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?

I posted a couple of photos in page 14 of the two youngest teams (Romania and Japan) to see if they were what people had in mind regarding hair, makeup, leotards.

There is nothing there that would raise eyebrows in my opinion, and apart from the fact that the Japanese women were doing a power pose, nobody pointed to any problem whatsoever. I think a lot of people are making assumptions on this thread.

I'm still waiting to see a single example of a "ridiculous" hairstyle, "drag queen" makeup or an "inane grin" or a simper.

I get that some posters object to any gymnasts wearing high cut leotards. I don't agree with them but it's a position based on observed fact at least.

The rest just seems like misogynistic fantasy. Or is anyone willing to point to an example?

Not to mention the pigtails, channelling the 1970s.

Sorry, just laughing at the 'silent breakdancing' Twitter post 😆

You ‘reckon’ wrong. Most of them are women in their 20s. There are only a handful under 18 and none under 16 (which is the minimum age).

Gymnasts tend to peak in their early to mid 20s. Simone Biles is 27.

Sorry I don't think they all chose that particular outfit, as you say it was a team strip so they had to wear it and being consulted does not mean you get to choose, I've been consulted on things at work and at clubs and the final choice isn't always something I like or agree with. If one of those women hated the team strip could they turn up in an outfit from Sportdirect? Don't think so.

I wasn't asking about individual events, I specifically referenced the groups in teams all wearing exactly the same outfit.

Team strips are a very normal thing in sports. In gymnastics, individuals can wear the same design in different forms for team events, i.e. leotard and unitard. So they don't all have to agree a form. Consultation on design is a sensible approach.

I referred to individual events because they are a guide to what gymnasts choose when they don't need to match their teammates. I have seen many of these women perform in individual events. Those who choose leotards there are wearing leotards on teams. Sparkles, cut, and style aren't significantly different.

At individual events, gymnasts wear their choice of outfits. I have not seen anyone at the Olympics change their style significantly between individual (earlier events this and last year) and team. Most of these gymnasts are wearing leotards, which is what they normally choose to compete as individuals.

They are wearing national colours / motifs in most cases. They may prefer different colours or patterns, but it would be quite babyish to resist wearing a team strip for those reasons, unless you are being asked to wear something offensive or inappropriate.

I wanted to run in and push the coach off of her. My cousin was crying and telling the coach to stop but she wouldn't, for ages. Makes me angry and upset even now. Not to mention the weigh ins and slapping.
I see those as much more of an issue in womens gymnastics

Male footballers etc don't get to opt out of team strips either. But like gymnasts they can go for different leg coverage, different shoes, and different accessories.

That is abusive and unacceptable behaviour. Do you know if your cousin or anyone advocating for her has discussed it with British Gymnastics (if you are in the UK?)

I hope someone concerned would feel able to make a safe sports report or has done so. Here are the links in case they are useful to you or anybody else

https://www.british-gymnastics.org/safe-and-fair-sport/report-a-concern

Women footballers wear very similar outfits to men footballers, their outfits are not designed to reveal more of the female body. Imagine the outrage if women footballers were expected to wear shorts that left half their buttocks exposed?

Yes, she reported it as part of the Whyte review but because her experience was back in the mid nineties, she didn't feel it got taken all that seriously.
I still think of it so must be a million times worse for her.

I hope that women footballers are consulted and have choices in this matter, like gymnasts. When I watch football (rarely) I seem to see some wearing longer cycling short style under baggier shorts?

Neither men nor women play football in form fitting clothes. There is no reason for them to do so. I don't care what length they wear their shorts at and I have no knowledge of this. The sports make very different demands on women's bodies.

Humiliated infant team finals on now.

Notable for the lack of any obviously humiliated infants but just in case anyone's forgotten

since part of the OP was the critique of the leotards, I just want to say that Chinas leotards are absolutely stunning today, how someone could look at something like that and come up with 'cheap', 'tacky' or 'infantile' beggars belief. I can't imagine the sense of pride they felt putting that on.

I just appreciate their absolutely amazing skills, athleticism and grit 🤷🏻‍♀️

Romania's look like they were from Middle of Lidl but I think that's just by dint of the colour of their nation's flag 🇷🇴

Aren't they fabulous? I think some people on here just seem to be annoyed that some sports involve sparkle and performance, and some women enjoy that. They all look amazing.

Yes, I have to admit I am too busy wondering how the fuck they just got into that position to notice how high their leotard leg is.

I haven't seen the women's yet, but I thought yesterday how awesome the design on the China team's top was.

How are people rating Team GB’s team medal chances?

low. Many of our big hitters are injured out - two with ACL injuries, one with back, one with ankle... Jessica Gadirova, Jennifer Gadirova, Ondine Achampong would be pretty certain to make the team and contribute in a big way, and sadly aren't here and will be missed. No disrespect to our women who work incribly hard and have real talent, but the team is basically 'who is fit enough to compete'. We would be needing big mistakes from many teams even if we go clean. That said we can improve on qualification where we fell apart on bars. And don't miss the uneven bars final at the weekend where our wonderful Becky Downie will be competing for a medal and has a real shot.

China are having a mare and there's a reasonable chance still I think

My heart was in my mouth just now!!

I finally saw a noticeably made-up face. But jeeze, Rebeca Andrade sported real power make-up. Nothing girly going on there.