Fashion At Tokyo Olympics
Fashion at Tokyo Olympics has always been a trending topic. Every country is looking for a win, and proving their expertise there. It is not surprising that the attire is also judged. However, it has always been controversial when it came to the attire women wore. Athletes have been judged, penalized, and reprimanded for their costumes at the Olympics.
Societal elements continue to criticize women for their clothing. Irrespective of the fact that there is an assigned committee that decides the dress code of the athletes. Women all over the world have received backlash for the kind of clothes they wear. The dress code between men and women has been a burning topic in the international Olympics over the last few years. But, monitoring the dress code of women athletes is nothing new and this happens in all sports.
Recently, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the German beach volleyball team was fined for refusing to wear “Bikinis” but later it did not happen. This year the team members Germans Sarah Vos, Pauline Schaefer-Bates, Elizabeth Seitz, and Kim Beau competed in ankle-length uniforms. Instead of wearing the traditional leotard dress that is a bikini and a swimsuit which covers from shoulder to the waist. Their main motive to wear ankle-length uniforms was to make the young generation feel more confident. Emphasizing how women should always have the right to wear what they want. The player’s clear goal is to show the world that it is a women’s choice to wear what they feel confident in.
Looking At History
Earlier it was believed that women athletes cover their legs for religious reasons. Though Sarah Vos said that she wanted to be a role model for all the young gymnasts. She also mentioned that usually, young girls do not feel comfortable or safe wearing revealing clothes. She also said that if a person does not want to, they should not. In an interview with BBC she says, “If they feel safe, they can wear ordinary tights if they like it’. For me, this does not mean that I will wear long tights every time in the future. It depends on how I feel and how I want to perform.”
However, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined 1500 euros last week for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms. Eventually, risking the best show of the game as indicated by the European Handball Organization and the Worldwide Handball Alliance. Also a decade ago, in the 2012 London Olympics, the BWF objected that women wear skirts to make the sport more “feminine” and “attractive” to fans and sponsors. Later the rule was not denied.
But, this is not just one instance where women’s clothes are judged. Talking about 2019, the French Tennis Federation objected to the full-body uniform that American tennis star Serena Williams worn at the French Open. They said that it would no longer be accepted in the tournaments. In 1945, American tennis player Anne White was likewise advised to wear something else “suitable”. After she played her initial round in a long-sleeved white spandex bodysuit.
The article was originally in the August Edition of the World Model Hunt magazine.
