Monica Showalter "Is it too much to ask Olympic athletes to wear professional costumes?
"The "wardrobe malfunction" of one of the figure skaters, Yura Min, an American citizen representing South Korea at the Olympics, was fussed and frou-froued about as something tabloid-worthy for much of the press. Oops, a wardrobe malfunction, get the camera out. It was explained by Min as: “But, as we all know, stuff happens.” It certainly overshadowed her performance, which would have otherwise gone unnoticed, coming in at ninth place.
"But seriously. Wasn't Tonya Harding's untied shoelace incident, where she had to stop and restart her program, kind of a warning to be absolutely sure about one's attire before performing that one-shot skating routine, the one that cost all those hours and all those millions?
"And more to the point, what's the point of wearing ultra-sexy skating costumes if they don't stay on during the routine? What was Min selling?" . . .
Is it really that hard to get something attractive that stays on, such as Nancy Kerrigan wore to the 1994 Olympics? Look at the great aesthetics of this costume in the picture of Kerrigan here. You can see here how it accomodates her every body move during the event. And it completely covers her up, so as not to distract from her performance.
Well, considering women's outfits in gymnastics and beach volleyball, one wonders what western culture in general is selling. How can we appreciate great athletes when struggling with our baser instincts? TD
From Earl of Taint
From Earl of Taint