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?

In what sense is it required?

Or… one based on reality 🤷‍♀️

What that women can only hope to be lesser versions of men? That's reality to you. Gosh 🤯

Okay, "required" was perhaps the wrong choice of words. I meant "pressure to conform". I don't see why female divers costumes are cut to show their buttocks, but male divers trunks are not, for example.

I’m 59. I don’t normally wear dresses and I don’t generally favour sparkle. My choir recently did a Bond concert. And you know what? I bought a long glittery dress and some sparkly jewellery because it was appropriate for the event and would look nice in that context. Costume glitter isn’t something you grow out of. How patronising. And how dull to feel you can’t be glittery after 10.

Goodness but how obviously dishonest and manipulative.

We can all see you are trying to twist her meaning, you cant seriously think you can get away with pulling the wool so overtly, and to what end

Bloke who likes to cop a look perhaps?

I've not commented much yet but am so very far from being a dance mum. I think more likely the defenders are people who actually watch the sport year round, not every four years, who understand the Code of Points and are constantly reading interviews with gymnasts. There is so much on this thread that is just absolute nonsense and shows no understanding of the sport (for example, the suggestion women should do rings etc would massively alter the sport as part of the excitement is WAG scores are averaged over only 4 events so there is far less room for error than in MAG).

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but when North Korea compete their gymnasts don't even get sleeves (normally sleeveless is worn for practices). Obviously hair and makeup very toned back. Now we obviously shouldn't be holding up NK as a good example, but their gymnasts show that the Code of Points doesn't penalise lack of make up etc. That is a choice, and many of the women wearing more make up are the women in their late 20s and 30s. There were plenty of gymnasts on Sunday wearing no make up as well.

In gymnastics, there is a requirement to wear a Leo or unitard. There is no pressure for that to be cut in a certain way, it certainly doesn't affect scores.

For clarity, in case anyone's interested, I don't have any girls 🤷‍♀️

I’m a grown woman and mother who competed in this sport for well over a decade. Shove off with the blind personal attacks because you don’t like what another woman has to say about a subject she knows well.

I have girls, but none of my D(S)C have fallen for gymnastics beyond children’s recreational classes. That’s completely fine with me as long as they all find things in life that bring them joy and fuel their passion.

My girls are different levels of “girly” and both are girlier than I am (or was as a gymnast) - I’ve gotten to watch & attempt to execute a lot of elaborate hairstyle and nail art tutorials for football matches and track country meets 😂 Whatever makes them feel happy and fabulous in their bodies is fine with me.

Come and say that to my gymnastics obsessed daughter, especially when she's just got a new competition leotard hanging on her wardrobe door, because she can't stop looking at it. She adores leotards, dance moves, tumbles, strength training etc. It is impossible to be a gymnast without really wanting it, with a passion and drive to get them through the tough days. Honestly, this post is downright insulting to serious athletes who have worked for years, in full awareness of what is required, to get to such an elite level.

I should also add that my DD is definitely not "girly". She's tough mentally and physically, likes to wear pink and have her hair styled for comps, wears dresses when she goes out, but is equally at home in shorts and tees. When she's competing she's on a stage, performing a role to get the most marks.

Look up the origins of the Olympics, maybe? How many women do you think competed?

Women have had to force their way into the world of sport, just as they’ve had to force their way into - well, everything beyond the domestic sphere.

You may know a lot about gymnastics but you seem to know precious little about the world.

Just watching the men's gynmastics. Loving the music, all the glitter, the cute little coquettish glances over the shoulder, the smiles, the beautiful, depilated bodies....

I don’t watch sports and concentrate on anyone’s body hair maintenance (that’s kind of weird to admit publicly). Nor have I ever used the phrase coquettish glances when watching an elite athlete.

But men’s gymnastics is really lacking something in expression, isn’t it? I have immense respect for them and try to support their version of gymnastics, but it’s just not as fun or exciting to watch as the women’s. It’s not terribly surprising how much smaller their crowds are in most competition or that the women’s sessions are seen as the highlight. Most people I know would struggle to name an active male gymnast off the top of their head. Maybe they should take some cues from the women and try to improve their sport. /s

Not getting this line of argument. What has all of that got to do with celebrating a sport that takes the time to focus on when female bodies do extremely well instead of simply treating them like lesser versions of men?

I totally agree. Women's gymnastics is more engaging and interesting to watch than men's.

Perhaps that's the problem for these posters?

Not sure I can be bothered to engage with you as your previous point was so disingenuous.

Here goes…

If men and women are doing the same/equivalent activity, but the two differ in some way, you can bet your bottom dollar that the women are working harder/getting a raw deal/being scrutinised in some harsher way.

This is because of Sexism. If you don’t know about this, you may want to look it up.

Men got sport first. They got everything first.

i do not agree with you at all! We are not lesser versions of men.

Men got sport first. They got everything first.

But gymnastics doesn't just ape exactly what men does for women. It evolved to accommodate the different strengths of the female body compared to males. Two different versions of the sport, tailored to what each sex is better at.

Why wouldn't that be a thing to celebrate and enjoy?

Answer, if you've been conditioned to think that what men's bodies can do is of greater value

Music is the only one of those things a female gymnast requires.

Men's ability to maintain pace and rhythm on floor goes untested. But it's a different sport.

I've seen plenty of body hair on female gymnasts anyway. A lot of the criticisms on this thread seem to be assumptions about how women who like to dress glamourously on big life occasions must behave, and how their peers must behave.

If men and women are doing the same/equivalent activity, but the two differ in some way, you can bet your bottom dollar that the women are working harder/getting a raw deal/being scrutinised in some harsher way.

Too true. In this case, we see women excelling at their own sport that they love and expressing themselves on a global stage… and yet here comes half of MN insulting their makeup and complaining that they’re not being enough like the men in a completely separate sport. I don’t see any threads shitting on how men look when they compete in their sports. Just the women.

In that case you will always be in a position to criticise everything women do on that basis.

But women competing against other women to be their best in a sport designed for women should not be top of your list, however these women dress.

You’re not disagreeing with me there. You’re disagreeing with the disingenuous words @TheKeatingFive is trying to put in my mouth.