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    • Sep 6, 2021
    • 5 min read

How are the uniform policies for professional sports teams sexist?

By: Lakshmi Sunder


The recent decisions made by athletes Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles, among others, to withdraw from renowned tournaments like the Olympics, have put female athletes of color at the forefront of the fight to prioritize one’s mental health over their public image. These women have become icons for people internationally, athletes or not, especially for young women and minorities.


But the fight for choice and individuality in professional sports teams is nowhere near over, as evidenced in the pushback that both of these athletes faced for making these decisions. Much of this negative reception occurred on more conservative sports platforms. Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb said that Biles hasn’t faced criticism in her career because she is a woman, and Clay Travis, also on Fox, said she should apologize to her fellow gymnasts for quitting.


Even as Biles and Osaka made some progress in overcoming the often unfair treatment of professional athletes, obstacles still persisted. For example, swim caps from the brand Soul Cap, designed for black athletes’ hair, were banned from Olympic swimming events, decreasing the confidence of these athletes by making them feel unrepresented and discouraging future black athletes from participating in the sport. Meanwhile, alternate fencer Alen Hadzic - accused of rape and sexual assault by three female fencers - was allowed to compete in the Olympics. Just these two circumstances show an obvious double standard. Formidable athletes of color are put at a disadvantage because they are not permitted to use equipment that improves their performance within the bounds of fairness, while a white male athlete was permitted to compete at the Olympics instead of being held accountable for his actions.


One way sexism in professional sports manifests is through the strict uniform policies that female athletes in multiple sports are required to follow. The organizations that establish these rules often do so under the excuse that having womens’ uniforms be inherently more sexualized than that of their male counterparts brings female sports teams more audience attention and thus more profit and better TV ratings. But athletes and their supporters argue that these uniforms can affect performance by making them feel less confident and physically and mentally uncomfortable. They divert attention away from athletic skill and instead towards objectification and appearance, perpetuating the systemic disadvantage that female athletes face.


In some sports, like beach volleyball, female athletes often prefer bikini-like uniforms because they are more practical. But in other sports, the basis of typical womens’ uniforms is not a practical one. Historically, despite changes in material or embellishment, women’s gymnastics’ uniforms have been form-fitting and thigh-high, while male gymnasts perform wearing leotards in the form of pants or long shorts. During practices, female gymnasts don’t usually wear leotards but instead pair them with shorts. Men’s handball teams wear thigh-length shorts and tank tops, while women’s handball teams are required to wear bikini bottoms and sports bras. When Norway’s women’s handball team wore thigh-length shorts in protest at the Euro 2021 tournament against Spain, as opposed to their typical bikini bottoms, they were fined $1,700 USD by the European Handball Association’s Disciplinary Commision. The obvious discrepancy between dress codes when it comes to male and female athletes indicates that they are held to a different standard by the committees that regulate what they wear in the court, on the floor, in the stadium, etc. This transcends specific sports and specific countries.


On the flip side, athletes have also been criticized for wearing too little clothing. Olivia Breen, a Paralympian in track, was criticized by an official at the English Championships because her briefs, designed for sprinting, were “too short.” Canadian tennis champion Eugene Bouchard was flagged by an umpire at the 2015 Wimbledon tournament because her black bra strap showed under the mandated all-white clothing.


Athletes have protested against these harsh stipulations that don’t give them room to wear what makes them feel most comfortable. Germany’s women’s gymnastics team wore ankle-length unitards instead of the standard performance leotards to protest the sexualization of young female gymnasts and to dismantle a historically misogynistic institution that covers up all-too-common sexual assault cases. When tennis champion Serena Williams was criticized for wearing a form-fitting catsuit that prevented blood clotting at the French Open despite recently giving birth to her daughter, she wore a tutu in protest of unfair dress codes at the following US Open in collaboration with Nike and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh.


To combat this problem of controlling athletes’ uniform choices, experts like sports historian Johanna Mellis, and CEO of the Centre for Sports and Human Rights, Mary Harvey, believe that we must start at the root. This means prioritizing more representation of women, individuals from culturally and religiously conservative countries (the International Volleyball Federation only allowed players to wear hijabs in 2016), and people of color in sports organizations that regulate factors like clothing, accessories, or equipment is allowed and what isn’t. As of 2020, four out of sixteen members of the International Olympic Committee’s executive board are women, and eleven out of thirty commissions are chaired by women. This is despite the fact that 45% of Olympic athletes are female. However, the IOC and other organizations that regulate international games are taking strides to improve this. Of the thirty commissions in the IOC, 47.7% of the members are female, which is a jump from them being made up of only 20% females in 2013.


There is a long way to go before we hit a point where athletes are assessed for their skill and hard work instead of their appearance, where they are allowed to wear what they feel most comfortable in so long as it is fair to the game. However, it has been shown that when athletes protest through dress, they get positive support from the audiences that value their prowess, despite the negative reception that comes with it also. The fight isn’t over, but it’s clear in the changing demographic statistics both in the sport and behind the scenes, and in the actions of brave female athletes, that we’ve come a long way in making the sports community inviting and inclusive.


Discussion Questions:

  • How can young athletes - especially girls, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and minorities - get involved in sports bodies that establish regulations on factors like apparel?

  • How can the media play a role in ensuring that female athletes are given more screen time and coverage without relying on sexualizing uniforms to do so?

  • How effective are individual athletes or sports teams protests against uniforms at loosening restrictive regulations?

  • How can professional sports boards be more religiously inclusive?

  • How much does comfort or a lack thereof with athletic apparel affect an athlete’s performance from a psychological standpoint?


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