3 ms·

I think it's important to note that some of these sports organizations are _requiring_ specific uniforms for women that are far more revealing and sexualized th

I think it's important to note that some of these sports organizations are _requiring_ specific uniforms for women that are far more revealing and sexualized than that for men.

ekianjo 5y ago
This may be also driven by more people (in this case men) watching when women athletes wear more revealing stuff? It would be strange if event organizers did something that hurt their bottomline.
- weregiraffe 5y ago
  Yes, but the women athletes are under the impression they participate in a sports competition, not an erotica show.
  - chii 5y ago
    > they participate in a sports competition they should understand that all sports competition has an element of showmanship and display - after all, the viewers make the sport possible. Sports competition isnt something with intrinsic value that can exist in a vacuum. If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue.
    - approxim8ion 5y ago
      > If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue. If the athletes don't turn up, the competition makes no money and cannot continue. This goes both ways. The "element of showmanship" taking precedence over the sport shouldn't be tolerated, and the pushback is well within their rights.
      - wegs 5y ago
        If the athletes don't show up, there are plenty of others who will. Expecting athlete pushback to solve this is a doomed strategy.
        approxim8ion 5y ago
        If the perverts in the audience stop watching, there should be plenty of others who are actually interested in the sport who will. The pushback doesn't have to be effective to be valid.
    - nextaccountic 5y ago
      > Sports competition isnt something with intrinsic value that can exist in a vacuum. If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue. That's exactly what is wrong with capitalism: somehow money-making is at the forefront of the concerns of every human activity, to the point that athletes may not be able to choose their own clothing.
      - CapricornNoble 5y ago
        They can wear whatever they want....when they "compete" in their backyard, for no salary, with no one watching. But when businesses foot the bill for their activities, and for the expensive infrastructure required to produce and broadcast these events to a global audience, then they can wear what generates revenue, or get another job.
        krapp 5y ago
        I'm sorry... you seem to be implying that the only thing generating revenue in womens' gymnastics is the sexualizing of the athletes. That's obviously not the case, so maybe you can clarify your argument?
        CapricornNoble 5y ago
        Is it the only thing? No. Does sexualization have an outsized influence? I suspect so. If you have an alternative explanation, please put forth your hypothesis. Would you agree that the net worth of individual athletes is substantially derived from advertising endorsements and sponsorships? https://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/olympic-athletes-salaries/ https://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/olympic-athletes-s... Look at this list of wealthiest Olympians: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/list/top-50-olympians/ https://www.celebritynetworth.com/list/top-50-olympians/ Notice that almost all of the women are figure skaters, gymnasts, or horseback riders (not a very sexualized sport, probably some interesting effects of family wealth needed to even train for it). Why are there no female power lifters raking in millions after winning a medal? I'm singling out power lifting as a sport where the women are conservatively dressed and the events are not particularly flattering to the female form. Ideally we would have access to per-event viewership data going back decades as a proxy for Olympic event popularity, ticket revenue, and advertising revenue. I could only find this article with some good graphs of overall income by source: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-g... The bulk of which is TV. What glues eyeballs to the TV screen? We can compare viewership of 2 simple YouTube searches as a proxy: "sexiest female pole vaulters": top5 vids alone are >50M views total "sexiest female powerlifters": top10 vids are <10M views total Interestingly, the #6 result for "sexiest female Olympic gymnasts" is titled: "28 Olympians on How to get laid in the Olympic village" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UD0w13IdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UD0w13IdQ Even Cosmopolitan, that bastion of the misogynistic male gaze (sarc), knows what people wanna see about the Olympics.
  - wegs 5y ago
    For the Olympics, this impression is incorrect. It's at least as much a show as an athletics competition. Billions of dollars are on the line in the Olympics, and that's what it's about, from countries competing with billion-dollar incentives, to news networks, to bribes. Any capitalist enterprise is driven to make money.

I think it's important to note that some of these sports organizations are _requiring_ specific uniforms for women that are far more revealing and sexualized than that for men.

ekianjo 5y ago

This may be also driven by more people (in this case men) watching when women athletes wear more revealing stuff? It would be strange if event organizers did something that hurt their bottomline.

weregiraffe 5y ago
Yes, but the women athletes are under the impression they participate in a sports competition, not an erotica show.
- chii 5y ago
  > they participate in a sports competition they should understand that all sports competition has an element of showmanship and display - after all, the viewers make the sport possible. Sports competition isnt something with intrinsic value that can exist in a vacuum. If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue.
  - approxim8ion 5y ago
    > If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue. If the athletes don't turn up, the competition makes no money and cannot continue. This goes both ways. The "element of showmanship" taking precedence over the sport shouldn't be tolerated, and the pushback is well within their rights.
    - wegs 5y ago
      If the athletes don't show up, there are plenty of others who will. Expecting athlete pushback to solve this is a doomed strategy.
      - approxim8ion 5y ago
        If the perverts in the audience stop watching, there should be plenty of others who are actually interested in the sport who will. The pushback doesn't have to be effective to be valid.
  - nextaccountic 5y ago
    > Sports competition isnt something with intrinsic value that can exist in a vacuum. If the audience desires certain types of show, they get it, or the competition makes no money and cannot continue. That's exactly what is wrong with capitalism: somehow money-making is at the forefront of the concerns of every human activity, to the point that athletes may not be able to choose their own clothing.
    - CapricornNoble 5y ago
      They can wear whatever they want....when they "compete" in their backyard, for no salary, with no one watching. But when businesses foot the bill for their activities, and for the expensive infrastructure required to produce and broadcast these events to a global audience, then they can wear what generates revenue, or get another job.
      - krapp 5y ago
        I'm sorry... you seem to be implying that the only thing generating revenue in womens' gymnastics is the sexualizing of the athletes. That's obviously not the case, so maybe you can clarify your argument?
        CapricornNoble 5y ago
        Is it the only thing? No. Does sexualization have an outsized influence? I suspect so. If you have an alternative explanation, please put forth your hypothesis. Would you agree that the net worth of individual athletes is substantially derived from advertising endorsements and sponsorships? https://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/olympic-athletes-salaries/ https://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/olympic-athletes-s... Look at this list of wealthiest Olympians: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/list/top-50-olympians/ https://www.celebritynetworth.com/list/top-50-olympians/ Notice that almost all of the women are figure skaters, gymnasts, or horseback riders (not a very sexualized sport, probably some interesting effects of family wealth needed to even train for it). Why are there no female power lifters raking in millions after winning a medal? I'm singling out power lifting as a sport where the women are conservatively dressed and the events are not particularly flattering to the female form. Ideally we would have access to per-event viewership data going back decades as a proxy for Olympic event popularity, ticket revenue, and advertising revenue. I could only find this article with some good graphs of overall income by source: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-g... The bulk of which is TV. What glues eyeballs to the TV screen? We can compare viewership of 2 simple YouTube searches as a proxy: "sexiest female pole vaulters": top5 vids alone are >50M views total "sexiest female powerlifters": top10 vids are <10M views total Interestingly, the #6 result for "sexiest female Olympic gymnasts" is titled: "28 Olympians on How to get laid in the Olympic village" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UD0w13IdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UD0w13IdQ Even Cosmopolitan, that bastion of the misogynistic male gaze (sarc), knows what people wanna see about the Olympics.
- wegs 5y ago
  For the Olympics, this impression is incorrect. It's at least as much a show as an athletics competition. Billions of dollars are on the line in the Olympics, and that's what it's about, from countries competing with billion-dollar incentives, to news networks, to bribes. Any capitalist enterprise is driven to make money.