After Atalanta

No--just kidding. Don't burn anything. Fire is dangerous. But at least female badminton players can ditch their skirts if they would rather play in shorts (or pants I would assume). The Badminton World Federation has nixed its plans to require female athletes to wear skirts in competitions. There was a sizable enough outcry to make it a rule not worth fighting for. But the federation--still concerned with the aesthetic appeal if its female athletes--is urging the women to look as good as possible for the cameras in London. The men, too, though apparently their appeal is not tied to skirts. Still looking for more appealing and camera-friendly outfits, though, the BWT is working directly with apparel companies in an attempt to get them to offer players better outfits. So, technically, they could encourage these companies to offer mostly skirts and dresses to women while providing just a few shorts options. But they wouldn't do that, would they?

Several things have conspired to lead to this post--the most recent being that two minutes ago a woman ran by the cafe I am sitting at grading papers wearing a running skirt--just as I was thinking about running skirts and the reasons women give for wearing. I was thinking about this because of this article about the growth of female distance runners . This piece focuses on Portland, Oregon. It was a smidge of history. I did learn that Joan Benoit Samuelson would walk when a car drove by her as she was running. The piece overall is an important reminder of how women's participation in distance running does not have a long and rich history. It has a controversial history, however, as noted by the article sent to me by a friend. If you study sport and sport history, you likely know about the one time the IOC decided to let the women run a little bit longer and then they all collapsed from the exertion of running 800 meters and it was too much for people to bear and so they banned ...

So says the sport's international governing body . * Out of respect for cultures and for women who like more clothing when playing sports, the International Volleyball Federation has said that participants in the Olympics can wear shorts and long-sleeve shirts. Cultures in which female athletes "choose" to reveal more skin while playing competitive sports are welcome to continue to do so in London this summer. Just out of curiosity--what are the collegiate sand volleyball players wearing? Are there uniform regulations for this sport yet? *check out the photo accompanying the article. Kerri Walsh and Misty May Treanor look a little odd--and freezing--next to the other women on the podium who are wearing full body suits.

While I certainly do not support the concept and execution of the Lingerie Football League, I see why it exists. It plays on a variety of sexual fetishes and, of course, makes these female athletes far less threatening because of the sexualization and because what they are doing doesn't look like "real" football. Again, not a fan. Wish it would go away. Will write letters or engage in other methods of discouragement to get that to happen. What did genuinely surprise (ever so cynical) me is the news that there is now a Lingerie Basketball League. I found out about it on some mom blog . Said mom does not seem too upset, after her initial questioning, that the league exists because, once you get past the uniforms, you can see (there's a video) that they are skilled. Yes. They are skilled. But there are a lot of women who are skilled basketball players. They play at all levels: high school, college, professionally, recreationally, in the pick-up games at my gym. They don...

...and a loooooong badminton racket. Yep. New rules for female badminton players. Skirts are now required. REQUIRED. Despite my occasional equivocation over skirts because I wear them myself when playing tennis, this is just wrong. The official peeps at the Badminton World Federation say that aren't trying to sexualize female players, they are just trying to create a standard of dress that will enhance the popularity of the sport. One professional who is opposed to the new rule says she understands the federation's desire to raise the game's profile but that skirts are not going to accomplish this: "If people want to see women in skirts, they will go elsewhere--they won't go to watch badminton." So very true. It should be noted that the BWF is accommodating various religious beliefs by allowing anyone to wear tights, track bottoms or shorts underneath the required skirt. Small points for that, I guess.

Glam Gal over at A Glam Slam has posted about the controversy over Venus Williams's Australian Open dress which apparently is not quite a dress. I haven't seen all that much of the Open yet this year what with the odd hours of television coverage and the fact that I'm not all that excited about watching men's five setters. So I haven't seen Venus's attire. I'm generally not a fan of her outfits, but that just means we don't share the same fashion sense. Neither here nor there. But the commentators love to talk about them and whether they are inappropriate and/or ill-fitting. Glam Gal posted the commentators' discussion: John McEnroe: "I think that dress has distracted [Venus]." Dick Enberg: "It’s distracting you." McEnroe: "That’s a fair point." Enberg: "It sounds like it might be a distraction to her opponent." McEnroe: "Well, she’s tugging at it. She’s uncomfortable with it." Mary Carillo: "Sh...

Roller derby has hit Britain! The American, largely female-only sport has been exported to Britain and is growing exponentially. Check out this piece in The Guardian about the emergence of the sport overseas. This is very good news for overseers of British women's physical fitness (note the problematic nature of having such overseers however well meaning). Because British women are quite absent in sport and physical activity. Which makes the popularity of roller derby a little curious. Much of the rationale behind the lack of activity is the need to uphold standards of femininity which many women find incompatible with sport participation. But roller derby is one of the most aggressive (an historically male trait) sports out there. But the performance of the sport with the self-styled "kits" (I love British-speak!) that often include skirts and fishnets and makeup might temper the perceived masculinity many women see in sport. Who knows. Also I found out an interesting t...

I have been surprised at all the media attention over the jersey sponsorship of the Phoenix Mercury. USA Today's Christine Brennan comments on the sponsorship (she approves) and notes that two WPS teams already have jersey sponsorships. I'm just not quite sure what's hidden in all this discourse. It could be an issue of purity and selling out. But give me a break. Women's sports are "pure" and men's sports, which have sold every inch of stadium space to the highest bidders are somehow exempt from this criticism? Women's sports should be resisting the temptation of the almighty dollar? Wouldn't that make us--gasp--socialists? Is it a marker of success--that companies will pay for placement on women's jerseys? Or is it more the above selling out; something some may see women's sports having to do because they are "less popular" and more in need of these sponsorship dollars? Brennan correctly notes that athletes who participate in in...

But yes, yes, yes, yes, the new uniforms designed by PUMA for Women's Professional Soccer include skorts. Skorts! And they're ugly to boot. I believe they are being referred to as "wraps" that appear (see the pictures ) to go over the shorts. I can't imagine players actually wearing them while playing which begs the question: why the heck are skorts part of the uniform? Has soccer ever been played in a skort? No. Why now? A few guesses that have everything to do with trying to enhance the femininity of soccer players who play a sport that is seen as a little more masculine than people are comfortable with. You know what I am uncomfortable with? Soccer players in skorts. P.S. Another story about the problematic timing (because of the depression and all) of the WPS's debut; this one's from WaPo. [h/t to Because I Played Sports where I found this story!]