The Conversation (0)
Sinead Butler
Jul 28, 2021
Photos of female volleyball athletes (left) and swimmers (right) have been posted on the Oh-lympics subreddit
Getty Images
A disturbing internet forum features photos that sexualize female Olympians.
The subreddit, named Oh-lympics, was created in 2012 and describes itself as a forum “for all the things that made you go ‘Oh” during the olympics.”
So far, the page has accumulated more than 217,000 followers over the past nine years.
Most of the photos uploaded daily have little to do with the sports and instead focus on female athletes’ backsides, along with them stretching or training. There are also pictures of some wardrobe malfunctions.
Often, the photos are posted alongside crude remarks such as “Cant wait for all the jiggly T&F asses starting Friday” or “Women’s water polo ass.”
Six Oh-lympic members spoke to VICE anonymously to provide an insight as to why they contribute to the page.
One 23-year-old man, only known as ajvazded0, acknowledged that his actions contribute to the problem of women athletes being over-sexualized.
He admitted some of the comments on the page were offensive and disrespectful, but said that they were “unavoidable” because it’s “human nature.”
Lisa Wang, a Hall of Fame gymnast and former four-time U.S. national champion, highlighted the difference between men and women when concerning the clothing requirements.
“Women have always been at the mercy of the male gaze,” Wang told VICE. “It was always about how do we show more leg? How do we make it so that a little bit more of butt is shown so that we can have a longer leg line?”
Clothing regulations for women athletes have been in the spotlight recently due to the Norwegian women’s handball team being fined after refusing to wear bikini bottoms at the European Beach Handball Championships.
The European Handball Federation (EHF) slammed the teams shorts as “improper clothing.”
As a result, the team was slapped with a $1,765 (£1,283) fine.
Female athletes are required to wear bikini bottoms that are “a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg” according to the International Handball Association handbook.
Meanwhile, male athletes can wear shorts no longer than four inches.
A Reddit spokesperson responded to VICE by saying it will evaluate the content on the “Oh-lympics” subreddit as posting sexually explicit content of someone without their consent is prohibited.