Why Do Athletes Wear Makeup?
Tags: Girls Empowerment, Makeup, Intersectional Feminism, Womens Sports, Gender Equality

I didn’t know I was a fan of Women’s High Jump until watching the Final on the penultimate day of the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympics. I felt a buzz over those two weeks whenever I saw women athletes perform spectacularly across sports from surfing, to skateboarding, BMX racing, cycling, diving, weightlifting and boxing!

Back to the High Jump, my hook was catching a glimpse of Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh and her most brilliant yellow eye makeup — it was gorgeous and fun and reminded me of days when I was much more experimental and bold with my makeup, yet I stayed for the thrill of seeing women launch themselves into the air. I was inspired!

Yaroslava Mahuchikh; Credit Getty Images

Across other events, talented, strong athletes were wearing lipstick and jewellery, manicured nails and coloured hair — I loved it, particularly after the scrutiny women athletes endured in the lead up to the Olympics about their “uniforms”. Women were told either they should wear less clothing, in the instance of the Norweigan handball team, or, more clothing as was the case for Paralympian Olivia Breen. These women confronted sexism and in Olivia Breen’s case ableism with courage and determination and refused for their achievements to be reduced to a public debate about personal uniform choices. I loved that women were at the Olympics as themselves and loved reading the best beauty moments of the Olympics — it indulged my delight that women were saying watch me be who I am.

I’m sure there will be critics asking why a woman needs to wear makeup to compete or say she should focus on her sport rather than her hair, but I think runner Christina Clemons says it perfectly in this interview: “For competitions, I’m always excited and full of confidence, so I like to show up with bold looks. During competitions, I’m in my own world and I’m doing my own thing. It doesn’t matter who doesn’t like what I have on.” She adds, “A lot of people may not expect female athletes to look feminine…I believe it’s important to show our femininity while being athletic because it is a strength, not a weakness.”

Christina Clemons: Credit Getty Images

I absolutely love Clemons’s comments — women have a right to show up how they feel comfortable and empowered. I felt empowered as a viewer! My Olympic enthusiasm faded though when I learnt about the disparity in men and women’s safety in the sport of boxing. Feminist writer and campaigner Caroline Criado Perez explains that the International Boxing Association (AIBA)introduced a rule that was first adopted by the International Olympic Committee at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The rule removes protective headgear from male boxers. The reason for the removal is due to headgear being associated with more concussions. Women however are still required to wear headgear due to a lack of data around this issue. This is concerning. How is it possible to have data that ensures men’s safety in their sport yet for women in the same sport it’s not deemed equally important to carry out research? Criado Perez points to other research (conducted by two women Katherine Snedaker and Liz Williams, independent of the IOC or AIBA) that shows women are more susceptible to concussions, the effects are more severe and last longer.

Should energy be focused on a) hair and makeup choices in women’s sport b) sporting authorities policing women for uniform choices or c) preventing women from serious brain injury? Hard choice? I’m going to apply a yellow eye flick and backflip on my bed to think about it.

This disturbing lack of research into safety for women in sport and the sexism women and girls experience must be challenged to improve the health and wellbeing of women and advance gender equality. Research by Women in Sport UK found that women who play regular sport showed higher levels of self belief and confidence and this greater level of confidence was evidenced across all age groups. Women who play regular sports are also more motivated to achieve long term goals and a striking correlation reveals that of women who play sport, almost half (45%) are in management roles.

The study found that 48% of women who play sport three or more times a week have attained a degree/higher degree compared with 24% of non-sports playing women. These two findings support a causal relationship in earlier research by Women In Sport that indicates there is a link between motor skills and cognitive and behavioural development in children and a stronger relationship between academic performance and sport for girls than for boys.

The research is important because we know that 64% of girls in the UK will drop out of sport by the end of puberty and there are both personal and social barriers to girls participating in sport that need to be overcome. 42% of 14–16 year olds feel physically and emotionally vulnerable and say their period stops them taking part in physical activity inside school. There is also a perception amongst girls that sport is for boys, 80% of girls feel they do not belong in sport. This feeling of not belonging might be due in part to low visibility of female role models, 72% of girls aged 11–21 years old believe a lack of media coverage of women’s sport leads them to be unfairly treated.

Looking at sports participation through an intersectional gender lens, women who face multiple forms of disadvantage, including disability, socio economic class and minority status experience barriers to participation such as the cost of sports, lack of childcare, lack of role models, body image issues and concerns about cultural appropriateness. Diving deeper into the experience of women of low socio economic status, barriers to being active include life uncertainty, lack of financial independence, familial responsibilities and mental health. These barriers mean women of low socio economic status are the least likely to be sufficiently physically active and therefore miss out on the benefits of exercise including improved physical and mental health and reduced risk of disease.

Why does all this matter? Because gender equality matters in ALL aspects of our lives. We need more diversity and representation of women and non binary people in sport to increase participation and more equitable media coverage so young people can see relatable role models. Girls and women deserve to participate fully in life and sport is one route which can improve health and well being, lead to greater confidence, smash gender stereotypes and perhaps elevate women into more senior management positions.

Women and non binary people should have opportunities to participate in sport, choose whether or not to wear makeup, wear clothes they feel comfortable in and have sporting associations that equally protect the safety and wellbeing of all genders as minimum requirements. Think about ways you can participate in sport and perhaps rekindle your love for netball or ballet or take up kick boxing or tennis — you might just be the person that girls and young people look to as their role models.

As for my final thoughts on the Tokyo Olympics; women are awesome, women’s sport is inspiring to watch AND a yellow eye flick equals perfection on sporting heroines.