STOP FOCUSING ON WOMEN'S BODIES
Just when I thought things might be getting better in the world, a story like this pops up in the news and reminds me that sexism is very much alive and kicking. If this was not true, you wouldn't believe it... that's how outrageous and unbelievable this story is so I hope you are sitting down.
In a nutshell - at the ongoing European Championships in Bulgaria of the women's beach ball the question of women's attire has hit the headlines (big surprise, women's bodies are in the news again), this time it was the rule that women should wear bikini bottoms while the men are allowed to wear shorts.
Norway has long fought against the dress code in women's beach handball because, well because it's sexist for one and also let's face it - who wants to have sand up their vaginas?!
However the international regulations said "women should wear a bikini where the top should be a tight-fitting sports bra with deep openings at the arms. The bottom must not be more than ten centimetres on the sides".
Norwegian ladies were prepared to pay the fines that the violation would entail. The players themselves explained that they are uncomfortable, feel naked, and watched but since women's bodies exsist on this planet for the pleasure and entertainmet of men, who the fuck cares, right?
Has your head exploded yet because it gets worse.
As the premiere match against Hungary approached, the ladies were told that they would be disqualified if they played in shorts and that they had to play in bikini bottoms.
And people wonder why so many girls drop out of sports...
On Monday The European Handball Federation (EHF) issued fines against the Norwegian women's beach handball team over its decision to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms.
Disgraceful.
Sadly it's not an isolated incident. Sexism in sports happens all the time and plays a massive factor in why so many brilliant female athletes drop out of their field. It links in to how women in sports are not taken seriously, how they are treated as eye candy in a nice (and revealing) outfit and not as the professional athletes that they are.
Even the headlines reporting about this story were sexist and didn't take the it seriously.
A Russian newspaper headline read 'panties in A twist' which is taken from the term 'knickers in a twist' which is when someone is getting annoyed or upset without good reason.
It seems many people don't even understand what the issue is, and not just why the women want to wear shorts, but also why everyone should stop talking about women's bodies altogether.
The real issue is not the shorts.
What is at the heart of this is that some people think women's bodies exist for their benefit and so this gives them the green light to comment, demand, and have a say about them. While some people feel women should show more flesh (like the bikini story here), others feel women should cover up to protect their modesty.
Not sure if you know this but Qatar is hosting the upcoming FIVB World Tour event and female players have been asked to wear shirts and long trousers (rather than the usual bikinis) “out of respect for the culture and traditions of the host country”.
And double Paralympic world champion Olivia Breen was left "speechless" after an official at the English Championships told her that her sprint briefs were "too short and inappropriate."
You might not see the connection between all of these stories stories because they seem contradicting but they are the exact same thing.
In all of the above examples people are treating women's bodies as "the problem".
Our history and literally every aspect of our lives and society are pathed with women being put on trial for our sexuality, sexiness, fridigness, modesty, clothing, how we move etc... and in all that time that everyone was busy blaming women for having a body, no one thought to look in another direction.
It's not women's bodies that is the issue.
It's how society treats women.
It's the fact that even in 2021 we are still not equal. We are still seen as the pretty sex that's here to make the world look a little less grim. We are here for the other half's pleasure and entertainment and we need to dance to their tune (cover up, don't cover up etc).
That is the issue.
Someone messaged me over the weekend and joked about what would happen if the ladies from the Norwegoun team would show up with massive bushes that would poke out of their tiny bikini bottoms for everyone to see. Would that be enough to convince those in power to allow them to cover up their crotches? What's sad is that I actually don't think it would. I think the world is so used to telling women what we can and cannot do with our bodies that they would probably instruct them to remove their body hair.
As women we have far less autonomy over our own bodies than men do and sexism is one of the main reasons for that.
So what do I suggest?
EDUCATION!
From an early age, and not just telling girls they can wear what they want, it is even more important that this is what we tell our boys!
It's not a woman's job to cover up out of respect for men or so that men respect her, just as much as it's not a woman's job to show more flesh for men’s pleasure and entertaiment. Teach that to boys from an early age and guess what? problem solved.
A few weeks ago I took my 8 year old daughter to her swimming class. Like every week the teacher offered her a float. She normally gives her the pink one and gives the blue one to the boy. My daughter would much prefer the blue one because she hates pink. This week however she asked my daughter which float she wanted and my daughter said "the blue one". That's not the point of the story by the way, the point is coming. After she handed the blue float to my daughter, she handed the pink one to the little boy and said (and this is a quote): "sorry, I only have a pink one left".
It's these little moments that build an inner belief system in our children about gender, and what's right for a boy or a girl etc. These seeds lead to a lifetime of stereotypes and eventually to thinking that men are better than women (because while blue is okay for a girl, pink is not good enough for a boy - the subtext being that girls are not good enough).
I have talked about sexism so much on my channels because I find it's the root of many bigger problems - there is a direct link between sexism and sexual violence and it contributes to gender inequality. This is a fact, it's not made up, there has been a lot of research on this topic.
This is why calling it out when you see it (at any level) is so important.
To learn more about sexism please watch my video on the topic.