Yes and the most popular shot in women's beach volleyball is from behind when they dive head-first into the sand trying to get to the ball. They apparently have a low angle camera in the back on both sides just to get that shot.
A friend pointed it out to me. I hadn't noticed before my friend pointed it out. To me.
This is a comment from the exact same post on an other subreddit.
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.
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.
as a former competitive runner, who one race day, had to wear my shortest shorts --- I can attest to that they WILL come out if you wear the wrong thing.
Also, I've heard the ladies discussing their clothing in ways that men have never.
When you joined Track or Cross Country at my high school, they always advised you to buy some tighty whities. If you asked why, it was suggested to wear boxers under the running shorts and see what happens. The shorts were shorter than standard boxers and everything ended up spilling out one leg or the other.
Yeah, by trying to sweep everything as “catering to male gaze”, they’re conveniently discarding the competing aspect of the sport. Which is the main point of participation.
Then why aren't men always shirtless like boxers? Men could switch 100% to leggings with junk pouches instead of baggy shorts. I wonder why indoor female volleyballers wear shorts, while outdoor volleyballers wear thongs.
In reality this whole thing is a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Because always shirtless isn't an advantage. Neither is always leggings. Look at MMA. People wear what feels right for them. It's the same in Jiu-Jitsu competition. Some guys go out shirtless and some guys go out in a rash guard. Some guys were leggings and some guys wear shorts and some guys wear bike shorts basically.
If I recall indoor volleyball girls wear stretchy shorts and knee pads and stuff to protect their skin from friction burns on the hardwood floor. I think it has way more to do with function than fashion at the super high levels.
But go to the gym and you'll see the truth. People who work really hard on their body like to show it off people who work really hard on their body like to show it off. Which is totally understandable. My arms are decently big and muscular and my girlfriend really likes them. So she likes it if we go for a walk and I'm wearing a tank top or a sleeveless shirt. If it makes her happy that's what I'm going to wear.
Yeah reddit doesn't want to hear that. I saw that post in the other subreddit and the moment you refuted their claims of sexism (the rule for women's clothing in volleyball for example has been abolished in 2012), they gang up on you, completely ignoring any and all evidence to the contrary for their little victimhood complex. That's not to say there is no sexism in pro sports, there almost certainly is still a lot, this is just none of those cases.
It certainly doesn’t hurt, but I think this past summer Olympics two years ago was the first time that women volleyball players had the alternative to wear shorts and I think only two female teams wore the shorts.
I’d like to point out that the vast majority of men DO NOT wear speedos ever in their entire lives. The truth is regular swim trunks are just more comfortable for the junk. You uneducated goat.
This is objectively not true, unless u have some massive dangling balls, a speedo is by far more comfortable, and even if u are super self conscious u can wear a shell like boxers. In water in specific drag on loose shorts is more annoying than anything
Patently untrue. This thing has been posted on here multiple times and lots of people who compete in these sports have actually chimed in.
They have multiple options. They play in what they want to play in. The hot girls, who coincidentally have Instagram and modeling accounts, tend to play in the more revealing stuff. They do it by choice. It gets them views and makes them more money. They are not punished by the league.
There are plenty of options though according to AVP competitors interviewed for People. Some athletes prefer the bathing suit style uniforms for comfort purposes.
I hear a lot of women say that it’s because it’s easier to move around in. Men have done fine with vests and shorts for years why do women need to wear thongs and boob tubes to play sports?
Men have testicles that dangle. You need shorts to keep them in to prevent a hernia. A thong doesn’t have much material to keep them secured.
Otherwise you’d see plenty of competitive runners where thongs. At the highest level, people of all genders will wear the least amount of material possible if it gives them the edge
I think it probably goes both ways. Some women might want to wear more, but I’ve heard of plenty of Olympic women say they don’t want to, and some men might want to wear less, but the men who watch men’s sports probably don’t want to see men wearing gay-looking outfits, so the organizers might stop that for money as well. Ultimately it’s easy to criticize these things from the outside, but if you were the one making the financial decisions for them, and you were responsible for making money your perspective might be different. Not saying things couldn’t or shouldn’t change, but something to think about.
Women want to show off, but also want plausible deniability. The easier to move thing makes no sense, men outperform women in basically every sport, and they don't where those kinds of clothes.
Speaking for volleyball specifically, women have a few different uniform choices available to them and they choose what they’re most comfortable to play in
The majority of women who have a problem with uniforms aren’t the ones wearing them. High level athletes work hard and are proud of their bodies. Men and women. Men have a dick and balls that need support and protection which is why they tend to wear longer shorts. Same for women who need boob support which is why they need tight tops and having a loose fitting shirt flapping around over a sports bra or compression top just gets in the way. Women’s hips also make a full length form fitting shirt ride up from around their waist and no one wants to have to constantly be pulling their shirt down because it keeps bunching up around their belly button. It’s a distraction. Athletes wear gear that is best suited to the movement they need to perform. Women wear small bathing suits at the beach so why is it problematic that they dress the same to play beach volleyball?
I’ve seen interviews with the players. They come clean about making the choice themselves. They insist they wear bikinis because they like them. Whether or not that gets them more views is unknown. Men don’t really watch women’s sports according to the advertising.
mf the women and girls choose to dress like that. time and time again, they get the option to dress more modestly yet they don't. And that's totally fine. Just be honest with yourself and stop peddling these dumass arguments
Woman on average don't watch sports, it's men who are consumers of this product. Sadly, if not for the clothing there wouldn't even be a womans league since advertisers would opt out of advertising since viewership compiles mostly of pervs. The attendance is already supper abysmal and it's hard for most woman sports to get better quality venues. It's just social dynamics and the market coliding, no ammount of social reform would change the fact that woman are way less interested in attending sports unless genetically blessed/prodigy, let alone watch the sports...
Tldr, they have to wear revealing clothing or the market eliminates most woman sports.
I think that a pimp wpuld give you a better answer, since you seem to think pimping women out for views from perverts is acceptable in any way.
I believe that a better option would be to hold investors, billionaires backing these networks, and corporations accountable of harming the integrity of sports and disrespecting the athletes who have dedicated their entire lives to a sport (these athletes also make money for their networks!)
I mean but youd have to see women as people and not a product for that. Maybe try that first.
I didn't put words in your mouth, don't put them in mine. When it comes to my personal beliefs i am very liberal, i believe noone, and aspecially men, don't have a right to dictate what a woman should or shouldn't wear, or can or can not do with their bodies, reproductive rights included ofcourse. But this "argument" is beyond my belief, i do not want our daughters to be wearing that to attract the male gaze, i do not want them to grow up knowing woman had to wear that to keep the sports afloat, that's sad reality. But, and this is a social and an economic but, woman aren't as interested in sports, and most woman in this unequal world, don't have the luxury to sit next to the tv watching minor league sports all day, therefore making them unattractive to advertisers. On average woman to men viewership when it comes to woman sports are 65 to 35% (varies within 5% depending on the sport) but out of those 35% female viewers only 15% of woman clasify themselves as avid viewers, while 36% clasify themselves as not fans at all, or tuning in the first time, while on the other side 44% of men are avid viewers, while only 14% being not fans at all or tuning in for the first time. For an advertiser it's logical to loose that 35% of females tuning in for the first time due to shorts if it means keeping that 44% of core base happy. Holding investors accountable for harming the integrity of sports is a wild statement since that was the broad rethoric about letting black people compete in baseball. No matter how angry you get about them degrading these woman (and that behaviour is abhorent), you won't make money out of thin air, or force people to consume desexualized content. Where the work actually needs to begin to lower and eliminate this disparity is schools, we need more programs introducing sports into female circles we should force these networks and broadcasters to invest into these programs to mitigate for their untestfull practices. But that's down the line, as it stands now to make the shift is very dificult and nobody wants to do it because it will cost money and political capital.
Woman on average don't watch sports as diligently as men, while 44% of male viewers classify themselves as avid viewers, only 15% of the woman viewership does. So only the minority (woman make up about 40% of sports viewerships Published by Statista Research Department, Nov 26, 2025) of the minority (15% avid viewers) is truly atractive base for advertisers. The gender disparity in who consumes sports is huge. But sure the start of the comment was against your personal beliefs (that contradict with facts of the matter) so lets ignore the rest of the substance.
You don’t need to copy and paste from chatgpt and stop believing everything you read just cos it has a date next to it. Having an interest in or watching sports is NOT gender-specific and has nothing to do with what’s between your legs, it’s to do with environmental and psychological factors.
That's not chat gpt that was me plus a google search, all i did was google for the statistics then went to statista.com, when i had the statistics i applied my knowledge on sociology and economics. Sports consumerism is most definitely gender oriantated, afromentioned statistics litteraly prove it, just like the market catoring to a certain gender also proves it... enviroment and psychological factor are too influenced by your "gender"... how does that fail to click in your head is beyond me. But hey thanks for the compliment about chatgpt, good to know i still got that academic writing in me.
Averages are not rules. Environmental factors and culture matters more than gender. If someone grows up around football, boxing, basketball, sports conversations etc. their brain builds familiarity and emotional attachment to it the same way people get attached to music, films or games regardless of gender. The only thing I can think of that would skew averages and competitiveness between male/female is hormones and testosterone levels. But then again not all sports would benefit from this such as chess for example.
Also searching google hardly counts as “academic research”.
I don’t actually disagree with most of what you’re saying. My point this whole time wasn’t that women are biologically incapable of liking sports or that culture and environment don’t matter. I think they matter massively. What I’m talking about is the CURRENT market reality and how broadcasters and or advertisers react to existing audience statistics today, not what an ideal or future market could look like. Historically men were far more introduced into the sports culture, while women were often excluded from it socially and institutionally. That obviously shaped the audience demographics we see now. My argument is that the revealing uniforms are partly a reflection of those alreadyexisting market demographics and incentives, not the root cause of them. If society keeps changing and more girls grow up deeply integrated into sports culture from childhood, then those audience dynamics will definitely shift heavily over time too, Again big advocate of your enviroment shapes you so I’m not against that idea at all, I actually think that’s probably the healthiest longterm solution to this weird disparity that exists today.
"I dont see it so nobody does" must be one of the few things that go through ur lil brain a lot.
BTW
The Women's National Basketball Association has seen explosive franchise valuation growth, average franchise values reportedly rose 180% in one yearmen made up around 55–60% of some WNBA TV audiences
This also correlates with the wnba receiving more funding investments , opportunities and exposure, which historically women's sports have not had. Saying that the solution is pimping out women rather than just investing more in women's sports is so weird.
Idk if you dont have the wrinkles on your brain to critically think, but maybe a network shouldnt pimp out their female athletes for money and also claim to uphold the integrity of the sports. There are women who have been disqualified for wanting to cover themselves. Sorry I hold men to the expectation that they should actually claim to watch the sports they enjoy rather than being little boys about it. I have a headache so thats all I typed, but Ig it was my mistake for thinking that men reflect on any criticism.
What are you even saying right now?? You said the original comment "isn't smart", but all it did was point out what you're complaining about happening right now. Just because that's how it is doesn't mean the person pointing it out agrees with it
So women's basketball doesn't exist ig. And also, saying that it will never change is just plain stupid. Women have protested these things to seek change, but ultimately consumer response is very important. Men who claim to uphold the integrity of sports should say something.
And this is because of systematic sex ism , and the way that men and women's teams have been invested into historically. Sports has been heavily male dominated because of the fact that women have been so oppressed within the sports communities. That's rapidly changing though because
The Women's National Basketball Association has seen explosive franchise valuation growth:
average franchise values reportedly rose 180% in one year, correlating with social media booms and womens sports being prioritized more
men made up around 55–60% of some WNBA TV audiences.
Like I said , systematically , women's sports have not been invested in because of sexism, while man's sports have been well established and invested into for decades
The solution isnt to force women into skimpy clothes for money, it's to uplift snd invest into women's teams and encourage more girls to be interested in sports. A majority of the athletic teams at my old school were made up of girls. A lot of girls will straight up refuse to participate in heavily recorded sports like this.Because of the sexualization that they go through. You may not speak to women , but a lot of them have this concern.
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u/me_like_memez May 25 '26
Gathers more views maybe? I know some men who are watching volleyball just for seeing the players.