Uniformity in Uniforms?
Where does the contrast between men and women's uniforms come into play? For unisex sports why is there a difference between uniforms? Sports have become a large part of a sexualized culture that requires uniforms to be tight fitting and athletes often times are required to be in good enough shape to wear the uniforms rather than focusing purely on performance.
In feminine sports today, female’s uniforms have been displaying a lot of skin like never before. Athletes describe their revealing uniforms in multiple ways. Runners describe their uniforms as ‘butt-huggers’, gymnast describes their uniforms as bathing suits, and tennis players describe their uniforms as miniskirts. During televised volleyball games, their uniforms resemble bikinis more-so than any other sports attire. From a feminist point of view, this trend reflects a large-scale acceptance of women athletes in the attempt to be both athletic and sexy. This idea demands that the female athletic body be both muscular and toned. Tight and revealing clothing reflects the mechanization of the body, which then makes the body something to be sculpted and shaped to fit a particular profile idealized by the activity. Volleyball’s revealing uniform accentuates the limbs and the torso of the women. Females putting on revealing uniforms and tight outfits not only continues to justify women as sexual objects, but it adds to the social stereotype that volleyball players (and women of any other sport) are to have a desired body type and/or height. Because of such revealing clothes, women have become sexualized in combination with their achievements instead of their raw talents being the main reason for their achievements.
In feminine sports today, female’s uniforms have been displaying a lot of skin like never before. Athletes describe their revealing uniforms in multiple ways. Runners describe their uniforms as ‘butt-huggers’, gymnast describes their uniforms as bathing suits, and tennis players describe their uniforms as miniskirts. During televised volleyball games, their uniforms resemble bikinis more-so than any other sports attire. From a feminist point of view, this trend reflects a large-scale acceptance of women athletes in the attempt to be both athletic and sexy. This idea demands that the female athletic body be both muscular and toned. Tight and revealing clothing reflects the mechanization of the body, which then makes the body something to be sculpted and shaped to fit a particular profile idealized by the activity. Volleyball’s revealing uniform accentuates the limbs and the torso of the women. Females putting on revealing uniforms and tight outfits not only continues to justify women as sexual objects, but it adds to the social stereotype that volleyball players (and women of any other sport) are to have a desired body type and/or height. Because of such revealing clothes, women have become sexualized in combination with their achievements instead of their raw talents being the main reason for their achievements.