The arm-waving . flapping bit does look odd and the out fits are definitely different to the mens. In the diving ( pictured above the men and women both wear very small costumes . Volleyball ( beach esp) is another example though, where the men wear normal clothes and the women wear tiny bikinis.

Some woman even choose to compete in dance! Not in the Olympics but in high level competition. My daughter does. You should see the sparkly dresses, smiling and elaborate costumes chosen by the adult women, including over the 60s. Is that infantilising? Sexist? The men smile and wear sparkles too. Is it demeaning? Or do you personally think gymnastics is serious and shouldn't have sparkles and smiling because they are elite athletes?
There is an element of choice with the 'twee' hairstyles, Simone Biles hadn't gelled hers yesterday, and she scored just fine.
Sparkles and dancing is not everyone's thing, it's absolutely not mine, but other (men and women) enjoy it

I love gymnastics.
I loved learning it when young and I love to see all the theatre and strength of the athletes who choose to compete at very high levels.
There have to be set moves so that each athlete can be compared to another. The control of the core muscles are important; the non injuries to joints while manoeuvreing is taken into consideration when requiring certain turn outs etc.
Repetitive moves in the wrong way will strenghten the wrong muscles and lead to injuries.

Go to a lecture on ballet and hear the safest way to move, fly, bend etc while dancing. The looks are not twee, they are based on biology and, yes, some theatre and the girls' and sports' own long term view of great looking and communication through dance. It is romanticised at times, not real, but that's the artistry and culture of dance imagination and presentation..

The moves have been designed over decades of showing the muscles at their best and showing control of movements.

The German gymnastics team wore unitards in the Tokyo Olympics.

So the gymnasts have the choice. I think getting the fit right and comfort is a factor why they don't.

Having said that I don't enjoy the excesses (everything the OP listed) of artistic gymnastics either and prefer men's gymnastics for that reason.

Is it not possible that some women actually LIKE make-up, glitter, getting their hair done and dancing? Does everything have to be unisex 🙄 Anyway in their private lives these gymnasts are seen wearing make up and have their hair done and wear stuff men wouldn't wear. Is it not possible they actually like it? 🤷‍♀️

Absolutely.

unitards. some athletes wear them.

Is it not compulsory they wear tights / leggings for the rings, parallel bars, high bar and pommell?
They only seem to wear shorts for the vault and the floor.

OP is just another example of someone who wants to police what women wear. What would you have them wear for their routines, a burka?

The gymnastics leotards aren't particularly revealing though - there's athletes in similar or skimpier kit in the pool and at the track. Female track and field athletes typically wear bikinis.

Mens and women's gymnastics are two different sport - one about strength, the other about flexibility and artistry. Arguably the women are more impressive as they combine more skills.

If you don't like the dance-like bits of women's gymnastics, then watch the men. Personally I enjoy the artistry and musical expression of the women.

@XelaM "Is it not possible that some women actually LIKE make-up, glitter, getting their hair done and dancing?"

Of course it's possible.

They don't have to wear makeup. There is no scoring element there, so that is their own choice, unless their own country's federation has mandated it (in that case, horrible). The glitter gel I imagine is a personal choice; gel itself is generally a good idea (even though - as a PP noted - Simone Biles wasn't wearing any yesterday).

@TrishM80 "OP is just another example of someone who wants to police what women wear. What would you have them wear for their routines, a burka?"

That really is a spectacularly silly take!

Why do we have to be 100% the same as men?
It's getting boring.

Totally agree on the Beach volleyball.
A few years ago one of the teams were disqualified because the bottoms were a couple of centimeters too deep at the side seam.
I can't quite remember the details but it was something like they'd to be no more than 8cm and theirs was 10cm.