Two extremes

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Two extremes

Women’s clothes have always  been  a topic of international controversy, may be women from any field from fashion world to cinema and to sports. On the one hand, there has been a movement going on about women adamant on not wearing bras for its discomfort, on the other hand, there are movements going against women athletes are forced to wear sexist and skin showing clothes. Women have always been to fight against what they wear and what they want to wear. Comfort is basic principle and then comes the point of vulgarity. The women athletes in currently ongoing Tokyo Olympic tournament, are forced to wear skin showing clothes to which they are opposing. In recently concluded world European Beach Handball competition, Norwegian women team was fined for playing not in bikinis. This is completely ridiculous as women should be allowed to wear in the outfit they feel comfort. The focus should be how they play and not on what they wear. Unfortunately, this is happening everywhere.In contrast, no issues have been made about male teams who are allowed to play in even long suits. Women players have objection precisely to this discrimination by sports bodies. Why women players are made to wear skinny clothes which are nearly nude. In any modern world, the wearing of cloths should not be a discussion or controversy. But, it is happening signalling that we have not made any progress as far as our conscience is concerned. Women clothes is a nonissue but it is discussed anytime and anywhere. The ministers make statements about what women should wear and there is general perception is that, women’s clothing is responsible for raping of them. Though this is partly correct, still the issue has been blown out of proportion. German gymnast Sarah Voss, explained her decision to wear a full body suit at the European Artistic championship tournament said that, women all want to feel good in our skin, She  was joined by her teammates who wore unitards that covered their arms and legs for the Tokyo Olympics’ qualifying round, making a statement against what they described as the “sexualisation” of women in sports. “We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear,” said German gymnast Elisabeth Seitz. Women athletes everywhere are protesting rules and conventions that expect them to wear outfits which have less to do with function and more to do with glamour and “sex appeal”. Most sporting bodies remain conformist and sexist in their approach to athletic outfits. The reason is simple. The sporting bodies are dominated by males even if the institution deals with women sports. The incidence happened with the Norwegian women’s beach handball team in the recent European Beach Handball Championship is noteworthy.  After their repeated complaints against the mandated bikini bottoms were ignore, they played wearing shorts. The European Handball Federation imposed a fine of 150 euros per player, although after outrage from other teams and the general public, it promised to do something to change the uniform rules.It’s been nearly half a century since John Berger observed, “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” The tyranny of the “male gaze” is strongest in fields like cinema and sports. The sporting bodies should not insist on sportswomen wearing skinny or exhibitionist clothes. For women athletes, it cuts both ways: They’re forced to wear clothes that make them self-conscious, and they’re also criticised if they embrace glamour and femininity, as happened with Florence Griffith Joyner. Finally, athletes themselves are starting to be heard: The Norwegian Handball Federation supported its players and offered to pay the fine on their behalf. Others need to follow its example.Not only women but men also should have freedom to wear what they want, provided the clothes should not be vulgar and look graceful. May be this principle has become outdated but it is the right way to deal with such nonissues. We are witnessing two extremes: one, women are opposing to wear bras and two, women are insisting for allowing to wear bikini bottoms while playing.