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've noticed Simone is looking flawless this competition, like she has a blurring filter on, her make-up is stunning. But it doesn't look heavy, so maybe she just has incredible skin.

Feeling sorry for the Chinese team

i Can’t watch beam. We’re so close and beam is so unforgiving.

I’m watching the team final and I’m baffled by OP’s opinion. It’s also interesting to note not everyone in the teams all seem to wear the same outfit, or at least the US girl on now has a different one to those Biles has been wearing. Many of them are hardly low cut around the legs but equally they’re hardly extremely high cut as implied by many.

There were times when girls were starving themselves and were old at 18. This has changed so much. But if you're watching the sport, it's pretty obvious why they're dressed like this. They can't afford a piece of clothing coming their way as they're moving. Same for their hair. Their movements don't allow for hair in their faces or getting stuck somewhere as they're performing their movements.

@EerieSilence precisely, the sport has changed beyond all recognition in the past 15 years, it’s now very much a power sport that suits older athletes who have had time to undergo full muscular-skeletal development. Thankfully no more half-starved 13 year olds at elite level.

Bells on this!!

The hussy! At 25 years old, dabbling in make-up.

Obviously the only way the child of a single mother from a Brazilian slum could work her way up to vault world champion and lead her team to their first Olympic medal ever is by slapping on a full face of makeup and wriggling her hips at the judges.

Doubtless necessary to stop the judges from penalising the team for letting one of those women perform with a black eye and a bandaged head like some rugby player.

Exactly. When I first saw the thread, I thought I might have missed some sort of outlier among the teams and gymnasts. But no. They're just wearing leotards cut to show their legs, which cover the essentials without enveloping the entire buttock at all times. You saw bigger hair in the 60s, and heavier makeup in the 80s. The thread is a mass of random prejudices.

More sparkles and visible makeup on team Brazil.

Oh poor Flavia! What a night for her. She did amazingly to compete so well on vault.

Such a shame for the GB ladies, they were so close

It was a shame. I was thrilled for Brazil but GB should be proud.

They were gorgeous, I commented on how clever the design was to look like traditional Chinese clothing

You have the problem, not the gymnasts. The hairstyle is to make sure the hair does not get in the way of serious, amazing acrobat performance! No child can do this. The dance is artistic, feminine and fantastic.

It is a shame when one loses. But the best team wins! Simone and the US team are outstanding!

Let's hope they all felt duly inferior to the men anyway, because we've learned during this thread that women's things are inherently shit and cringe.

Oh give it a rest. Why are you so childish?

There is a discussion to be had about outfits in sports like gymnastics (and others). There is a discussion to be had about the differences between men’s and women’s disciplines.

You and the others getting all huffy and sarcastic about it when people dare to say that there may still be some underlying sexism in gymnastics [why wouldn’t there be??] just makes you look silly now. Yes, you’re a gymnastics fan (and it’s a wildly impressive sport) but your inability to even discuss any possible drawbacks makes you look like a stroppy child whose favourite band has been criticised.

Yes, the OP came on a bit strong and was very wide of the mark in some ways.

But your above comment is very petulant and disingenuous. It’s almost as if you don’t believe that women have been the oppressed group throughout all of history. Maybe do some research?

They came fourth, they didn't lose.

Lets face it Simone Biles is so far ahead of everyone that with her on the team it is difficult to not come first.

Oh wow, you did come back after all.

Are you going to tell us who claimed there wasn't any sexism at all in gymnastics now? You seem very attached to the idea that this has been claimed, indeed I remember you directly claiming @TheKeatingFive had, but we're still waiting for the quotes. Prove your claims.

Also, it's foolishly arrogant of you to imagine that people who know more than you about the sport aren't willing to discuss any actual drawbacks. It's just that the nonsense you've come out with about how the women's version must be the short straw because music doesn't qualify as that. You're not going to be capable of such discussion until you've managed to get past your own internalised sexism on the issue. Strawmanning isn't going to do it.

Yes, the age and shape of the top gymnasts has changed so much over the years. The teams with the tiny child-like teenagers are no longer the most successful teams. It's all about power and experience.

Absolutely agree with this.

It's more sexist to imply being feminine in any way is "less sporty" than the male version...

Yesterday, when watching team GB being interviewed, I found myself paying attention to their outfits with this thread in mind. The youngest in the team was 16 and looked it. Barely there make-up. An understated leotard, very high neckline. I'd seen them on the beam, not much arse cheek at all. They looked like they were wearing a sports outfit, designed to hold things in and stop uncomfortable jiggling. Designed for purpose.
Some of the other teams were more sparkly in their outfits and wore more make up. But nobody looked like they would fall out of anything any time soon.

Watching the 'flicky wrist' bits with a new eye, I realised just how fleeting those moments are. Obviously it's not even a thing on the uneven bars . It's most noticeable on the floor, but it's fleeting, it connects the moves. It's not like it's most of the routine and it gives a fluidity that the men's floor doesn't have.

It doesn't look like a sport that isn't taken seriously, just because some teams wear make up and sparkly outfits. Yes, there was smiling. There were also looks of intense concentration. I didn't see much inane grinning on the uneven bars and the beam. I saw fierce concentration most of the time.
I'm not saying there's never been sexism or that everything is rosy in the gymnastics garden. But has a viewer of gymnastics today, even looking closely, instead of being too blown away by what they are doing, I still don't recognise the inane grins and infantilised adults of the OP. The women were solid, muscular adult athletes.
Let's not do them the disservice of viewing them otherwise. Let's not be part of the problem. The more WE see them as athletes, not pretty objects for the men, the better.

That’s unfair to the rest of the team. They were all awesome.

Also - @ObelixtheGaul - well said. My feelings exactly 👏👏👏