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The sexualization of uniforms is wearing out By Stella Bennett and Gemma Favaloro

“[Uniforms] create a sense of unity and contribute to the idea of being part of a team,”

Emma Tanaka said, a senior on the girls’ varsity basketball team.

Tanaka is not alone in this ideal – uniforms, in theory, are used “to identify [and] unify the player with the watcher.” However, in reality, a uniform functions as much more than just a game-time tradition. In addition to the camaraderie that uniforms foster, they can also encourage various conflicts, especially in women's sports.

For female athletes, the features of a uniform have constantly changed. From full-length skirts and high collars with long sleeves in the 19th century, to today’s modernized short skirts, low-neck tank tops and loose dri-fit shorts, one thing remains the same: The conversation around women's uniforms has always been divisive, no matter the sport. While uniforms may seem like a simplistic concept, they have proven to spark disputes over the sexulization of women in sports.

Basketball:

In a sport where 82 percent of professional basketball players identify as male, female basketball players often struggle for respect and recognition of their skill. Their uniforms mirror this struggle. Dating back to the 19th century, women basketball players were required to wear floor-length wool skirts while playing, which made for an immobile and impractical game. This requirement also caused players to fall frequently, giving rise to the stereotype that women were too weak to play the game.

Tatum McPeek, a junior on girls’ varsity basketball, has played since first grade and frequently notices similar comments around basketball stigmas.

“When looking at girls’ basketball, a lot of people are like, ‘I don’t hear about girls’ playing basketball a lot.’ There is also not as big of a [fan] turnout in girls’ basketball [compared] to other sports,” McPeek said. “People believe that guys are better at basketball than girls.”

Women tried to counter the notion that basketball was masculine by wearing feminine clothing. It was not until the 1960s that polyester shorts with elastic waistbands, what men had worn for decades prior, finally made it to the women’s court. However, to “preserve the femininity” these shorts were the length of mini skirts. But, as society modernized, the basketball uniforms did the same: Women were more respected on the court and their uniforms became more similar to that of men.

Today, there is hardly any difference between mens’ and womens’ basketball uniforms, which can be viewed as a positive or negative development. Tanaka has been playing basketball for seven years and has grown accustomed to the loose uniform.

“We roll our shorts because most of us do not want to wear our shorts down to our knees; it doesn’t look cute, and I feel like Adam Sandler,” Tanaka said. “I probably would feel more confident if I was wearing a more feminine uniform.”

Although Tanaka has adapted to the uniform, she sometimes feels criticized and puts mascara on or braids her hair in attempts to look and feel more feminine during games.

“I feel like sometimes I’ll be judged [for the masculine uniform], and it mostly happens between our game and the boys’ game. [When the crowd starts to grow], you are like ‘Oh shit, I need to look cute,’” Tanaka said. “Sometimes that does get annoying because it can get in the way of playing.”

Unlike other sports, girls’ and boys’ basketball have practically identical uniforms. Although other people might view this as a benefit, Tanaka wonders how people would feel if their uniforms were different. She expresses the common notion that women cannot win within sports when it comes to uniforms.

“If we had a more feminine uniform, the guys would respect us more — not in how we play, but rather in how we look while we play, which is really [frustrating], but I don’t want to have different uniforms because I don’t want to be oversexualized in that way,” Tanaka said.

Tennis:

Starting in 1884, women were allowed to play tennis competitively at Wimbledon, one of the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, marking the first time women started being recognized for playing. The competition enforced a strict dress code, requiring players to wear all white outfits and dress “smartly,” which many people interpret as dressing appropriately for the occasion. In the early 1900s, women wore floor-length skirts, long-sleeve tops, high collars and stockings to conform to the conservative dress code.

Marlies Zeisler, the head coach of the girls’ varsity tennis team, attributes her team’s uniforms’ feminine features to history.

“[The current tennis uniform] goes back to old-school tennis tradition. When [girls] started [playing], they wore skirts or dresses because they weren’t allowed to wear pants. It was frowned upon,” Zeisler said.

As time progressed, and women emerged as respected competitors, their uniforms became more functional and aerodynamic, making them tighter and smaller. With these new changes, however, came a large amount of criticism.

“I know that the sport of tennis is reserved and respectful in general,” Zeisler said. “There are a lot of rules and expectations with tennis. … [Officials] are very precise about their rules and how you have to dress.”

Although these alterations took place in the 20th century, uniform criticism is still prevalent in tennis today. In the 2016 Wimbledon tournament, Nike sponsored a group of women, dressing them in the Premier Slam: a pleated dress that occasionally flew up and was notorious for exposing players’ stomachs. The tournament officials found various ways to handle this unforeseen complication — British player Katie Boutler was forced to wrap a headband around her waist, and British athlete Katie Swan had to tuck the dress into her shorts. However, this failed to calm critics and the uniform caused an uproar on multiple social media platforms. Serena Williams, who won the Grand Slam title while wearing this dress, was critiqued by various Twitter users, one writing, “I wouldn't usually comment on another woman's body, but could someone give Serena Williams something to cover her nipples … very distracting.”

Although the endless criticism of women’s uniforms on a professional level may seem far away, similar debates with the girls’ varsity tennis team began to surface this year.

Recently, the team had a disagreement regarding the neckline of their uniforms. The captains were recommended to speak with the athletic director to select new uniforms from the school with higher necklines as opposed to purchasing them from Lululemon, which the tennis program had done in the past. The expensive nature of Lululemon and the controversy over the neckline led to many discussions regarding the best way to purchase uniforms this year.

“We have always talked about the school buying [our uniforms],” Zeisler said. “This year, we get the best of both worlds, where the girls have bought their skirts, and the school is going to pay for the tops. That makes it so we get a [designated] home and away [game] uniform. This year, we also decided that if somebody doesn’t want to wear a skirt and they want to wear shorts, that’s cool with us as long as they are red.”

Carys Matthews, a co-captain on the team, was distraught over the change.

“Every year, the elected captains choose our uniforms: the skirt and the top. We have had [the] same cut top for the past three years that I have played [varsity tennis], so we selected the same top [this year], but in a looser style so girls wouldn’t feel insecure,” Matthews said. “[Our team] had received complaints from adult members of the tennis community, United States Tennis Association (USTA) officials, parents and coaches.”

Supposedly, these comments were regarding the low neckline of the uniforms. Nevertheless, Matthews as well as other team members viewed this change as the tennis program policing girls’ bodies.

“[Changing the uniform] reinforces the idea that womens’ bodies are distracting. [We should not] tell women to cover up, [but instead] tell other people, men and women, to not objectify women,” Matthews said. “In a post Roe v. Wade society, we cannot be taking away younger girls’ rights. We need to set the right example for them.”

Cheer:

Cheerleading, at both the competitive and high school level, is generally seen as a hyperfeminine sport. Their skilled routines don’t simply have stunts, but also include matching hair and makeup styles that enhances the team’s performance. For many cheerleaders, this is one of their favorite aspects of the sport, such as senior co-captain of the varsity cheer team Maddie Epps.

“[The production of make-up and hair] is what I signed up for. I actually love [that aspect of cheer]. In cheer, you have to be talented, and you have to look good while doing it,” Epps said.

Although the nature of cheer is to dress up and look the part, Emma Smith, another co-captain of the varsity cheer team, recognizes this has contributed to the sexualization of the sport.

“Nobody thinks cheer is a sport … just because of the stereotype, and a lot of that has to do with how [cheer] is sexualized,” Smith said.

Cheer followed similar trends in uniforms to other sports: below-the-knee length skirts with long sleeve conservation sweaters that showed school spirit with a large block letter on the front. Reforming cheer uniforms is often attributed to the president of the International Cheer Union, Jeff Webb, and Universal Cheerleaders Association instructor, Kraig Tallman. Webb and Tallman worked together to enhance cheer uniforms to accommodate for the growing range of skills and stunts cheerleaders performed.

“I think it is important for [cheer uniforms] to be light, but at the same time, I think the way that they are designed adds to the stereotype of ‘dumb-blondes who cheer for entertainment rather than a sport,’” Smith said. “You could find spandex material skirts that are long and more flowy [compared to the current] spandex material skirts that are tight, like a mini-skirt.”

In 1994, Tallman told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to create "more of a streamlined, fitted look. It's not so bulky or oversized. It's more like fashion.” In the 1980s, the shorts became shorter, and the shirts became tighter, contributing to the rising message that cheerleaders were supposed to be “slutty but innocent,” according to Racked, a narrative journalism site. This idea was represented in countless coming-of-age films such as “Bring it On” and “Grease,” and today, the tight nature of the uniforms are used as motivation to disrespect the sport.

“A lot of the stereotypes from the 90s have gotten better, but they haven’t gone away,” Smith said. “[The stereotypes] have gotten better as people become more open to gender norms. At the end of the day [though], cheerleaders are still stereotyped to be the advertisers of sexy and slutty while keeping a good reputation.”

The short nature of these uniforms not only contributes to the sexualization of the sport, but also promotes serious body issues.

“The more revealing the sport is, the more you think about [your body image]. The stereotype is that a cheerleader has a really good body, and it [forces] the athletes to compare themselves,” Smith said. “Since [a lot of cheer] has to do with weight — the flier needs to be super skinny and liftable, and the bases need to be a little bigger — it is very easy to compare ourselves.”

Throughout Smith's cheer career, she has struggled with the comparative nature of the sport.

“The stigma around what you look like in that uniform versus another person causes a lot of body issues [and] … I struggled with [body comparison] for a long time,” Smith said. “I had an eating disorder for a while, and it all started from cheer. It was easy to compare myself to everyone else, and I constantly wanted to be better.”

Not only do the uniforms contribute to the sexualization of cheerleading, but it stems deeper into its culture.

“If we had uniforms that didn’t reveal as much, [the sport] probably wouldn’t be as popular because it wouldn’t be sexualized,” Smith said.

Moving Forward:

Each uniform plays a specific role in supporting athletes. However, people can take advantage of these uniforms and create standards that predominantly affect women.

“Girls can sometimes be treated unfairly [compared to men when it comes to uniform standards]. I mean, we are girls. We have boobs. That shouldn’t be a reason to change the uniform or make it different because girls have different body types. It feels misogynistic and old-fashioned,” Tanaka said.

As society continues to become more progressive, students hope Redwood embraces more forward-thinking in the future. Many believe that the overall problem within the sexualization of women's sports cannot be resolved with a more conservative uniform. Instead, they feel the problem lies with the lack of respect female athletes receive in general. To mitigate this problem, we must first combat the central issues of misogyny within women's sports.

“Altering the uniform would definitely help [the oversexualization of women’s sports], but it's going to take a lot more in [changing] people's perspectives and society's views in general,” Epps said. “[The way people view female sports] is just sexist.”