Paralympian Olivia Breen was left “speechless” after a volunteer felt the urge to comment on the length of her briefs. Honestly, are we seriously still fucking doing this???
Olivia Breen, who is a Two-time Paralympian World Champion, was told by a volunteer officiate at the English Championships that her briefs were “too short and inappropriate.”
“I am always grateful for the incredible volunteers who officiate at athletics events,” Breen said in a statement on Twitter.
Here something I felt like sharing that’s happened to me today at my competition @EnglandAthletic pic.twitter.com/QlYfPDmxEV
— oliviabreen (@BreenOlivia) July 18, 2021
“They do an amazing job and make it possible for us to compete. However, tonight I feel disappointed because just as I finished my long jump competition one of the female officials felt it necessary to inform me that my sprint briefs were too short and inappropriate. I was left speechless.
“I have been wearing the same sprint style briefs for many years and they are specifically designed for competing in.
“I will hopefully be wearing them in Tokyo. It made me question whether a male competitor would be similarly criticised. I hope no other female athletes had similar issues.
“I recognise that there needs to be regulations and guidelines in relation to competition kit but women should not be made to feel self-conscious about what they are wearing when competing but should feel comfortable and at ease.”
Breen’s tweet was met with waves of similar stories, because it seems the world just cannot help but police women’s bodies.
These comments can push young women & men out of the sport. We are all players in making track & field a space everyone feels welcome and safe. A good reminder to think very carefully before making comments on anyone’s body or clothing. Thanks for sharing @BreenOlivia
— Anna Tait (She/her) (@koobonce) July 18, 2021
British shot putter Amelia Stricker backed up Breen, saying that officials who made “unnecessary” comments should not officiate.
“Female athletes shouldn’t be subjected to such criticism when there is already so much pressure on women to be ‘perfect’,” Sticker said.
“We are there to compete. You don’t like the outfits? Don’t officiate. We don’t need officials adding unnecessary stress in those moments.”
Can someone have a word with her pls? Female athletes shouldn’t be subjected to such criticism when there is already so much pressure on women to be “perfect”. We are there to compete. You don’t like the outfits? Don’t officiate.
— Amelia Strickler (@AmeliaStrickler) July 18, 2021
Stricker is right. But on top of that, it’s literally the norm for female athletes to wear shorts, briefs or crop tops.
For some athletes, the less clothes are in the way, the better they perform – and honestly, the fact that we even need to justify why Olivia Breen was wearing briefs while performing is absurd and quite frankly archaic.
But of course, the world is nothing if not obsessed with policing women.
While in one part of Europe we are seeing Olivia Breen be shamed for showing too much skin at work, in other parts of the continent it’s the opposite. The European Union Court just ruled that companies can ban Muslim women from wearing a hijab in the workplace on the grounds of “neutrality” and avoiding “social disputes.” These two events may seem unrelated, but they’re actually more similar than you’d think.
The West: Let’s invade a bunch of countries to save Muslim women because it looks like people are telling them what to wear.
Also the West: Let’s tell Muslim women what to wear.#hijabban
— Rehab M (@Rehabisjogging) July 16, 2021
The common theme that we keep seeing when it comes to women’s dress, is that people are STILL obsessed with controlling our bodies and expression, regardless of how covered or uncovered we are.
Either we dress too modestly and we’re considered prude, boring, antifeminist or (the one I hear a lot as a Hijab-wearing woman) unassimilated, oppressed and de-westernised. Then we have the flip side – women being called inappropriate, slutty, easy, attention-seeking, and promiscuous for daring to show some skin. We just can’t win.
It’s 2021, people – there are so many more important issues I want to be talking about. Yet, here I am, because apparently we still have a long way to go when it comes to letting women just wear whatever the fuck they want.
