Sports week, part two: The ridiculous double standard of special outfit rules for women’s sports that objectify women and have nothing to do with their being able to participate is finally getting some attention – in part due to the courage of Norway’s women’s beach handball team, who dared to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms in a July competition… and then were fined for it!

It’s covered in these two New York Times articles by Jenny Gross, Women’s Handball Players Are Fined for Rejecting Bikini Uniforms, and Facing Outrage Over Bikini Rule, Handball Federation Signals ‘Likely’ Change.

And the courage of the German women’s gymnastics team, who wore full body unitards for their Tokyo Olympic competition to protest the “sexualization” they face – as reported by Sophie Lewis for CBS in this piece, Germany’s female gymnasts wear full-body unitards in stand against “sexualization” of sport.

And these aren’t old rules that are just needing to be cleaned up for today’s understanding of equality and equity and fairness… As recently as 2011, the Badminton World Federation created a new rule that ”women playing at the elite level must wear dresses or skirts to create a more ‘attractive presentation.’”

I’m glad the issue is getting some attention now… hopefully we can join with these women to demand changes to make sports fairer for all.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee