Re: Olympics or Soft Porn
I didn’t watch it, but that’s nice to know. Thanks for sharing. Hot-pants were in reference to female runners vs male runners, and I made a rhetorical statement about the disparity. I’m sure “they played amazingly well and looked super fit,” I doubt anyone’s denying that. (And why wouldn’t they, “being covered” is unrelated to performance). While some choice is given within parameters, it’s not true that athletes in every sport have “a choice to dress whatever way they want.” Those familiar with the stipulations of sports organizations are aware of this. It boils down to increasing viewership and making female participation ‘more relevant.’
I can appreciate why some people are on the defensive. On a forum like this, everything is reduced to haram vs halal, conservative vs liberal, regressive vs progressive. My point was more nuanced, if not feminist in nature. The Olympics/sports in general are not immune to gender and marketing politics, and you don’t need to be religious or irreligious to entertain this fact. Female soccer players were outraged over the comments made by FIFA. If someone told me to wear hot-pants while playing football so I’d look “more feminine” I’d tell him to go jump in a lake.
Edit : Until this year, female beach volleyball competitors were required to play in bikinis. So much for choice. Interestingly, it makes ‘news’ when they opt to wear shorts or cover their midriff (usually due to cold weather).