Conversation Starters, Features, Sports
Nike Women’s Olympic Apparel Perpetuates the Patriarchy – How Female Athletes Are Pushing Back
YoLooking towards the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nike released its new outfit design for the US women’s Olympic team. Following Nike’s release, the brand has been receiving criticism for its women’s apparel from both fans and athletes. The women’s design is a leotard with a high-cut bikini line. “Professional athletes should be able to compete without dedicating brain space to constant pube vigilance or the mental gymnastics of having every vulnerable piece of your body on display,” former US track and field athlete Lauren Fleshman wrote in an Instagram post. “This is a costume born of patriarchal forces that are no longer welcome or needed to get eyes on women’s sports.” It is evident that female athletes are still subject to the patriarchy and navigating hypersexualization.
In addition to Fleshman commenting on the apparel, other former Olympians critiqued the apparel. Former Olympians Tara Davis-Woodhall and Queen Harrison Claye, mocked the apparel for its ineffectiveness in their sports. Most of the concern is due to the lack of coverage in the bikini area of the leotard. In a society where the patriarchy influences how women dress, the sexualization of women across industries presents itself as normal.
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Amid all of the criticism, Nike released a statement to ABC News. Nike shared that, “the outfit is one of the ‘range of styles’ that it offers for athletes to choose from.” Additionally, “The brand said it ‘will also have tailoring options available for Olympic and Paralympic athletes at the games.'”
As Moon stated in her post, on the most important days of their careers, it’s offensive to think that women would dress to appeal to the men.
A History of the Sexualization of Female Athletes
This isn’t the first time that women are fighting for changes to their athletic uniform. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the German women’s gymnastics team refused to wear bikini-cut unitards. They chose to wear full-body outfits, in what the German Gymnastics Federation branded as a statement against “sexualization.” “It’s about what feels comfortable,” German gymnast Elisabeth Seitz said. “We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear.”
Additionally, in 2012, the Badminton World Federation tried (and failed) to require female players to wear skirts in order to “look feminine and have a nice presentation.” As a result, the Federation received criticism for being sexist. Unfortunately, the unreasonable expectation for female athletes to wear apparel that emphasizes their femininity is all too common. And these are only two of many examples of the policing of female athletes apparel that sexualizes them, rather than enhances their performance.
Potential Impacts of Sexualizing Female Athletes
It’s discouraging for the future of young female athletes that their bodies may be sexualized throughout their careers. Evaluating women for their bodies, rather than their performance results from patriarchy. Young girls and women alike are likely to find themselves turning away from sports, due to these obstacles.
“There are those societal expectations that fall in line with gender norms that are couched in patriarchy about how women should present themselves. … From hair to makeup to clothing, to how tight [or loose] the clothing is, to the colors,” Carter-Francique told NPR. “[All] so that they can be more in line with this notion of girlhood, of womanhood, of what is deemed femininity.”
In a report released by the Women’s Sports Foundation, they listed some reasons why girls turn away from sports. This includes “[t]oday’s girls [being] bombarded with images of external beauty, not those of confident, strong female athletic role models. To some girls, fitting within the mold that they are constantly told to stay in is more important than standing out.”
We see this in the body shaming of female athletes, such as Serena Williams and Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles. It’s also important to take into account the ways that race plays in defining and criticizing one’s femininity. Female athletes defy notions of what femininity should look like, especially when it comes to body type. As a result, female athletes find themselves defending their femininity to critics.
How To Create Change in Women’s Sports
With more people paying attention to women’s sports and the negative experiences they’re having, hopefully this will be an opportunity to create more discourse about the sexualization of female athletes. Additionally, as female athletic role models speaking out will encourage girls of all ages to understand that femininity is a limiting social structure.
To say that being a female athlete is powerful is an understatement. One can’t define femininity by your body structure, the clothes you wear or the sport you play. As Biles demonstrates in her campaign with SK-II, it’s within, rather than a competition. Therefore, women should not have to care about the male gaze and societal expectations whether they’re playing in the Olympics or Little League.
The controversy surround the Nike women’s Olympics apparel isn’t just an issue for Nike to address. This is part of a larger conversation for athleisure brands, sports federations and men to participate in so that women can participate in their respective sports in the ways that make them happy and fulfilled.
