An interesting article on LYCRA and Women

[light_sabe_r]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...77-421,00.html

The article is based on a committe report... where they found lycra is turning girls off sport...

Hmmmm.... I honestly don't know what to make of this one... Other than I love my bike lycra... but the minute I'm in any sort of one piece (including togs) the image isn't really FLATTERING... :P

[baskingshark]

Interesting....

I'm not a teenager, but I'm definitely not interested in shows of skin when I work out and I had a really hard time buying running shorts this summer for this reason. I wanted decent thigh coverage and was unable to find anything with more than a 3" or 4" inseam. I ended up buying capris and cutting them off above the knee.

Also, I wonder, do Beach Volleyball women actually like wearing those teeny cut-away bikinis? They seem to be constantly adjusting them, but then some of the big names must have enough clout with their sponsors that they could wear what they liked if they wanted to, so maybe they do.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Teenagers are different. They don't have cellulite, for instance!
I just LOVE my lycra, it smooths me out and is very flattering, and it FEELS SO GOOD. But I'm all for eliminating regulations about what kids can wear for sports- let them wear what's comfortable for them, I say. For me, lycra is comfortable.

[Kano]

teens are dealing with all sorts of stuff when it comes to their bodies -- new lumps and bumps and curves, all of which are either too big or too small on any given day.

we more experienced women, on the other hand, have gotten used to what we've got, and either feel like we can't subject the world to seeing that, or, hey, we're going to be comfortable doing what we're doing and take pride in that we're doing it whether we look like a cover model or not!

At least that's what I think about that after living with two teen daughters of different body types, each of which wanted the other's body!

Karen in Boise

[pooks]

I was tall and thin and had great legs and bum when I was a teenager but not much waist/shape and no interesting bits upstairs to speak of, so I would have flaunted lycra shorts (as a matter of fact, I did) but would have balked at something so shape-fitting on top! Swimsuits/bikinis were always a nightmare for that reason. I often wore a t-shirt over and knotted at my waist.

May I have that body back now, please?

I promise, wearing lycra all over would not bother me a bit!

[Bluetree]

It seems really out of whack when you consider the uniforms boys wear in sports, esp. basketball.
As women's clothing/uniforms seems to get tighter and more revealing, the boys versions are getting baggier and more slovenly-looking than ever. If boys were made to wear as tight clothing in their growing years as girls, I'm sure incidents of negative-body image and eating disorders would rise accordingly.

[mimitabby]

do you remember the uniforms YOU had to wear in gym class? were they
attractive?
they were ugly (mine were) and we hated wearing them.
so what's new about that!

[light_sabe_r]

do you remember the uniforms YOU had to wear in gym class? were they
attractive?

Okay... Regular high school uniforms= Girls in dresses and boys in shirts and shorts with those dorky pull up socks and a tie.

Sports uniforms on the other hand were unisex. The shorts came up WAY past your midriff though. THANK GOD our principal had the forsight to enforce "NO SPORTS SHIRT IS TO BE TUCKED IN"

That being said... Senior Girls had to get special lycra uniforms for interschool netball as the shorts were deemed inappropriate at the time. (1998) >_<

Yeah... I guess we were lucky in that respect. Sports days were the days EVERYONE looked the same.

[DirtDiva]

I have to say, I wouldn't want to play basketball for Australia wearing this!

[mimitabby]

lol my point is, when have gym uniforms ever made girls want to take PE
if they are blaming the problem on Lycra, they are way way off base.
As a teen, i did everything i could to get out of PE.
and FORGETTING my uniform was one of my methods.

[snapdragen]

As a teen, i did everything i could to get out of PE.
and FORGETTING my uniform was one of my methods.

That never would have worked at my school, we had a huge box of "lost and found" items. If you forgot your gym clothes you had to find something there to wear. That's how I got my extremely cool grey sweatpants - they went through high school with me.....

[ladyfish]

I would have rejoiced over t-shirt and shorts in high school gym. We had those horrible, awful, disgusting, ugly (is that enough to get the point across) one piece (yes ONE) uniforms that were solid blue on the bottom and a medium blue/lt blue on the top. Sleeveless, and were designed for tall slim girls. Ugh! They really looked horrible on 95% of the girls. What does that tell you about them???? I cringe when I think about them. I liked PE, but hated those uniforms, which really made me dread PE class.

[Cari]

That being said... Senior Girls had to get special lycra uniforms for interschool netball as the shorts were deemed inappropriate at the time. (1998) >_<

Out of curiosity... what is "netball"?

[enzed]

Netball is kinda of like basketball. It's generally a womans sport, with 7 on each team. The ball is passed from player to player.
There are some rules, like not being able to hold the ball for more than 3 seconds & no stepping with the ball.
I've never played the game much, as I've never been too good at team sports. But I do support the "Silver ferns" ie the NZ team. It's also played in Oz, england, south africa & few other countries.