Beach volleyball

[devilinside]

As if tennis isn't bad enough - preoccupation with how the female players look, how short their skirts are etc. We now have Beach Volleyball coming to the olympics soon.

Photo in today's Mail - women wearing the skimpiest bikini bottoms ever, with tiny vest tops. Surely this is sexualisation of female athletes?

Well they're choosing to wear it, so they obviously don't have a problem with it.

beach vollyball is clearly sexualised, it began as some eye-candy inbetween other sports and slowly built up it's own following.
i dont know how terrible it is, it's lovely to watch, pert buttocks etc.
shouldnt sportswomen be judged primarily on their sportsmanship? not how cute they look.
does it matter that men are letching if the sportswomen are getting where they want to be in what must be a very tough sport?

sorry for being a bit wishy washy, i'm undecided.

The players aren't choosing to wear ill-fitting bikini bottoms. They are made to by the governing body of their sport.

Male players get away with full-length vest tops and baggy shorts.

They can also choose to wear a one piece swimsuit.

feel free to corerect me if i'm wrong but dont most women think men look riduculous in speedos?
on beaches women tend to wear swimsuits or bikinis and look great in them nature isnt as kind to men, men tend to wear baggy swim shorts not for modesty just so they dont look like a pratt.

i agree with kim though, women get judged on what they wear before what they do, even germane greer was criticising angela merkels trousers the other day! i belive her exact words were "you've got a big arse love get used to it"!

"on beaches women tend to wear swimsuits or bikinis and look great in them nature isnt as kind to men, men tend to wear baggy swim shorts not for modesty just so they dont look like a pratt."

Chairman you do make me laugh! You have a knack for taking anything that is limiting and derogatory towards women and make it sound as if it's a compliment to them, rather than something that limits their freedom! I don't know how you do it...

They don't have to wear it for the Olympics -

'Bikinis are still welcome, but female beach volleyball players can now wear shorts and sleeved tops during the Olympic competition this summer in London.'

Beach volleyball dress code

Bikinis dropped..

If you read the comments on the dm online article there's so many ppl calling the women fat! Discussing their stomachs and bums. It's completely irrelevant that they can choose to wear a swimsuit it is still sexually exploiting women in the work place to force them to wear anything this revealing. It does a disservice to female athletes who are already not taken seriously and reinforces the obsession with looks and sexual appeal already in wider culture.

messy. yes i see what your saying, glad i made you laugh! but what you say brings up one of my main points.
women do have a tendency to assume they have the short straw when they identify a difference between the sexes, and it isnt allways the case.

Actually the most insulting thing here is "men tend to wear baggy swim shorts not for modesty just so they dont look like a pratt".

It could have been "because many people disapprove of men wearing close-fitting costumes" but no, it had to be "look like a pratt".

This links up with the recent discussion (to the extent that it took place) about whether women need to wear bras. There's a vague social consensus, backed up by ambiguous laws, on which body parts people should keep covered. As long as people obey that convention, I really wish we could leave the shape of the body alone. We need to mind our own damn business, and if there's something we'd rather not see, look elsewhere.

Krumbum how can the information about the fact the sportswomen can choose to wear a swimsuit be "completely irrelevant" on a thread that is discussing female volleyball player's attire? They simply aren't being forced to wear them. They can choose shorts and t-shirt also.

Chairman, that's because in matters of dress where there is a required difference, women do get the short straw 9.000765 times out 10! From being required to cover up more to being required to cover up less, it's the man's dress that suffers less scrutiny and as a result men get the freedom to just be.

But as it is Friday and I'm feeling happy I will give you one concession Chairman . It is bloody hot and I would like to extend to all men the ability to wear light flowy skirts in order to get a bit of air to the old legs - on condition of course that they shave them, and no rogue hairs around the ankle?! Do we have a deal?

Just out of interest, for those that think it's sexualisation,innapropriate etc what would your suggestion of an appropriate kit be?

deal!, but i doubt a skirt would suit me ..........well, not with these shoes anyway!

What do non-beach volleyballers wear?

I understand that sportswear is often close-fitting and reveals a bit of skin. I just think that it should cover your bum cheeks properly in the very least. Shorts and a vest top would work fine.

tei tetua
yes convention sucks doesnt it, and i admire your fighting it. that you find what i said insulting i think is going a little far but hell, what do i know.

do women feel the need to wear bras? i certainly wouldnt judge a woman for not doing, i would say that was her business. maybe it's all cultural pressure and we only find some things tasteful after they have been drummed into us by an overbearing media, but the G-string peter stringfellow was wearing on that photo walking down the beach with a girl half his age , now come on, some things are beyond culture, i belive people would either laugh or think WTF!!! everywhere from darkest peru to japan seeing that faux-pas.

I used to play volleyball - on the beach and in a hall.
I used to wear shorts.
Why so skimpy? I think it trivialises the sport a bit. But, I suppose they're comfortable wearing it.

Mr Chairman, it took a few minutes to find a picture of the incident of which you spoke, dated 2009. Bloggers of the most careful and polite character do seem to find it rather upsetting! If anyone wants to see the image, it's here:
stuffthatsnotcool.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/stringfellow.jpg?w=450

It's not clear how old the woman next to Mr Stringfellow is, but I'll be cautious and not call her a "girl". But I do see that they have similar hairstyles, and they're both wearing thong suits, and nothing else. So that's equality for you--we should all be applauding! Why single out one of them for criticism?

Meanwhile downunder, the Lingerie Football League is coming to town....

www.mamamia.com.au/news/why-cant-they-do-this-with-their-clothes-on/

change.org petition here:
www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-lingerie-football-league-in-australia

oh, but we don't need feminism any more, according to most of the people I know.....

well, teitetua, wasnt expecting to see pete stringfellows bottom frist thing this morning, thax for that. and your right i suppose it is equality.

firm buttocks for an old bugger eh!

Yesterday morning they interviewed a female volleyball player on Radio 4 and she said that she preferred the skimpy costumes because if you wore a shirt with sleeves you would get sand trapped underneath it.

Which of course still doesn't explain why the women's costumes are so much skimpier than the men's costumes.