The International Volleyball Federation instituted that womens beach contestants must wear two- piece uniforms with bikini style bottoms no wider than 2.3 inches at the hip. In this society where a woman's cup size is more important than her mind, it is to me, no wonder that this ludicrous rule has been instituted upon female athletes. Just as women are breaking through in the sports world and redefining healthy lifestyles for women everywhere, they are exploited once again. Their bodies used to increase fan participation I assume. As soon as any progress is made, it seems something must be done to thwart it. I thought we, as a society, were approaching a new level of consciousness regarding respect of the female in our culture.
             However, this is simply another slap in the face to all the effort and dedication it took those female athletes to reach their goals. Sure, they can play the game but we want to take away the respect factor. We want to reduce them to pieces of flesh. We want little girls to think that if they want to be athletes they have to wear bikinis so they still seem feminine enough to their male counterparts. The blatancy of what is being done here is absolutely insulting. What makes it even more upsetting is that this type of situation is expected. These athletes are being used as sex objects. The idea that they are being forced to do this is evidence enough that it isn't right or just.
             The Federation claims that," the dress code is meant to ensure a professional standard and uniformity for commercial sponsor's logos." How ridiculous is that statement? Apparently this entire idea is based on promoting their sponsors by sporting the company's logo on the clothes. A quick question- how much can you really fit on a bikini? This makes no sense to me at all. The ulterior motives are glaring- all the men want to see is thighs, legs, butts, and lots of flesh no matter how they get it or who they have to exploit. It's sic...