The Sports Bra Run Debate
By EVITA THADANI ‘20
On the first Wednesday of October, the Girls’ Cross Country team went on its first sports bra run of the season. The temperature had climbed over 80 degrees, and our head coach, who doesn’t allow us to wear only sports bras because it makes him “uncomfortable,” was absent. We took off our shirts and, feeling much cooler, completed a run in the sweltering heat. We came back to the ACC lobby and found that most of the boys had the same idea of taking off their shirts. And, despite the fact that the lobby was packed with shirtless boys, Mr. Reddicks immediately yelled at a female runner to put on a shirt. Astonished by this mistreatment, the girls refused to comply, deciding instead to keep their shirts off. We knew it wasn’t a crime to work out in sports bras, and we weren’t going to let anyone tell us otherwise. If the boys could walk around shirtless, we could walk around in sports bras.
Over my 6 years of running on cross country and track teams, I’ve felt attacked by the school whenever we go on sports bra runs. In 2018, girls post bikini pictures online and wear whatever they want; so, isn’t it somewhat contradictory that a school which teaches girls to be proud of our bodies doesn’t allow us to wear sports bras when it’s too hot out? Although wearing a shirt seems like a small price to pay to appease our coaches, it can make all the difference for girls who run up to six miles on a given day. More importantly, when girls are prevented from doing something that guys do all the time, we feel less-than, as if having a female body is a crime we need to pay for. Not only should the same dress code apply to all genders, but girls should have the right to wear whatever makes them comfortable at sports practices.
Now, you may be thinking that “different bodies need to be covered differently, so different genders should have different rules.” Here’s where it gets messy: if you make gender specific rules, how will you enforce them without assuming people’s genders? A person’s biological sex may not match the person’s gender, so you can’t assume everyone of the same gender has the same body. Even if you do make gender specific rules, you can’t tell if the rules of one gender are equivalent to another. If having gender specific rules doesn’t work, how does an institution create a fair dress code? It’s simple: the institution needs to list specific body parts, regardless of gender, that need to be covered. In fact, our dress code is genderless and does specify these body parts. The problem is that the lack of mention about sports leaves the door wide open for faculty and administrators to make unwritten policies about what girls and boys should wear at practice. To get rid of these unwritten sexist policies, the school just needs to specify the sports dress code in the Handbook.
What should the sports dress code be? Well, if shirtless boys have been running around campus for years, the school must not have a problem with students showing their stomachs at practice. Boys are doing it— all I ask is that everyone can do the same. It’s only fair. Because taking shirts off at practice is socially acceptable for guys, telling girls they can’t wear sports bras sends the message that our bodies are more of a distraction than boys’ and somehow we are responsible for that distraction. Can someone please tell me what is so different about a girl’s stomach and a guy’s? What is so distracting about a stomach anyway? Even professional runners rarely wear shirts.
I urge the school not only to specify the rules in the Handbook, but also to treat girls like human beings and let us do what guys have been doing for so many years. I’m pretty sure the school’s reputation will survive if the school allows cross country girls to wear sports bras in 80 degree weather, and we’re more likely to survive our run if it does.
November 9, 2018
Dear Readers,
Since publishing an article titled “The Sports Bra Debate” in our Parents’ Day issue, we have received several questions that we felt warranted clarification. The opinion article in question described an alleged incident in which Mr. Reddicks, Director of Athletics and Physical Education, instructed a member of the women’s cross country team, who was wearing a sports bra, to put on a shirt, while ignoring shirtless male runners. TMP has been asked if we fact checked this interaction and has been accused of fabricating or exaggerating this event, especially since Mr. Reddicks has since denied its occurance.
TMP diligently fact checks every objective fact in our articles, including statistics, online or textual sources, and dates, in all of our articles—including our opinion articles, though these articles often rely less on objective fact and more on the author’s presentation of a scenario. However, when an opinion article includes a first-hand account by the author, it can be impossible to either corroborate or deny the interaction’s occurrence. When a writer mentions, for example, that their English teacher assigned a reading past 5:30pm, we don’t corroborate with the teacher themselves. In an Op-Ed, our writer is our source. Therefore, we trust our writers to portray their experiences to the best of their ability. We also don’t publish anonymous articles for this reason—we can’t fact check personal experience, so we allow the writer’s name to serve as the source and reference.
Regarding the specific incident, both the article’s author (Evita Thadhani ‘20) and other female runners continue to stand by their memory of the incident, and TMP stands by the article we published. The cross country team members listed below have since corroborated this story, and we believe them. Please direct any questions to members of the TMP editorial board or to one the individuals below.
Sincerely,
TMP 36
Runners corroborating the incident:
Buket Aktas
Catherine Anderson
Jeanette Hitt
Anna Hamblet
Kenya Mathieu
Chloe Morris (captain)
Lila Miller
Ellie Mraz
Elizabeth Strang
Jeanna Shaw
Larissa Wolfberg
Katherine Wiemeyer
Lily Wright (captain)
Emma Zuccotti
Miriam Zuo