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?

I believe from earlier threads on this issue that beach volleyball options for women now include shorts like men's.

Thing is the OP isn’t even true. Lots of the gymnasts had very plain buns and not much glitter in sight. Some went pretty blingy, some went quite girly. There has been lots of hair styles sported across the different sports. I saw some of the US track athletes with ribbons in their hair so maybe they just bloody like them and that is their choice.

thegymter.net/2016/04/06/gymnastics-hair-a-retrospective/

I haven't linked it as not sure how but this goes through changing styles across the ages. They also used to wear shoes!

Their make up is just the normal stuff that young women wear. And a lot of the gymnasts are black or mixed race. Braids are a normal hairstyle. There's nothing about their hair or makeup that would look out of place in a shopping centre. Just watching women's all round. Simone Biles hair is actually quite messy, doesn't look hair sprayed at all. There are bits sticking out all over the place.

Yes exactly. OP is seeing things that aren't there. Goady

Ok great, delighted, I am presuming the outfits are all a variation on a theme though, no one is going wildly off piste there, are they? Unlike athletics where there is usually a very wide range of types of outfit. Would the Germans have been allowed to compete in their full leg suits? If not, why not? (I'm not being goady, I'm genuinely interested- the gymnasts say it doesn't hamper their performance).

Some interesting thoughts from volleyball players here as well (it's interesting to ask what interest is being preserved in fining them for wearing- gasp- shorts!)

https://www.upbeacon.com/article/2021/11/more-than-the-uniform-volleyball-players-speak-out-about-body-image-and-sexism

All sport is absolutely shot through with sexism, like anything else. It doesn't detract from the athleticism to ask how that is acting on the sport, and the institutions of that sport, especially as those institutions are dominated by men.

Gymnastics isn't just a sport - it is a performance and the floor routine in particular is supposed to look effortless. Hence the smiles.

If you are throwing a javelin, or wrestling someone to the ground or running 100m in less than 10 seconds it doesn't matter what your face looks like. You can grimace with the superhuman effort and it doesn't matter if it looks like hard work.

I’ve just realised that while there have been multiple threads criticising gymnasts, divers, synchro swimming, and track and field female athletes’ garb and appearance I haven’t seen a SINGLE thread criticising the frankly bizarre dress of the dressage and show jumping riders.

It’s almost as if this has nothing to do with clothing, and everything to do with a deeply misogynistic attitude to women’s bodies. How dare women have strong, beautiful bodies? How dare they choose to show off their amazing bodies and what they can do?

I'm guessing that after slicking back their hair so tightly, they look weird, alien-like and slightly masculine so they need to feel human and womanly by wearing make-up? They want to look cute and theatrical rather than slutty or sultry. That would explain why SOME of them do it.

Yes, two of the German athletes did compete in their full leg suits. The full leg suits are very old news by now!

All the outfits are leotards, unitards, or potentially leotards with tights or leggings under or over. The leotard is a very sensible outfit to wear for gymnastics.

Would the Germans have been allowed to compete in their full leg suits? If not, why not? (I'm not being goady, I'm genuinely interested- the gymnasts say it doesn't hamper their performance).

Yes. They didn't put them on just to pose next to the equipment, they've been competing in them when they want for years now.

Also.

Class.

@Thepottingshed not sure what you are on about, several gymnasts did compete in unitards. And beach volleyball players can and do wear shorts. The (idiotic) beach volleyball rules were changed 3 years ago.

Have you actually been watching any of the sports you are commenting on?

But the OP was being honest, saying they had realised they were wrong. No need to condescend further.

Well that must be a guess. Because they don't look remotely alien. They look like humans with their hair tied back, more or less tightly. And wearing pretty normal amounts of makeup.

And the Divers - now there's a sight to behold - for the judgy-pants amongst us. Just today, I did notice that a Spanish diver, after completing her dive in the current de rigeur diving costume of no 'bottom-coverage' placed one of those dainty little towels over her buttocks after exiting the pool.

Anyone remember Linford Christie's Lunchbox?

Ah yes, not content with the misogyny on this thread, it’s time to resurrect some good old racist tropes.

I read the comment from @TheHateIsNotGood as saying the judgy types would object, not that we should.

Anyone seen the competitor in the pole vault who took the pole out with his lunchbox

@LaeralSilverhand - seriously? Dear god woman go get yourself down to the humour shop. Racist tropes? Please do explain....

If you can't tell the difference between what gymnasts do and what breakers do - none of us can help you

The problem is the male/female events having such different expectations and rules.

When women were first allowed to compete in the Olympics they were only allowed to do so in a way that showcases femininity and grace. That’s why the women’s floor events have music and dance involved and the men’s don’t. Things just haven’t changed.

Presumably you are referring to artistic gymnastics where the answer is in the title, it is artistic and points are given for this as well as the technical aspect. To be honest I'm not really sure what the point is of this thread except to decry the efforts of amazing athletes.

Some people must have rather sad and pathetic lives to get so worked up about glitter and hair scrunchies. Yes they look like young girls because they are young girls. They are mostly teens and early twenties, not middle aged, menopausal women, or would you prefer it if they competed looking like lamb dressed at mutton?

Maybe watch the recent documentary about him to understand. The “lunchbox” thing was a racist fetishisation of black mens’ bodies pushed by tabloid newspapers. He had a breakdown over it.

They have changed quite a lot. Gymnastics scoring prioritises technical mastery over grace. Men are expected to point their toes and present just as women are.
I'm struggling to think of any other olympic sports where expectations differ for men and women.