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This article features comments from US Olympic weightlifter Sarah Robles about how athletic gear is not made for larger women. One could argue that clothes in general are not made for larger women. But Robles point is that she, as a heavyweight lifter--an athlete, has to wear the clothes for men because Nike and whomever else is contributing to Team USA's uniform/gear does not make the women's clothes in her size. I know Nike makes "plus size" clothes for women. I just saw a tennis skirt in a 3X yesterday in a store. So they will make up to a certain size. But for the Olympics, one would think they could make whatever for the athletes so women like Robles, who don't want to wear "dude's clothes" as she calls them, don't have to. Because she's right--they don't fit the same.

Interestingly, there are limited options for women who either do not want to wear traditionally feminine clothes but on whom menswear is too big and not tailored correctly--or women who are larger and want clothes that are made for women--and are feminine.

Again, in the particular case of Robles--and her teammates--something easily could have been made to fit their bodies for this occasion.
We read things like ESPN the Magazine's body issue and the Dove real women campaign and allegedly value different-sized bodies, but it doesn't seem to translate to real-life things that would make some women's everyday issues a little less fraught.

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• Olympics
• OpEd
• Summer Games
• Weightlifting
• Sexism

This post is related to an ongoing story:

• 2012 Olympic Games in London

View Original Post at afterata.blogspot.com

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

itchbay says:

It's so frustrating as a hobby athlete. I can't even begin to imagine how it feels to be a world class athlete and having to "make do." Seriously, if they want the sponsorship, they should be required to properly outfit ALL the athletes.

Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 6:18pm EDT

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