"Is Your Sports Kit Sexist?" Sunday Times Style magazine 5/5/19

[MrsSnippyPants]

I usually pick up a Sunday Times but rarely read the Style magazine as it mostly has nothing in there of interest to me.
However, it was on the table as I ate breakfast, so I flicked through it and found a pretty good article on sports kit by Rebecca Myers.
It mentions girls dropping out of sport as teenagers, the SM abuse sportswomen get about their looks, and the horrible injuries the Paralympic cyclist Hannah Dines suffered from due to lack of proper research into saddles for women.
If you have the magazine lying around, I recommend reading the article; it isn't mentioned on the front cover.
Are sharetokens available for Times magazine articles?

Here you go (I don't usually open the style part either, so haven't read it myself yet):

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/is-women-sports-kit-sexist-serena-williams-jazmin-sawyers-alize-cornet-mizuno-gabby-marshall-swoty-6b0pfzl9b?shareToken=9b3247dd1ddbd11db67275f149022ac5

I have to say, DD's school very sensibly listened to the girls when redesigning the school sports kit and offered the options of standard shorts, cycle shorts or a rather nice skort (skater-style, without fiddly pleaty bits. DD still uses hers for running. The rugby tops sadly are still one-size-fits-nobody.

Thanks Errol

I had to pick up DD early from (secondary) school the other day and observed a group going out to the sports field while I was waiting. Virtually all the boys were wearing shorts but all of the girls were wearing leggings (for info girls can wear shorts, leggings or looser fitting jogging bottoms). I suspect the girls' choice of clothing may be a conforming thing as much as a body confidence thing though.

Hannah Dines' story:
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/26/hannah-dines-saddle-research-pain-swelling-female-cyclists

This lot are all over TV advertising.

Notice anything?

www.onepeloton.co.uk/bike/instructors

Why do you have to do sports in a bra and high leg knickers, if you are a woman-
Why not a t shirt and shorts?

Pisses me right off. And people wonder why girls and women drop out of sport.

Good read. Thank you for sharing the link Errol.

I must admit I was really pleased when the policy was brought in at my dc’s primary that they spend the whole day in their pe kit so no worrying over getting changed in front of others etc & they can pretty much wear what they like on their bottom half as long as it black or navy. Dc1 likes leggings or a skort (just a basic Asda one), dc2 likes that he can wear sweatpants if it’s cold or shorts if it’s hot. Dc3 likes her skort all year round. 2 of the 3 aren’t massively sporty but they all love pe & I do think a large part of it is the lack of changing & not being forced to wear something they dislike. Unfortunately none of the secondary schools they could go on to do this.

I switched to playing basketball at high school because I disliked netball dresses partly because they were uncomfortable & partly because the boys used to perv & because I kept moving with the ball.

I have to say, I found the Dines article kind of weird. A lot of men struggle with bike-seat related problems as well. Fundamentally they are caused because the whole set-up of a very fast bike puts too much pressure there, and because elite athletes spend too much time doing one thing. Ift hey want bikes that are better for them they need to be willing to ride differently, likely more slowly, and less often.