2004-08-19

Is beach-volleyball sexist?

Aftonbladet reported yesterday the opinions of Margaeta Winberg, who complained that the olympic sport of beach volleyball is sexist. Apparently, she believes the outfits worn by the women atheletes are to skimpy. The dress codes for men and women are different, as in many sports. Reader response was mixed, but the vast majority disagreed with Margareta.

Perhaps Margareta wouldn't complain if all atheletes were required to compete in the nude, as in the original olympic games (I suspect that if the olympics returned to this tradition, there would be no problem selling all the tickets!). Because the sport originated on the beach, clothing similar to beachwear is appropriate. Being traditionalists, the olympic authorities obviously decided that the game should be true to its roots.

Women and men are sometimes held to different standards. If one of the women competitors stated a desire to wear shorts and a t-shirt, I doubt that she would find much opposition among the olympic authorities. But some standards must be enforced. If the men were allowed to compete bare-chested as they have requested, would Margareta demand equal top-free rights for women?

I haven't read anything suggesting that an athelete has complained about the dress codes. The atheletes aren't upset about the dress codes -- only Marageta is.

2 comments:

daniel said...

Häggman, that is one of the most fucked up pics I've seen since my last trip to ogrish.com!

Michael A. Lowry said...

Back in my college days, I visited Live Oak Resort a few times. Volleyball was one of the more popular activities there. The volleyball court was right next to the pool, so people would ofter play a few games and then cool off with a dip in the pool. Women with large breasts usually chose to wear a top while playing, but otherwise most people were naked. Clothing approriate for the situation was the rule.