Olympic Games or Fashion Show?

This post was written by AAUW Membership Intern Taylor Blackwell.

Bikinis. Skimpy. Attractive. Skirts. Sex.

Am I reading headlines in a fashion magazine? No. I’m reading Olympic coverage on women’s sports. Women were first invited to the Olympic Games in 1900, and 112 years later, their dress code is still being debated.

Saudi Arabian athlete Wojdan Shaherkani competed in judo in London.

Though they were given the right to compete more than 100 years ago, not all women actually can participate in the games.For example, some Muslim women are prohibited from dressing in the revealing outfits that some sports require. This year, for the first time in Olympic history, Saudi Arabia sent two female athletes to the games — on the condition that they adhere to the country’s strict religious dress code. The International Olympic Committee has reached an agreement that allows the women to compete wearing some form of headscarf in place of their hijabs. One will compete in judo, the other in track and field.

In women’s weightlifting, athletes are now allowed to wear full-body, tight-fitted unitards during competitions thanks to a Muslim athlete from Atlanta who wanted to participate in competitions but still dress modestly.

“Weightlifting is an Olympic sport open for all athletes to participate without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin in accordance with the principles of the Olympic Charter and values,” International Weightlifting Federation President Tamas Ajan says. “This rule modification has been considered in the spirit of fairness, equality, and inclusion.”

Olympic officials also have allowed a changein the beach volleyball dress code to accommodate countries that have restrictions on women revealing their bodies. Volleyball players will be able to wear more than just bikinis for the first time in Olympic history. Seems like a good move to me.

In London, beach volleyball players had the option to wear uniforms with more coverage than bikinis.

Also consider the story of the new badminton dress code — I assume many people thought it must have been a joke. To create a more “attractive presentation,” the Badminton World Federation in 2011 required that players on the elite level wear skirts or dresses in place of the traditional shorts or pants. Officials said that the dress code was put in place to make female players “more feminine and appealing to fans and corporate sponsors,” but many women felt that the sport was becoming too sexualized, as do I. The organization withdrew the rule in May prior to the Olympics.

Female boxers recently shot down an attempt to make them wear skirts in the ring. Skirts? All the better for Olympic-level combat … right? The idea, proposed by the Amateur International Boxing Association, was supposedly suggested to help TV viewers distinguish women from men.

Gloria Peek, the Olympic women’s team coach who struggled for years to gain respect in the male-dominated sport, was livid over the proposal. “This is a pugilistic sport, a combative sport,” she says. “And you want to put sex into it? For what reason? The skirt equates to sex; it equates to nothing else. How are you going to take that and put it into a gladiator sport? And what does that have to do with it?”

As a compromise, female boxers are allowed to wear skirts, but it won’t be mandatory. Claressa Shields, a 165-pound middleweight, isn’t planning to change her competition attire anytime soon. “If you want to wear skirts, go ahead,” she says. “But if you don’t, just let us be normal. I’m not gonna wear a skirt!”

I can’t wait until the next fashion show — I mean Olympics — in 2016.