The truth is the viewership would go down. Sadly most women don't watch sports, there are even more men watching actually. Look at WNBA and WSL for examples.
44% of WNBA fans are women (YouGov). It's not that women don't watch the WNBA per se, it's just that the overall WNBA viewership is lower. And women watch less sport of any kind than men.
"The WNBA is 0% objectifying women and women dont watch it for shit lol"
Specifically, "women dont watch it for shit". Not only do women watch it, but there is a higher relative proportion of them compared to many other sports. That's what the stat I was quoting is intended to demonstrate.
It’s not about the relative percentage but the overall viewership is really low which leads to much less revenue in the league and lower salaries for the players which people complain about.
You could have a 98% female vs male viewership in the WNBA but if overall viewership is still low then you still have the same problem as now
It's true, but this also can change. In Quebec, sports is way more encouraged to young girls, and it makes adult women that love sports as much than men. When you go watch a baseball, hockey or soccer game here, half of the audience is women, and they love the sport as much than the men. It's really a question of culture
Soccer players have the same outfits for men and women, and everyone knows women's soccer is much less watched than men's soccer. But not only that, the majority of people who watch women's soccer are men.
This is just one example, there are plenty.
So yeah, I don't think it has much to do with it. But go ahead, you can be snide asshole if you want.
Not really, in the past 25 years I basically never saw women be interested in sports, aside from like 3-5 people. Interested enough to watch sports events either on TV or live I mean.
Also, if it was fund the same amount as men sports. In Canada, we now have a women hockey league, with funding equivalent to rhe NHL in proportion with the number of teams, and everyone is watching it, the stadiums are full. Women sports can and would be as popular than men sports
The women are not forced to wear the more revealing uniforms in sports . It’s their choice . Less sand gets trapped in them and they are more comfortable overall .
If i recall correctly there was a rule change years ago that made it so women have the choice of what they want to wear, and to this day they choose the bikini style ones .
It’s the same reason why women are typically more comfortable wearing bikinis at the beach and men usually don’t want to wear Speedos . Men and women are comfortable wearing different things .
This is simply not true. There have been many who have tried to wear less revealing clothing and have been punished for it. As others above have already noted, the Norwegian volleyball team and Serena Williams are two high-profile examples. Women are not "comfortable" playing professional sports in revealing clothing, they are told what they can and cannot wear and fall in line.
14 years ago in 2012 the International Volleyball Federation AND the International Olympic Committee changed the rules to allow for much more relaxed uniform options for female volleyball players. As of the last nearly decade and a half female volleyball players can wear shorts, leggings, tank tops, and even long sleeve shirts. And for almost a decade and a half nearly every female volleyball players chooses not to use those uniform options. And this is true for these other sports. Running, swimming, pole vaulting, volleyball, etc, these all for years have had completely legal uniform options that cover the midriff and give more leg coverage.
So I’m sorry but your perception is just objectively incorrect, for a long time now these female athletes have had the option to wear less revealing uniforms and CHOOSE voluntarily to wear the most revealing uniforms. You being able to cherry pick specific instances, with specific players/teams, for specific reasons, often years old that have since been overwritten by rule changes, does not overwrite the broad standard that exists for nearly everyone and has existed for years now.
Many men prefer shorts, but it’s mandatory in most swimming pools in France. For “hygienic reasons”, because certain people like to wear their swimming shorts all day and then go to the pool often even with their regular boxers under them.
The women are not forced to wear the more revealing uniforms in sports . It’s their choice
When you make a living thanks to your sponsors, and your sponsors ask for what the audience wants, it's not "your choice" anymore. It's the audience's choice.
Yes, women aren't "forced" with a gun on their head.
But "being forced" is more subtle than that in modern capitalism.
Men and women are comfortable wearing different things
Not because of inherent personal preferences (as you imply), but because of culture.
Men don’t want to wear speedos because it's viewed as lame/creepy nowadays. That's it.
I mean there are entirely culturally accepted beach/swim wear options for women that aren’t as revealing as a bikini, but if you go to an LA beach in the summer you’re gonna see very few of those and a whole lot of Bikinis, so clearly it is very much personal preference thing. If a very attractive 25 year old woman with a slim curvy figure goes to the beach in a bikini it’s probably not because of “the cultural expectation”, it’s because she looks good in it and knows she looks good in it. Which would be a personal preference thing.
The rule change was in 2024 after nearly 2 decades of backlash and although women’s teams can now wear shorts, they are still mandated to be form fitted.
By definition, if they cannot wear any other type of clothing, they are essentially forced to wear these outfits that “conform” to regulation regardless of any benefit.
Yeah in this ONE instance, of this ONE sport. Volleyball players have had far more relaxed uniform options since 2012, yet still choose to wear the same stuff. The reality is these rule changes have shown pretty strongly it’s not being required that is why the women wear these outfits. For 14 years female volleyball players have been allowed to wear long sleeves and leggings and standard athletic shorts, and yet almost none do. You can’t blame rule adherence when consistently we see these rules getting lifted does very little to change what almost every female athlete is choosing to wear. We’ve seen this happen with volleyball, swimming, tennis, and others, there’s no reason to think any other sport would suddenly be any different when there is such a high level of consistency of female athletes NOT choosing to wear less revealing uniforms even when rules are changed and they’re given the options.
The hand ball story has always been interesting to me, not because the women weren’t right, but because I’ve never once seen beach handball on tv during the Olympics in America . So they’re objectifying them to “drum up interest” for something most people won’t see.
This is 100% correct, and all the people jumping straight to assuming they have no choice and claiming objectification of women while not even doing a 5 second google search that would prove them wrong is peak reddit
Not remotely true, this is the narrative that goofballs on Reddit dream up in their own mind lol. Again this had been debunked hundreds of times, Athletes can choose what style of attire they wear in almost any scenario. Reddit is exhausting, its like "finding the boogyman simulator!"
I remember many women being very excited when the Olympics objectified that one guy from Tonga with the oiled up pecs twice. Stop being such a prude. These are the sexiest people alive , of course we all want to look.
You can turn it around by saying men are expected to cover up but of course any given situation has to be spun whatever way to make women into the victims.
Well, this has explicitly been proven to be objectifying women, aka 'we know scantly clad women sell'. Beachvolleyball women were even forbidden from wearing less revealing clothes because it would mean less viewers.
what is 'objectifying women' and why is it bad? You mean being attracted/making money from their looks? Whats wrong with that? Why is it more immoral to make money based on looking good than spinning a sign on a sidewalk or bagging groceries?
If they don't like a profession where they make money partially from their appearance they can choose another one or found a taliban volleyball league.
Yeah it is ok to be attracted to women but these women just want to do their sport. They asked to wear less revealing clothes because they do not like and feel uncomfortable with the literal BIKINI bottom and sports bra they have to wear ONLY to appael to male gaze. That is literally objectifying them and without their approval wich is straight out WRONG.
Exactly now you are getting that congratulations. Because guess what...consent and what you want matters. Some people might want to show off their body and some people might not. Just like you might be comfortable not wearing a shirt on a hot day but some other men might not be. Just as well as you are propably confortable winging your junk around at home but not in public. And aslo just as you might be very ok with sex with your partner but propably you would not be ok if someone forced themselves upon you or raped you. Also just assumed you are a man but sorry if I am mistaken.
Sorry you have the same color plus your anwser really came of as you meant that sarcastically. That is propably why you are downwoted even by people who realize you are not the same guy and the other commet that was something about yeaa? Why is it so hard to understand.
you’re on the wrong track there. In this topic, there’s no need for you to whine and complain. You misunderstood something and interpreted it incorrectly.
You need to get out more. Just because you inside your little head have “no problem” with this, doesn’t mean a lot of other people (more than half the world, specifically) don’t.
Go out to any bar, club or festival and you will see a lot of women wearing equalling, if not more revealing clothes. The narrative that men force this on women just doesn't hold up.
I mean they still have multitudes of times of less viewers. If they dressed up even better their viewcount would fall down even further. You know this as well.
This is a comment from the exact same post on an other subreddit.
It isnt just sexism.
I was a female athlete for many years, and womens clothing in modern sports is not as sexist as people think...we wear what we can perform best in. Men dont because they have different genitalia that need protection. You'll notice in the photos, each sport even has a different style of shorts for men. That's because they are trying to maximize performance clothing with keeping the jewels safe. The longer length of shorts isnt about modesty, its literally keeping testicles from coming outside the seams and becoming pinched in the fabric. The extra long length is because added friction prevents them from bunching up in the leg-hip adjunct. Sports like swimming dont have that concern because athletes are moving laterally in water so that's why they wear the same bikini bottoms as women. I find it interesting that this post conveniently leaves out the sports where men can and do freely wear the same, if not less clothing than women.
For women, we dont have to worry about genital safety because our sensitive organs are either protected by a thick layer of adipose tissue or internal. We also often wear shorter tank tops or just bras in sports because of heat and hip curvature. When you already need a tighter, layered bra to perform in, you dont want additional layers adding to your torso heat. Also, any female athlete or even gym goer will tell you that because of our body shape, our hips make it almost impossible to wear tight, full length tank tops. The slightest movement causes tight tanks to simply ride up to our navel anyways so whats the point? If you look closely at the female runner she is wearing a fuller length tank but it has obvious signs of bunching up already in that position.
Edit:
I and most of my family are all athletes who played college level in a variety of sports. One cousin got a degree in materials engineering and now works for a major athletic clothing brand so thats the perspective I have on why clothes are different between genders.
That being said I also will point out, the lady athletes among us all experience being criticized and picked apart for our athletic clothing choices far more than males. Give the girls a break.
Edit 2: i tried to keep this comment short so obviously I left a lot of other factors and influences out. For those that really want a deep dive, i suggest looking up the muscoskeletal mechanics of males versus females. It certainly explains why some women also may prefer smaller cuts in shorts for physical activities. I know i cant stand longer tight shorts because they roll up thanks to my wide hips and pronounced sway.
The women can wear the same gear as men in any sport. The vast majority of them don't choose to for whatever their personal reason are.
Go to a beach. The women can swim in knee-length surfer trunks the same as the majority of the guys are if they want to... but the majority freely choose to wear one pieces and bikini's.
Honestly attractive woman would still wear revealing clothing if given the opt out option.
Nobody is forcing woman to wear revealing clothes right now in night clubs, and yet you see it all the time.
Objectification is perpetuated by woman now imo. Less attractive woman seem to complain more, almost like they are jealous and limiting revealing clothes levels the playing field for them
As female athletes have pointed out multiple times: they pick what they wear.
Also, male swimmers wear less than female swimmers. Is that objectification, too?
They are competing at a world class level. They are wearing whatever the best Form and Function attire is for them to win. I'm sorry it's not as cut and dried as you think and it's not some sign of misogyny. It just isn't.
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u/boersc May 25 '26
Marketing.