To want a level playing field?

I know that when DD was a gymnast most of the girls used to wear shorts and often tracksuit bottoms over their leotards when they were training and only stripped down to a leotard for displays and competitions.

I don't wish to be a spoilsport but I wish they'd all cover up - I don't want to see all those unnatural rippling muscles.
In addition to sport, there's a similar scenario for evening wear. How come it's warm enough for the ladies to wear lightweight dresses with spaghetti straps yet cold enough for the men to have to wear shirts and jackets?

The article linked to by SueDoku says, in fact, that moving away from a requirement to wear bikinis should make players more comfortable.

"Lest we forget the sport is actually about the talents of badass, hard-hitting women — not what they look like."

SueDoku, thank you for that link. Very informative indeed.

inishowen
They are designed by men.

No, please no. If men are encouraged to wear them when they are young and fit, they will continue to wear them when they get old and flabby! And we've all seen middle aged overweight lotharios parading up and down the beach, when we are on holiday. Let's start a petition to ban budgie smugglers from the face of the earth. Sorry Deedaa.

In classical Greece all sports were played in the nude. It is really first with the spread of Christianity which regarded nudity as indecent that people wore clothes for sports.

Towards the end of the classical period there was a girls' race in the Olympics. I suspect the girls were clothed, but perhaps a classist can correct me here. I believe that the classical Greek view that a respectable married woman should not be seen or spoken of outside her home had a great deal to do with women being banned from the classical Olympics.

These were also intended to serve as truces in the endless fighting that went on in classical times, so that may be the real reason for there being no women competitors, as only Greek men fought in the wars.

Actually, Babette, piger which means girls is used in Danish for any female from birth to grave. This trend started in the 1970s. Danish does of course have words corresponding to woman, women, lady and ladies, but they are rarely used.

Strangely enough, if you commit or are suspected of a crime, reporters will speak of you as a woman if you are over 18!

As far as I know the other Scandinavian languages have similar usages.

Women are allowed to wear shorts (or one-piece costume) if they wish, but most players find bikinis more comfortable.
www.bustle.com/articles/171814-what-is-the-2016-olympic-beach-volleyball-dress-code-heres-how-the-rules-have-changed

I read, but don't know if it is true, that the original Olympic Games participants in Greece were always in the nude. The explanation given was that this was to stop women competing

@ absent...To use "girls" for grown up women happens only in the "Anglosphere" and can be very funny. Calling a 90 year old lady a girl.

That's "infantilise " sorry poor texting!

And all stop using the word girls for grown women.... men try to I fantasise women enough ....don't let us start doing it as well. Have the last 100 years of women's liberation passed you by?!

I buy most of my granddaughters' knickers and socks, and I always make sure she has a size larger as her 'age grouping' are much too small. My daughter ( her mum) doesn't notice as clothes for herself or the kids don't interest her. My grandsons pants are always well covering. I find this quite a disquieting trend. I'm not suggesting the navy ble bloomers my generation wore to school but looking back as we girlsHAD to do sports in them.... I'm glad they were voluminous now.!!!

Interesting, morethan2, as I feel the participants will have little or no say at all in what they wear. I wish/hope they could. Seems to me that if the ultimate objective is of winning then surely suitability of apparel is a priority. In the initial stages of selection I'm sure the candidates are so proud and delighted that they would pretty much wear a potato sack (if there is such a thing nowadays!).

Perhaps because females don't want to wear / buy thick knickers

Another thing I've noticed with my grandchildren. Little girl's pant are flimsy, while boy's underpants are nice and thick. Why is that?

I’m really sorry if this is a very serious thread but oh Deedaa it made me laugh
Ps surely if the women objected they could change what they wear. As for the op suggestion, it may very well turn me into a beach volley ball follower.

I'd certainly prefer to see the ladies/girls/whatever in some nice shorts and top. First criteria would be their comfort. Wonder who chose and designed their bikinis. Anyone know?

Totally agree that it is so wrong.

I don't know why the female players don't object to being forced into bikinis. Many nations, such as the Egyptians play at national level fully covered.

I, too,wondered about the lack of budgie smugglers in the male team. Sportswear for women puzzles me. I cringe when I see the female gymnasts being cut in half by those tight leotards and those tiny pants worn by the female athletes can’t be comfortable, surely.
The male divers now. Do those scanties give them a technical advantage or does the danger of leaving the pants in the pool concentrate the mind and improve performance?

The sportswomen seem to be wearing less and less.....for nearly all sports.

The mind boggles.
It is a ridiculous state of affairs though, I agree.

While the women's team is still called girls…