Should the Skirt be optional? | Golden Skate

Should the Skirt be optional?

Skirt optional?

  • Skirt optional for all events

    Votes: 55 78.6%
  • Skirt required for all events

    Votes: 14 20.0%
  • Skirt required for LP only

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Skirt required for SP only

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    70

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Should the Skirt be OPTIONAL

Should Ladies have the OPTION of wearing a Skirt or "Pants" in any event?
Their choice.

I personally would hate to see the skirt go away, but I think someone like Carolina should TRY a "unitard" or pants.
 
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antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
I'm pretty sure they do now have a choice and the skirt is optional for any event.

Ant
 

Wolfgang

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
'Required' is kind of a big word, let's say that from my point of view, skirts would be HIGHLY recommended and most DEFINITELY preferred.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Even though I voted for optional for all events, I do think that if a skater is skating to a very classical piece a skirt would be more appropriate.

Dee
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Thank goodness skirts are now optional.

I'm not sure what you mean by "very classical," Dee. E.g., I could see a skater choosing to take a very formalist approach to a piece of Baroque or Classical (Mozart, Haydn) music and choose to dress in a unitard or something similar that emphasizes clean body lines.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I think it should be optional. Not all skaters look good in pants and not all music is suitable for a skirtless costume. However, it should be a skater's choice, rather than something forced on them.

Vash
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
IMO, Meier was far "sexier" then anything I saw in the skirts (although that yellow was Hello). Carolina's skirt did look good - but too short, made it look like it was sized wrong and her figure would look great in pants too IMO - and her stroking might not SEEM as hunched over.

I NEVER want to see skirts go away, but love seeing "pants" come around, that is just FS version of "Pro Choice." The fact a woman chose her outfit makes it that much more attractive to me - CIP pants or skirts.

But DEAD SET AGANST UNIFORMS!!!!!! YUCK!
 
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debdelilah

On the Ice
Joined
May 6, 2006
I voted "skirt optional for all events". Pants are at least as effective for athletic purposes, if not more so.
Also, it sets a certain tone to say they all have to skate in a costume nearly as skimpy as a swimsuit(and for athletic purposes, their skirts have to be barely there, or they couldn't do their jumps.)

Femininity comes in many flavors, and figure skating should reflect this too. Out with enforced stereotypes, in with variety.
 

jsteam4501s

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Why not say "PANTS optional for all events"? The skirt was here first.
After all, we can't tell trains to yield right of way to cars, can we.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
jsteam4501s said:
Why not say "PANTS optional for all events"? The skirt was here first.

Well, the LONG skirt was there first. Great for modesty, not so great for ease of movement. You wouldn't recommend going back to 1920s outfits just out of tradition, would you?

Even after short skirts became traditional, occasionally female skaters did compete in shorts or slacks or stretch pants (especially for figures) or unitards, until the rules were changed to specifically require a skirt. But if the purpose of those rules was to maintain dignity, modesty, and athleticism, why not just say that any clothing that serves those purposes is an allowable option?
 

dancindiva03

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
I like skirts. There are very few unitards that I have seen that I even remotely like. Irina does pull them off well, and Fumie's pants last year looked good. Other than that, I'll take skirts over pants any day.
 

Skaterkitty

Spectator
Joined
May 30, 2006
To have the skirt for women as a requirement says that the hint of a traditional feminine appearance takes priority over athletic quality. Thus, the skating establishment is uncomfortable with women who challenge the traditional view of women as objects to be looked at (There is an interesting scholarly book written by Ellen Kestnbaum, a skater who holds a PhD, called Culture on Ice:figure Skating and Cultural Meaning who addresses this very issue). Essentially, figure skating is still VERY sexist. Personally, aesthetics and whether or not a skater looks good in a unitard or non-skirted outfit is irrelevant. I'm a adult skater and frankly, if aesthetics were an issue, the vast majority of female adult skaters should not be wearing skirts. Most should be wearing pants (or at the very least, they should have custom dresses made by a reputable designer and not wear off the rack outfits cut for twelve-year olds, but that's another issue). Similarly, there is some rule about men being prohibited from wearing tights like a ballet dancer. I see nothing wrong with men wearing tights, either. Both rules are sexist and outdated. Apparently the ISU set these rules when Debi Thomas wore a unitard in the '88 Olympics and was unsettled by this. I think it was Brian Boitano who wore tights in a Robin Hood program which set them off, too.
 

Skaterkitty

Spectator
Joined
May 30, 2006
And another thing: while we're on the subject of sexism inherent in figure skating, we may as well address the archaic term "ladies" as contrasted with "men." I loathe being called a "lady." It suggests a delicate quality in relation to the hardier term "man."
 

Skaterkitty

Spectator
Joined
May 30, 2006
To have the skirt for women as a requirement says that the hint of a traditional feminine appearance takes priority over athletic quality. Thus, the skating establishment is uncomfortable with women who challenge the traditional view of women as objects to be looked at (There is an interesting scholarly book written by Ellen Kestnbaum, a skater who holds a PhD, called Culture on Ice:figure Skating and Cultural Meaning who addresses this very issue. Essentially, figure skating is still VERY sexist. Personally, aesthetics and whether or not a skater looks good in a unitard or non-skirted outfit is irrelevant. I'm a adult skater and frankly, if aesthetics were an issue, the vast majority of female adult skaters should not be wearing skirts. Most should be wearing pants (or at the very least, they should have custom dresses made by a reputable designer and not wear off the rack outfits cut for twelve-year olds, but that's another issue). Similarly, there is some rule about men being prohibited from wearing tights like a ballet dancer. I see nothing wrong with men wearing tights, either. Both rules are sexist and outdated. Apparently the ISU set these rules when Debi Thomas wore a unitard in the '88 Olympics and was unsettled by this. I think it was Brian Boitano who wore tights in a Robin Hood program which set them off, too.
 

dancindiva03

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Skaterkitty said:
I'm a adult skater and frankly, if aesthetics were an issue, the vast majority of female adult skaters should not be wearing skirts. Most should be wearing pants (or at the very least, they should have custom dresses made by a reputable designer and not wear off the rack outfits cut for twelve-year olds, but that's another issue).
I'm also an adult skater, and I think that adult skaters should wear whatever they're comfortable in, f*** aesthetics. I always wear a skirt/dress, its more comfortable and alows greater freedom of movement, with no fear of my blade catching the hem of my pants. And did you ever think that not all adult skaters can afford custom made dresses? Especially for practice, I'm not spending extra money for a practice dress. I think that skatewear makers need to acknowledge the growing populatity of skating among adults, and adapt their products accordingly.
 

julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
*psst* I think Skaterkitty's point, besides paraphrasing "Culture on Ice", was that aesthetics shouldn't be a consideration because it's sexist. Though, yeah, some of us cannot afford to have custom dresses made.

Honestly, if you have such an awful figure you can't wear a skirt, you're not going to look good in a unitard, either. They're not loose pants. If anything, I think my tights (skintight running pants; very popular around here for skaters) show off a lot more figure flaws than even a leotard and gauze skirt that you can see through.

I think for Ladies :p and Pairs, it should be an aesthetic decision left up to the skater, coach, and choreographer on what's appropriate for the program. For dance, the skirt should be required for the woman in all three phases and the man should never wear tights. Dance has enough costume problems as it is.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Did you guys know that author Ellyn Kestnbaum is a Golden Skate member (formerly posting as EllynK)?

Culture on Ice is my all-time fave. Kestnbaum also contributed to Women on Ice, a compilation of feminist writings about the Tonya-Nancy bruhaha. (Kestnbaum's essay is titled "What Tonya Harding means to me, or Images of independent female power on ice." But I have to admit, the best-titled piece is "Victor Petrenko's Mother-in-Law," by Marjorie Garber. :rock: )

Anyway, I found Culture (essentially an expansion of the author's PhD dissertation in Theater at the University of Wisconsin) to be a lot more subtle than most reviews of it. (I wrote a review for U.K. Amazon, but for some reason they never published it. :laugh: )

Although the book presents various neo-feminist takes on figure skating, it does so in a thoughtful and critical way, pointing out competing ideas as well.

(For instance, if figure skating -- and especially figure skating costumes -- are nothing more than dressing up pretty girls in scanty outfits so that men can leer at them, why are figure skating audiences 90% women?)

MM :)
 
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