Fred Richard’s New Uniform At Winter Cup

[makam]

If he started a groundswell of guys asking for a change it would read as more authentic than his lone warrior stance. And the posts about it do feel pretty navel gazey.

I'm all for uniform updates at the request of the athletes competing but I'm not sure Fred has really thought through the approach or the style. It would be nice if gymnasts had as many options as track athletes and eliminate the requirement for perfect matching across teams so different athletes could wear what they perform best in. But it feels like there are better ways to achieve the change. (But maybe lots of people in small competitions wearing something different is the way to bring it about, what do I know)

 

[MaryClare]

If he started a groundswell of guys asking for a change it would read as more authentic than his lone warrior stance. And the posts about it do feel pretty navel gazey.

I'm all for uniform updates at the request of the athletes competing but I'm not sure Fred has really thought through the approach or the style. It would be nice if gymnasts had as many options as track athletes and eliminate the requirement for perfect matching across teams so different athletes could wear what they perform best in. But it feels like there are better ways to achieve the change. (But maybe lots of people in small competitions wearing something different is the way to bring it about, what do I know)

Yes, I think the whole you can wear a unitard but only if the whole team wears it is ridiculous. As long as the body design is the same, athletes should be able to choose the sleeve length and whether or not they want it as a unitard.

I think that MAG does need to be clearer in its attire regulations though. I am equally annoyed by Bartolini’s ridiculously low cut neckline as I am by Dolgopyat’s excessively baggy uniform

 

[wishfulgoddess]

Comfort is one thing. I'm all for finding a way to accomodate the comfort of the athletes. I'm not a big fan of the unitards with long pants in WAG, but I support the cause 100%. I have no doubt there is a practical way to do it. To change things because a guy got called "girly", though... I feel like the solution to boys being bullied for being too "girly" should be to fix the perceptions of society, not to make the victims of bullying more "macho". Everything is thought to be either feminine or masculine, even if it is actually neutral. What's more is that things deemed feminine are automatically considered weaker and less important. That is the root of the problem. Not that boys wear tight uniforms.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I appreciate that Fred is taking a page out of Noah Lyle’s book to popularize the sport in unique ways, but this just doesn’t sit right with me.

I just reeks of masculine insecurity in that men in tight clothes=gay girly man. Meanwhile, no one is having that perception of Michael Phelps in a speedo. I don’t think that the perception that MAG is somehow feminine is what is working against the sport’s popularity.

 

[MaryClare]

I appreciate that Fred is taking a page out of Noah Lyle’s book to popularize the sport in unique ways, but this just doesn’t sit right with me.

I just reeks of masculine insecurity in that men in tight clothes=gay girly man. Meanwhile, no one is having that perception of Michael Phelps in a speedo. I don’t think that the perception that MAG is somehow feminine is what is working against the sport’s popularity.

Exactly. It’s all nonsense and all Fred, Fred, Fred.

I don’t think MAG has ever been more popular in the US. Stephen becoming the unlikely star of Paris had gyms inundated with calls from parents who wanted to get their sons into the sport.

 

[dweiss324]

The only thing I can resonate with is ...

It was a little awkward at first to put on a singlet, and I was never comfortable changing in public between shorts and pants in front of crowds (when I was 12-18). We'd drop trou all the time in highschool at practice, but whatever.

I think part of the issue is changing, honestly. If you could put on your singlet in the bathroom and then put on pants over your floor shorts, there would be no issue. Changing in public as a guy when your base layer is a singlet is very uncomfortable, and I'm not that shy.

 

[makam]

Does the singlet look much different from a wrestling or track one?

 

[Puffin]

Interestingly I was watching Gladiators last night with the family on BBC and Fred's new uniform is actually identical to the one that the muslim woman contender wore in last night's episode - loose fitting vest and shorts with white leggings plus she wore a black high neck top.

(This is the publicity with black leggings shot but she actually competed, and won, in white)

Not totally sure what Fred is trying to prove here.

 

[falcon9]

Exactly. It’s all nonsense and all Fred, Fred, Fred.

I don’t think MAG has ever been more popular in the US. Stephen becoming the unlikely star of Paris had gyms inundated with calls from parents who wanted to get their sons into the sport.

I would definitely not agree with this… numbers are extremely low compared to what they used to be in my state.

Edit: A majority of the clubs in the state don’t even have men’s programs anymore.

 

[MaryClare]

I would definitely not agree with this… numbers are extremely low compared to what they used to be in my state.

Edit: A majority of the clubs in the state don’t even have men’s programs anymore.

By popularity, I meant the sport’s perception amongst the general public rather than actual participant numbers. I know that men’s programmes have struggled for years and time will tell if Stephen’s rise to fame is enough to change that trajectory. But it does feel like there has been a change in attitude, both amongst young people, and amongst parents. It is not that long ago that parents would steer an interested boy away from gymnastics because of what other people might think or because they didn’t want their son open to bullying. I think that attitude has significantly shifted.

Male gymnasts just don’t like wearing clothing! In every gym, everyone wants to train in just shorts and earning the right to train bare chested is something of a rite of passage. With older gymnasts frequently complaining that they weren’t allowed to at that age/that stage in their career.

 

[Puffin]

I do think there should be a conversation about allowing gymnasts to choose their own clothing as long as the overall design is the same for the team as a whole.

They manage this in athletics/track and field where the choice seems very wide - even within the same relay team - baggy vests, tight vests, t shirts, long sleeved tops, crop tops, unitards, unitards with long shorts, unitards with sleeves, panty shorts, short-shorts, cycling shorts, baggy shorts, leggings .....

 

[falcon9]

By popularity, I meant the sport’s perception amongst the general public rather than actual participant numbers.

Got it... yes. There has definitely been a renewed view of men's gymnastics.

 

[MaryClare]

I do think there should be a conversation about allowing gymnasts to choose their own clothing as long as the overall design is the same for the team as a whole.

They manage this in athletics/track and field where the choice seems very wide - even within the same relay team - baggy vests, tight vests, t shirts, long sleeved tops, crop tops, unitards, unitards with long shorts, unitards with sleeves, panty shorts, short-shorts, cycling shorts, baggy shorts, leggings .....

Track and field isn’t looking at shapes and extension, everything is won by speed, height or distance. It literally doesn’t matter what they wear.

 

[Indy]

I realized what Fred and his white tights/shorts combo reminds me of. It looks like when we’re getting ready to go skiing and my husband has his thermal underwear tights on but isn’t quite ready to put on his snow pants yet, so he puts his pajama shorts back on top of his thermals and walks around the house like that.

 

[MaryClare]

Ok well the whole Nastia Liukin cup are wearing Fred’s white tights now

 

[RedBirdie]

I realized what Fred and his white tights/shorts combo reminds me of. It looks like when we’re getting ready to go skiing and my husband has his thermal underwear tights on but isn’t quite ready to put on his snow pants yet, so he puts his pajama shorts back on top of his thermals and walks around the house like that.

My kid plays hockey. All the kids wear tights under their gear, so they throw athletic shorts over the tights going back and forth to the rink. A whole army of mites in their tights and shorts running around.

 

[irichluck21]

I don't see what the issue is with changing from singlet/pants to singlet/shorts. There is a whole unitard.

Swimmers and divers have much, much less on when they compete.