Susie O’Brien: Sexist double standards exposed on tennis court
PUNISHING a woman discreetly showing her sports bra while male tennis players flash their bare chests openly without penalty exposes a serious gender double standard in tennis, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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WOMEN’S bodies are not shameful. Male tennis players should not be allowed to flash their bare chests openly without penalty while a woman discreetly showing her sports bra is punished.
It’s sexist and exposes a serious gender double standard in tennis.
ALIZE CORNET SPARKS CRITICISM OF SEXIST TREATMENT
ANDY MURRAY CORRECTS REPORTER’S ‘CASUAL SEXISM’
TENNIS EMERGES AS WORLD’S MOST SEXIST SPORT
Although I’m not a big fan of the Free the Nipple movement, I understand why it’s necessary to challenge the body shaming many women are subjected to.
Tennis had its own #freethenipple moment today, when rising temperatures took their toll during the US Open.
World number 31 Alize Cornet struggled in the heat before noticing her shirt was the wrong way around. She went to the side of the court, stood with her back to the cameras and took it off, showing her sports bra in the process.
She didn’t show any private parts, didn’t revel in the moment and showed a whole lot less flesh that most of the bare-chested heat-affected men around her. The whole thing was over in about 15 seconds.
Alize Cornet came back to court after 10 minute heat break. Had her fresh shirt on back to front. Changed at back of court. Got a code violation. Unsportsmanlike conduct..... 😳
— judy murray (@JudyMurray) August 28, 2018
But the men can change shirts on court. https://t.co/sCN4KDXYTb
And yet Cornet was given a code violation because women are not supposed to change clothes on the court. This is despite the fact that she didn’t really change, she just put her shirt on the right way around.
Over on the men’s courts, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were sitting without their shirt on for ten minutes or more. They are allowed to change shirts and expose their bodies freely.
Cornet quickly learned that she didn’t have the same rights or freedoms as the men around her.
It does seem absurd that there is such a disparity between what men and women are allowed to do courtside.
I don’t think women should be flashing their breasts all over the place, but a modest quick change shouldn’t incur a punishment.
The violation saw Cornet attract a lot of support from other players, including Andy Murray and his mum Judy, Casey Dellacqua and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. But she shouldn’t have been put in this position in the first place.
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