Body image and skiing.

[ski diva]

I won't buy even the most comfortable piece of athletic wear unless I feel that it is flattering on me. There is no point. If I don't like the way it looks on, then I won't ever wear it. I'm not sure if that's negative body image or just an ego issue.

I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to look good. That's human nature. The problem that I see, and which I think the article states very well, is when women athletes are only valued for "looking a certain way" or are sexualized in order to appeal to a wider audience. Looking good because YOU want to look good, well, that's a different story.

As for sizing for "real" women .... what the heck is that exactly? We come in such a variety of sizes and shapes that it must be quite impossible to design a line of clothing for everyone. I have short people problems because manufacture believe I am WAY below average in height - I'm 5'2" but I'm a size 8. Apparently, I'm supposed to be about 5'7"! I get too frustrated even trying on ski pants in stores. I order online, and I pretty much stick to Columbia at this point. Their short pants fit me well. As for jackets ... I have accepted that sleeves are always too long on me. It's not that big a deal - ski gloves hold them up!

Yes. Me, too. I'm small and 5'1", and finding ski pants that aren't made for someone who's at least 5'5" is a real problem. Sure, some companies make petites, but not too many. It's frustrating.

As for finding small sizes, yesterday I went into FOUR local ski shops and was told FOUR different times that they don't buy too much in small or extra small because "it doesn't sell. We stock larger sizes because that's what sells." Another rant from this same trip: I have very small hands -- size 6 gloves -- and only ONE of these four shops had exactly one pair of gloves in that size. For the same reason -- they say they don't sell. Actually, the pickings for women's gloves were pretty slim overall. Mostly they stock mittens for women, gloves for men. (I guess women aren't supposed to buy gloves?) Now, I actually prefer mittens, but in this case, I wanted a pair of gloves. Size 6. Good luck. Came home and ordered the ones I wanted online.

Don't get me wrong: I understand that shops need to stock what sells. Come the end of the season, and they run the risk of getting stuck with a pile of unsold merchandise, and that's expensive. Heck, my family had a retail store for 87 years. I get it. But it doesn't mitigate my frustration.

Boy, we've meandered a long way from the original topic, but I guess it's all connected.

 

[mustski]

I think it is all connected. How female athletes are perceived is directly related to how all women are perceived. When women walk into shops and can't find athletic wear in their size, the message is that they are not of typical athletic build. I think that comes from a male perspective. Not to be sexist here, but men develop clear muscularity when they build strength and women do not. I am not saying that we don't become strong; I am saying that it doesn't show in clothing because our muscularity is not necessarily large. Often, we become lankier. Lynsey Dyer's reference to thunder thighs is quite accurate, however she is quite regular looking in clothing. If you look at female dancers, they have super small upper bodies (including arm muscularity) and then very large thighs. In regular clothing these women do not look "athletic." Other athletic women might be larger naturally and their athleticism is not recognized as strength but as weight. The end result is that most clothing will be stocked in size medium - everything below and above will be stocked in smaller numbers. However, the deals at the end of the season tend to be either in the XL or XS range so manufactures are probably correct in their pre-season ordering.

Model athletes are valued for looking a certain way because they are selling a product. The burger in the A&W picture looks soooo much better than the actual burger you get. They are selling those products to women so that type of advertising must work. Men may like the pics but I don't know a single man stupid enough to buy ski clothing for his SO - skis maybe but never boots or soft goods.