There is evidence of ancient roman women playing Expulsim Ludere, an early version of handball.[33] Female athletes who play beach volleyball professionally usually wear two-pieces. These bikinis are designed with functionality rather than fashion in mind.
[edit] Beach volleyball
In 1994, the bikini became the official uniform of women's Olympic beach volleyball, marking a female sexuality that was also athletic. It also sold tickets.[6] Dancers, sex appeal and bikinis worn by women players as much as athletic ability made beach volleyball the fifth largest television audience of all the sports at the Games at Bondi Beach in Australia in 2000 Olympics.[34] The popularity of Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball, a video game for Xbox, was attributed to the scantily clad women.[35]
[edit] Athletics
Often the women in athletics also wear bikinis, not much larger than in beach volleyball. Amy Acuff, an US high-jumper, wore a black leather bikini instead of a track suit, at Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics.[36] Speedster Florence Griffith-Joyner mixed bikini bottoms with one-legged tights in Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics, which earned her more attention than her record breaking in Women's 200 meters.[37] Towns like Porto Seguro in Brazil has become an attraction for beach athletics in bikini for the tourists.[38]
[edit] Controversy
Skimpy bikinis have been a major component of marketing woman's sports, raising some objections.[39] In 2007, fans voted for contestants in the WWE Diva contest after watching them playing beach volleyball in skimpy bikinis.[40] In the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, inclusion of bikini-clad athletes raised eyebrows, while a controversy broke out around bikini-clad cheerleaders performing at a beach volleyball match.[41][42] Bikinis stirred up a controversy at the 2006 Asian Games at Doha, Qatar, and the Iraqi teams refused to wear such clothing.[43] In the 2007 South Pacific Games, players were made to wear shorts and cropped sports tops instead of bikinis.[44] In the West Asian Games 2006, bikini-bottoms were banned for female athletes, who were asked to wear long shorts.[45] String bikinis and other skimpy clothes are also common in surfing, paving the way for some hooliganism in the past.[4
No comments:
Post a Comment