A young lady from Anchorage, Alaska’s Dimond High School was disqualified at a high school swimming & diving dual meet between Dimond and Chugiak on Friday September 6th for a wardrobe violation while wearing a suit sized to fit snug for racing by the manufacturer and issued to her in accordance with uniform regulations by her team. It is the same suit being worn by each participant yet no other athletes in the program were disqualified. This comes after more than a year of tension regarding the fit of suits worn by athletes at youth swim meets in the state of Alaska. If the suit was issued by her team in accordance with national standards and she was wearing it as directed without prohibited modifications then why was she disqualified?
Above you see the modesty standards that guided the official’s decision on Friday night as well as several examples of popular brand name suits worn by other girls all over the state. Look at the cut of those suits. They’re not in compliance even before they get on the body of a swimmer. Some of these brands are currently being used as team suits. If lots of girls are wearing them, and they’re cut in a way that is “immodest”, why has only one swimmer been disqualified?
This young lady and her sisters are being targeted not for the way they wear their suits but for the way those suits fit their curvier, fuller figured bodies. The issue has come so far unraveled that parents in opposition of these girls and their swimwear have been heard saying that for the sake of their sons, the mother of these young ladies should cover up her daughters. Talk about thrusting modern women back into an era in which men were never held accountable for their behavior! Special legislation has been put forth regarding swimming costumes in this state as well and it is one official’s interpretation of national rules in which they come across as misguided by their spiritual beliefs regarding modesty and morality which have no place on the pool deck at a secular sporting event. While it will polarize Alaska Swimming to an unprecedented degree, it is crucial that this community rise up to protect these girls. They are being targeted not because they are wearing their suits to be scandalous, thus inspiring immorality among other young people, but rather because their ample hips, tiny waists, full chests, and dark complexions look different than their willowy, thin, and mostly pallid teammates. Some will argue this has nothing to do with race, but when the same officials targeting these girls have been heard saying that so-and-so white girl also shows too much skin but has never been disqualified for a similar violation the racial facet of this issue cannot be ignored. (...)
It gets much worse than last night’s injustice for the young lady whose victory was stolen from her when she discovered that a suit her high school team told her she could wear resulted in her disqualification. This same girl was the subject of one rogue team parent’s photography project last season in which they took graphic photos of her backside in her swimsuit without her knowledge or consent and circulated the images via email as evidence that her attire is immoral. She is a minor and that parent should be arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography. Her younger sister, one of the fastest athletes in the history of Alaska swimming, has told her family and friends she feels as though she’s being told by the community that her specific body is not appropriate for competitive swimming. It is the most heartbreaking thing to hear from a young person who is fit and healthy and who is just trying to ensure a brighter future for herself through this sport. We need to fight for these girls so that perverted adults can no longer single them out or judge them. Every organization associated with competitive youth swimming in the state of Alaska and the whole of the United States needs to protect them so they can get their focus back on swimming fast which is all they’ve ever wanted to do.
by Lauren Langford, Medium | Read more:
This young lady and her sisters are being targeted not for the way they wear their suits but for the way those suits fit their curvier, fuller figured bodies. The issue has come so far unraveled that parents in opposition of these girls and their swimwear have been heard saying that for the sake of their sons, the mother of these young ladies should cover up her daughters. Talk about thrusting modern women back into an era in which men were never held accountable for their behavior! Special legislation has been put forth regarding swimming costumes in this state as well and it is one official’s interpretation of national rules in which they come across as misguided by their spiritual beliefs regarding modesty and morality which have no place on the pool deck at a secular sporting event. While it will polarize Alaska Swimming to an unprecedented degree, it is crucial that this community rise up to protect these girls. They are being targeted not because they are wearing their suits to be scandalous, thus inspiring immorality among other young people, but rather because their ample hips, tiny waists, full chests, and dark complexions look different than their willowy, thin, and mostly pallid teammates. Some will argue this has nothing to do with race, but when the same officials targeting these girls have been heard saying that so-and-so white girl also shows too much skin but has never been disqualified for a similar violation the racial facet of this issue cannot be ignored. (...)
It gets much worse than last night’s injustice for the young lady whose victory was stolen from her when she discovered that a suit her high school team told her she could wear resulted in her disqualification. This same girl was the subject of one rogue team parent’s photography project last season in which they took graphic photos of her backside in her swimsuit without her knowledge or consent and circulated the images via email as evidence that her attire is immoral. She is a minor and that parent should be arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography. Her younger sister, one of the fastest athletes in the history of Alaska swimming, has told her family and friends she feels as though she’s being told by the community that her specific body is not appropriate for competitive swimming. It is the most heartbreaking thing to hear from a young person who is fit and healthy and who is just trying to ensure a brighter future for herself through this sport. We need to fight for these girls so that perverted adults can no longer single them out or judge them. Every organization associated with competitive youth swimming in the state of Alaska and the whole of the United States needs to protect them so they can get their focus back on swimming fast which is all they’ve ever wanted to do.
by Lauren Langford, Medium | Read more:
Image: uncredited
[ed. I'm in Anchorage, AK this week (former hometown for 40 yrs.), and apparently not much has changed, particularly a strain of conservative meaness/wackiness that afflicts the body politic in general. See also: ‘Suit wedgie’ robs Anchorage high school swimmer of a victory and sparks a controversy (Anchorage Daily News). And in other news, She who won't be named is still a hot topic (TMP v. SLP, Craig Medred).]
