The Detail: An Olympic-sized argument over female athletes in bikinis

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When Erin Roxburgh-Makea plays beach handball in her bikini the only time she's comfortable is when she's standing still.

"The women are doing such athletic, really explosive movements, and you're always worried about where things are slipping ... and when you have your period it is one of the most terrifying times I think to wear a bikini bottom," she says.

Jun Tanlayco/Supplied

New Zealand Beach Handball captain Erin Roxburgh-Makea. (File photo)

But International Handball Federation rules for beach handball players stipulate the male player’s uniform consists of tank top and shorts, while the female player must wear crop tops and bikini bottoms.

READ MORE:
* Tokyo Olympics: TV boss trying to banish overly sexualised images of female athletes
* Pink offers to pay fine for Norwegian women's handball team that refused to wear bikini bottoms
* Norwegian Women's beach handball team reacts to being fined for not playing in bikini bottoms
* Women's handball team fined $2400 for wearing shorts instead of skimpy bikini-bottom uniform
* 'Please stop making us wear white': How light-coloured uniforms put girls and women off sport

Roxburgh-Makea, the co-captain of the New Zealand Women's Beach Handball team and a member of the senior leadership group for the New Zealand Women's Indoor Handball team, says she does not know anyone who feels comfortable wearing a bikini.

She knows several women who won't play beach handball because of the skimpy uniform.

That looks set to change after a story about the Norwegian Women's Beach Handball team went viral.

The team was fined more than $2500 for breaking the rules after they ditched their bikini bottoms for shorts at a major European tournament.

NORWAY BEACH VOLLEYBALL TEAM/Supplied

Norway's Women's Beach Handball Team has been fined for not wearing bikinis. (File photo)

In an official statement, the Disciplinary Commission at the Beach Handball EURO 2021 said it had "dealt with a case of improper clothing" and said the shorts are not according to the Athlete Uniform Regulations defined in the International Handball Federation Beach Handball Rules of the Game.

Today The Detail looks at the outrage over the bikini rules for handballers, branded as prurient and voyeuristic, and why it could be a game changer for women's sports kits.

The podcast also explores the history of netball uniforms with Newsroom's LockerRoom editor Suzanne McFadden, and how skimpier uniforms were introduced to "get more eyes on the game".

She tells Sharon Brettkelly that players have a say in what they wear, but some sports are more "sympathetic" than others.

"Netball at grass-roots you can now wear leggings or shorts, there have been changes too for cultural reasons, headwear can be worn now. Beach volleyball has recently changed the rules so that women don't have to wear bikini bottoms now."

Roxburgh-Makea says the Norwegian handballers' protest has already empowered New Zealand players to start speaking out, and she believes the uniforms will change within months, at least at regional level.

"The International Handball Federation is similar to other federations around the world where I think there is quite a male-dominated perspective on what women should wear," she says.

This amazing article on "The Detail: An Olympic-sized argument over female athletes in bikinis" was originally found here

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