I’ve always hated the color pink. Its fluorescent hue could be found on an unfathomable amount of clothing growing up while shopping in the girls’ section of my local sporting goods store. I yearned for more options in muted tones, with baggier silhouettes. I know I wasn’t alone. I had friends who also participated in sports, uncomfortable in the attire and message marketed around the garments they were subjected to wear.

Society has long projected standards for women in sports to look a certain way, that certain way more often than not being hyperfeminine; figure, face, and hair all to match the widespread conventional views of attractiveness.

Whether it be skin-tight 3-inch inseam volleyball spandex, hockey jerseys made boxy and large because of protective equipment, or a low-scooped swimming suit — no matter the sport, I have heard or personally experienced harassment because of a uniform worn.

Take Serena Williams for example. The most famous tennis player of all time, despite all her successes, continuously receives backlash for her appearance in some way or another. In 2018, the French Open, for instance, banned Williams’ use of a taut, black catsuit outfit. The Grand Slam’s president, Bernard Giudicelli, cited that she had to “respect the game and the place.”

It is without question that the outfit strayed from the women’s side of the game’s normalized attire of a frilly skirt and matching sleek tank top. But who cares? One’s attire, if still along the lines of athleisure, has no impact towards the way in which they play. Williams didn’t wear the outfit to attract attention to anything but her tennis, the bodysuit’s fabric protecting her playing from being impaired by persistent blood clots she experienced since the birth of her daughter.

Contrary to popular belief, the preference of a certain style that may differ from traditional uniform can better an athlete’s performance for this sole reason: they feel more comfortable in their own skin.

Take Olympic women’s volleyball for instance. At last summer’s games in Tokyo, criticism of the women’s attire being bikinis made waves. Blundering waves, highlighting just how many sexist people there are that claim to be fans of the sport.

Stars like April Ross who have long been players of the sport have voiced their support of the attire—a personal choice to wear the bikinis as they are more conducive and comfortable to play in given the sandy terrain and sudden movements needed to perform well in volleyball. But these athletes shouldn’t have to explain their choice. Personal expression is a choice, a right.

Clothes are objects. People are not. So why do we continuously subject others to a certain standard, as if we have a possession over them? Sports are to be played and enjoyed—their athletes and fans are not the game. The sport in itself is.

Going as far to ridicule and humiliate people who are just trying to do their job is downright cruel. Countries like Norway have even fined female athletes for not limiting themselves to a certain uniform mandated to be worn. It is time to stop sexualizing athletes, and instead focus on their talents, not their looks.

Women have long been targeted for their appearance. Their weight, makeup, skin tone, hair—posing as red bullseyes to misogynists, hungrily awaiting to strike their own insecurities and archaic beliefs onto them.

That goalie’s hair is short? Well she’s obviously a lesbian then. Wow she is really tiny, I bet she sucks at basketball. She plays golf? I bet she is so pretentious and girly.

Not only are women’s sexuality, abilities and morals being demonized on the daily, but arguably most prevalent is that their race is, too. Media personalities have, for years, degraded female athletes; Don Imus, for example, most infamously called the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hoes” in 2007.

It’s important to note many of the team’s players were African American, wearing their hair natural and having tattoos. This was an attack rooted in discrimination, not coincidence.

Imus still went on to salvage his career, as many other of his male counterparts continue to have the privilege to do. Racism is not something as simple as an, “I’m sorry!” mistake. There is a continuous exploitation of women’s identity under the guise of entertainment plaguing the globe. Continuance of this behavior ensures future generations will continue to be brought up in a world normalizing it, perpetuating a continuous cycle of toxicity and shame for those victimized, simply for existing.

Newsflash.

One’s appearance, passions or associations have absolutely zero bearing over their identity. Athletes and fans are there to take part in the sport at bay, nothing more and nothing less. It is 2022. Masculine and feminine associations will always exist, but, as a public, we need to reform the one-dimensional ideas that are reinforce these stereotypes. Gender, and furthermore expression, is an extremely vast construct that does not come in infinite forms.

I now look back and wonder, why did I despise pink so much? The color often has associations with love, softness and innocence—all things that should not have outwardly negative connotations. Yet pink’s longtime association with women is a tactic often used to dampen our power. I had weaponized my femininity, thinking wearing the shade somehow symbolized weakness.

This perception could not be further from the truth. Women have long lived under the expectations and preconceived notions that a largely patriarchal, largely heteronormative, largely white society has presented us with to follow.

The utilization of colors, fashions and trends, regardless of their supposed use for a certain gender or not, is incredibly powerful and necessary.

Our bodies are on constant survey and critique. The world of sports unfortunately is no different — many fall victim to the pressure to cater to the male gaze. But that must be no more.

Reader, if you have not already, change the narrative that has so long been set in place by people who have no idea what it is to be you. Wear what makes you feel good. Be the version of yourself that plays their best game on and off the court.

Women in sports don’t owe us any explanation or obligation that extends the boundaries of their respective sport.

Female athletes are talented. Female athletes are needed. Female athletes deserve respect.

End of story.

Shanti Furtado can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @ShantiFurtado.