Why do female gymnasts always look like that?

[LovelyBitOfHam]

I’m sure you know what I mean.

Hair tied back in a big scrunchie - the kind of scrunchie you last wore when you were 9 years old.

Glittery make up.

Plaits, braids and hair clips.

I understand a lot of sports have a uniform but ultimately, if you take a track and field athlete, a swimmer and a tennis player just before they perform, you wouldn’t really be able to tell which sport they play just by looking at them. But you can identify the gymnasts from a mile away.

It isn’t just at Olympic level either. Even the little girls in weekend gymnastic clubs have the same sort of style.

Is it some kind of male gaze thing? Or is there a “type” of girl who grows up wanting to be a gymnast? I’ve always associated gymnasts with the sort of girls who didn’t really grow up, but I’ve now realised just how wrong that is.

I think what they can do is incredible, and Simone Biles is great. But there’s something about the “look” of gymnastics that’s always bothered me, and I can’t put my finger on what it is. Anyone else?

“Protect their modesty”??? It’s not 1893. They are fully clothed. If they want to wear a unitard they will (a couple of the German gymnasts did). They wear what they want to and have full say in designing their kit.

Every single one of the these threads (and there have been many over the duration of the games) has basically been concern trolling while denying female athletes’ agency.

Clubs may have a hairstyle requirement for young gymnasts so they can be safe without having to cover every whim and preference, but there are no hairstyle requirements in elite international gymnastics.

Anyone remember Flo-Jo? She was the first runner if I remember correctly who came out in full make up. She was amazing and her records still stand now. Then more runners started to braid their hair and wear make up, paint their nails. Have you seen the nails some of the current runners have, it looks quite painful for them to put their hands on the track to take their marks

It's all about how the competitor feels, what makes them feel good so they can do their best

Gymnasts by having their hair out of their faces is a safety issue. If they had half up half down it would get in the way.

And if you want to see make up go look at the Artistic Swimming - there must be an oil slick in the pool once they get out

PS Simone Biles hair is just shoved into an elastic

They are AMAZING! I’m too busy watching them thinking how the hell do they have the courage do those moves? I think the same about the divers too! Why would you even want to do a handstand whilst teetering on the edge of a dive board at some insane height? (Shudder!)

BECAUSE THEY FUCKING WANT TO.

That’s it. The end. No further discussion needed. Women are dressing how they want to, because they want to.

Why is the male way of doing things the default? Men wear plain gym clothes, so the women should too?
What the fuck is wrong with sparkly leotards exactly?

The bun style is not “in the rules”.

the rules simply state the hair must not touch the floor in a handstand or otherwise create a hazard.

they gymnast has absolute free rein over what that style is. Bunches, plaits, short hair, whatever they choose.

Many young women like to wear make up and look good for photos.

These ones are awesome gymnasts too.

Doesn't seem to be an issue for the female breakers, though.

I'm pretty sure the gymnasts don't get to choose their own outfits, it's the team 'strip' essentially. So it will reproduce a set of accepted standards/conventions in the dress for that sport. I don't think anyone would say that gymnastics didn't have a shady history in the way it treats young girls and their bodies. Simone Biles has said she had to steal food at a training camp as it was withheld from them.

Interestingly the German team have been pushing for unitards: https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/gymnastics-german-gymnasts-choose-full-body-suits-comfort-freedom-2024-07-25/

Gymnasts are amazing athletes who can do what the majority of the population can’t .

Ingrained misogyny gives rise to threads like this. That and jealousy.

Who cares how they dress and the hair has to be scraped back because of the summersaults and flips they do. It would get in the way otherwise.

I always thought it was like ballet. My DD did it and the students would be marked down in exams if their hair wasnt in the perfect bun.

Madness.

@Thepottingshed 20 seconds of googling would have shown you that they select their own kit from hundreds of different combinations, and that they have a full say in designing the kit.

The physical requirements of these sports and the dangers if hair gets impedes vision or gets caught against equipment are completely different.

It is not like this.

Something that you completely imagined and has no grounding in reality is madness? Yep, you’re right there.

It's an issue for gymnasts. Interferes with line of sight for landings from tucks and twists. I don't know what break dancers are required to do, but no reason for gymnasts to endanger themselves.

I've watched quite a lot of the Olympics this time round and to be honest I think virtually every female athlete, whatever their discipline has got their hair tied back, or plaited, or braided. Some of the track runners have extensions but if you look it's all held back by a hair band and by this I mean an Alice band

Believe me when I tell you that those ribbons aren’t the only thing going on in the hair and those 2 bits of ribbons are used to secure the bun along with a thousand and one hair grips and pins

If you think about just wearing the standard black leotard and everyone is wearing the same standard black leotard how would you tell the difference between all the gymnastic teams at a glance

Although you don’t get points for a really nice sparkly leotard, If it makes the contestant feel happy in themselves, they are going to perform better

I remember Olga Korbut and Nadia Comeneci, the greats that put Women's Gymnastics to the fore - neither wore gloop but both tied their hair back - Olga wore a smile and Nadia looked stern - both very young and very small and skinny. I'll always remember a little 8 year old Polish (USSR) girl who fell off the uneven bars and burst into tears; and not because she hurt herself.

Now we have mature, muscly women performing great masterful gymnastics - I'd wager most of their days don't involve glitter and make-up so I've no problem at all with them wearing glittery stuff for their very few days in the spotlights.

I think perhaps because gymnastics has elements of dance, artistry and self expression and therefore it contains more showmanship and performance as opposed to other sports. Any genre of performance/dance is going to have its canon looks and traditions.

@LovelyBitOfHam But you can identify the gymnasts from a mile away.

The sport has an artistic element to it, which is why the women look and perform a certain way.

Is it some kind of male gaze thing?

No.

I’ve always associated gymnasts with the sort of girls who didn’t really grow up, but I’ve now realised just how wrong that is.

It's good that you've realised this is wrong, but it's astonishing you would even think that to begin with. I would say that sitting at a computer and scrutinising women's appearances on the internet isn't grown up.

A handful of older German gymnasts prefer the unitard. Any gymnast may wear it. It hasn't become popular and younger German gymnasts don't wear it.

The women who have promoted it have also clarified that they do not mean to criticize anyone's choice of the traditional leotard. That is not immodest or inappropriate. It is cooler, easier to fit, and for many gymnasts less slippery on apparatus than the unitard.

It's a choice, not a superior option to be used to criticize other women. It has been an option for years.

Below are this year's German representatives

'Male gaze'? I imagine the vast majority of those watching are female.
I have always wondered why women in beach volleyball the women are wearing what looks like a two piece bathing suit but the men wear shorts and tank tops.

For those interested, here is the full text for the section on competition attire for women's international gymnastics. It includes some eye-roll inducing words like elegant and proper, but it's basic and focuses more on making sure nothing is too extreme or distracting. There are no deductions or points for fashion, that is not a thing in modern gymnastics.

Makeup, braids, sparkles... they're all just about what gymnasts like to wear, and there's a huge variety. Most women I know like to do something fun or special with their hair, makeup and/or clothes on important days in their lives.