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?

Your not worried a tiny sliver of cloth might possibly slip? Come on. Ive heard people saying this for years. Do you live on the moon 😂

They can, in that gymnasts are not obliged to do the all around. Female gymnasts can stick to vault and/or bars alone if wished. The OP really has bugger all idea what she's talking about here.

Who on earth are these people?

How would this happen? Leotards in elite gymnastics are well cut, generous across the crotch, well fitted.

They're not wearing string bikinis!

why shouldn't female gymnastics be able to omit the twee parts of the sport, without being penalised on points for doing so?

Other people don't find it twee. Other disciplines like acro or trampolining exist which might be more to the posters tastes.

Here we go - more denigrating of women's sport as "twee". Newsflash: women are not just slightly crap men. Men's sport is not the ideal that everyone should aspire to. "Be more like men" is not a feminist position.

Men are judged as much on execution as women - body shape etc.

Women can lose about 1/10 of the marks on two apparatus for lack of movement and extension between scored elements.

This is not a surprise to anyone entering the sport, and it is a feature which allows a wider range of women to excel. It's carefully scored. It has added hugely to the popularity of the sport and its ability to attract sponsorship. It helps female gymnasts outearn their male counterparts even when they don't excel at this small element.

Of course they could drop it but why should they?

not everyone will like the sport of artistic gymnastics, that's fine, I don't see why it should be changed to suit the preferences of those who seem to dislike it on a fundamental level (i.e. support the removal of artistry in the form of dance).

For what it's worth MAG also has it's fair amount of quirks that could be categorised as 'twee' - them not being allowed to walk to the corner so instead leap there, them having to clip their heels together after every tumble or they lose points, not being able to simply stand still to catch their breath so they flourish their arms about in front of their body...

No. Gymnastic does not humiliate nor infantilize women. They are beautiful. They decide what they want to wear. Some with make up and glitter and showing of their legs, some doing none of that. That does not count. They are all powerful. I love it, love it love. It's my personal opinion. You have yours.

People who are actually involved in the sport? Or people who watch 15 minutes of it on TV once every 4 years?

I think the only people who would even think about this, let alone remark on it, would be dirty old men.

Most of them are teenagers many under 18

Come on now, men's things are just better. They're the standard for all humans, and women shouldn't have our own things if they look different to men's. Even when the people making that argument clearly now the square root of fuck all about the men's thing in question.

It's depressing really, that posters who clearly imagine themselves to be making a feminist argument still clearly see male as default.

no. In the same way I don't worry about swimmers goggles riding up or letting in water, I presume they have adequate and well fitting equipment and the experience to ensure it stays where it should meaning they can compete without it becoming a distraction.

Have you actually ever done gymnastics before? Watching it on TV doesn't mean anything.

Let's quote another Olympic gymnast:
"I also hate to be on my period during a competition, because there is that fear of your tampon string hanging out of that thin bit of material. So I would use, and do use, my birth control pills during a competition to control that, and make sure I'm not on my period."

There is actually a special penalty in gymnastics for picking a wedgie. If your leotard goes up your crack you have to leave it there until the routine is over. Some gymnasts actually glue their leotard to their skin to try and stop this happening.

Speaking as someone who has sat what felt like no more than six feet from Simone Biles as she did a beam routine, I can say I have held my breath with a mix of fear and awe and wondered how the hell these women keep it all tucked in. 😱

But just like marathon runners can't afford to worry too much if they can't hold onto their bowels during a race (something that would horrify the rest of us but just results in a shrug and an attitude of 'it's just shit, focus on the race' for them) I can't imagine an accidental glimpse of a centimetre or two of labia is the biggest worry an elite gymnast has has when she's mid triple back flip.

Personally I'd opt for the longer legged leotard if I could even run for a bus, let alone climb up onto a beam and do a routine on it but I have to respect that if they don't, then there's probably a good, technical reason for it and they are competely comfortable with that.

Not these days so much. The age profile has changed a lot.

Most of the female gymnasts at the Olympics are NOT teenagers and very few are under 18. Gymnasts are generally at their peak early to mid 20s. Simone Biles is 27.

Not any more. Over 60 percent of this year's Olympian female gymnasts are 20+.

The oldest athlete competing (33) designs Brazil's sparkly leotards!

It is depressing to see one of the very few sports that evolved in line with women's physical strengths being dissed as 'not man enough'.

This stuff is so deeply ingrained 🤯

Is Chuso not there?

All of this I am happy to accept - and unitards etc

I don't accept that gymnasts fall out of their leotards!

No - missed out

Shame

DD used to do ballet, and loved it. But, hated the uniform they had to wear for exams, they weren't allowed to wear knickers or have a bra strap showing, when I questioned whether it was totally necessary, I was told it was so that the examiners could properly judge their physique.
I assume it must be the same for gymnastics.

This is also an issue for other athletes. There's an article from Jessica Enniss-Hill where she talks about how she hated being distracted by thoughts of leaking while wearing white shorts (running briefs).

I think it's reasonable to question the cut of the outfits and see it as really positive that the status quo us changing. But I'm struggling with the substance of the opening post that the female gymnasts are 'humiliated' 'tacky' and doing 'ridiculous flicks moves' etc. Do 50% of the readers really agree with these statements.
Watching athletes performing at the top of their game is far from humiliating. They are performing amazingly and look amazing whilst doing so.