After the women’s Norwegian beach handball team was fined for refusing to wear bikini bottoms in July, the sartorial rules of hand-based sports have been welcomely revised.
In welcome news, the International Handball Federation has dropped the requirement that women players wear bikini bottoms. This comes after the Norwegian women’s team was fined in July 2020 for refusing to abide by the rule.
The controversy reached a climax when American singer Pink offered to pay the fine for Norway’s team.
Their fine of 1,500 euros was ultimately donated to ‘a major international sports foundation which supports equality for women and girls in sports’, after public outrage sparked a global conversation about sexism in the industry.
Now, according to the guidelines, ‘female athletes must wear short tight pants with a close fit’. Hardly the loose-fitting shorts required of a male players, but a step forward nonetheless.
Before now, women were required to don sports bras and bikini bottoms, leaving little to the imagination. Norwegian Handball Federation President Kåre Geir Lio said in July that while women players were allowed to train in what they wanted ‘like the boys’, they were subject to international clothing rules when playing abroad.
The rules reflect a longstanding patriarchy within sports that spans hundreds of years. Women were only allowed to compete in the Olympics in 1900, confined to five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf.
We’ve since come a long way, with the Olympics proving to be more gender equal year on year, but the sexualisation of women athletes remains an overbearing problem. Besides being forced to wear exposing uniforms, images of sportswomen are often circulated with sexual intent, and cropped to amplify exposed areas of the body.
VICE News even covered a Reddit page dedicated to ‘sexually invigorating’ images of athletes, including photos of wardrobe malfunctions amongst women competing in contact sports.
The reform in handball uniform is a breath of fresh air. In an industry dominated by men, it sparks a flare of hope – though clothing requirements still differ for men and women.
Handball’s International Federation has yet to confirm why they changed the rules. But it’s safe to assume the pushback from women’s teams – including Germany – and subsequent support from the media has encouraged the shift.
This marks a triumphant win for women in sport, assuring them that their voices are heard by those in charge.
On Monday, Geir Lio stated that the updated guideline was ‘both a real and symbolic step’ toward resolving sexism in the sport. The rules will come into place from January 2022. A long time coming, given resistance from Norway’s team has been mounting since 2006.
Outpourings of international support have come as a welcome surprise for Lio, who called it a ‘new experience’ for him and the team, which represents a small sport for Norway’s humble population of 5 million.
We can only hope this sense of novelty is replaced by a paradigm of gender equity, as the public continues to champion women athletes the world over.
I’m Flo, (She/Her) a Senior Remote Writer at Thred. I recently completed a Masters in Visual Anthropology, and seek to interrogate the ways digital spaces can amplify marginalised voices in the arts and cultural sectors. Follow me on LinkedIn or ping me some feedback via email.
Strikes from Russia early this year resulted in a breach in the Chernobyl’s radioactive containment unit. Now exposed, the IAEA is putting in a rush on repairs to prevent a new radioactive fallout.
39 years ago, a disaster occurred that would for the years to come be known as one of the world’s biggest nuclear accidents.
In late April of 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in what was...
Your humble bowl of cornflakes might carry more risk than you know.
We can all admit cereal isn’t the healthiest breakfast option – but it’s convenient and relatively inoffensive. Most simple options like cornflakes and shredded wheat provide a source of fortified carbohydrates and natural occurring nutrients. And if you avoid the super surgery brands like Krave and Coco Pops you’re starting the day with a convenient, decent meal. At least, that’s...
Madagascar's lemurs have little time left. The animals are facing a new danger from the urban elite of the country who are paying handsomely for their meat. How is this impacting biodiversity and ecosystems in the region and beyond?
A new study published in the Conservation Letters says that wealthy urban residents of Madagascar are eating the flesh of one of the world's most endangered primates.
Eating lemurs has gained...
A new report reveals millions of mums and children face quietly pervasive economic coercion – with family budgets being used as tools for domestic abuse.
Abuse isn’t always obvious – least not when it takes place in the domestic sphere. But new figures from the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) show that financial coercion is quietly affecting a staggering number of women and children. It’s a form of violence that remains underreported...
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
0 comments
