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Question

In this informational text, Deirdre Clemente discusses the controversy surrounding what Serena Williams, a famous tennis player, decided to wear to the 2018 French Open. Clemente uses this example to explore the attention that female athletes' outfits have received historically.



Serena Williams' catsuit controversy evokes the battle over women wearing shorts
by Deirdre Clemente, 2018

1

At the French Open, Serena Williams wore a custommade black catsuit. On Aug. 24, the president of the French Tennis Federation said the outfit “wouldn’t be back.” It “went too far,” he continued. It didn’t “respect the game and the place.”

2

Among Williams’ defenders, the pushback was swift — the decision indicative of how female athletes face more scrutiny1 and are held to outdated dress standards.

3

As a historian of the American fashion industry, I’m not surprised when an outfit worn by a female athlete generates outrage. I thought of Suzanne Lenglen, the French tennis star of the late 1910s who shocked onlookers with her knee-length tennis dress. Coincidentally, Stade Roland Garros, the stadium where Serena wore her suit during the French Open, has a court named after Lenglen.

4

This is simply the most recent chapter of a centurylong debate over the place of informality and immodesty in our dress: how short can that skirt be? Should the first lady be able to don a tank top? What about wearing sneakers to prom?

5

Sportswear, which can be both informal and immodest, has served as a flashpoint2 in these debates — particularly for women.

6

In 1936, a sportswriter named Paul Gallico argued that female athletes and their clothing were offensive.

7

Women who play sports, he wrote, “stick out places when they play, wear funny clothes, get out of breath or perspire.” He didn’t like that because “it’s a lady’s business to look beautiful, and there are hardly any sports in which she seems able to do it.”

8

Nothing, it seemed, upset people more than women in shorts. Starting in the late 1920s, shorts became the much-contested replacement for bloomers, the puffy-legged, bifurcated3 garment worn under long skirts. Women who did wear athletic garb were supposed to keep out of the public eye because it was deemed unfeminine and, yes, immodest.

9

Female tennis players were on the frontlines of the battle for public acceptance of shorts. Even though tennis industry officials and country club muckety mucks wrote dress codes that outlawed shorts, many women refused to adhere to the rules and continued showing up to play wearing them.

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Some were thrown off the courts. But it’s hard to enforce dress codes when everybody’s doing it.

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Not surprisingly, this really rankled4 the old guard5.

12

“If you gals really knew how cute you look in a well-cut dress, you wouldn’t hanker to wear shorts,” one etiquette writer grumbled in the 1936 book, “Co-Ediquette: Poise and Popularity for Every Girl.” “Of course, you’ve got to be comfortable, ah, me! Even if you have to insult the aesthetic sense of men to do it?”

13

Most women shrugged — and kept on wearing shorts, on and off the court.

14

In time, shorts as hiking wear, shorts as gardening garb and shorts as loungewear became increasingly common. It seems the old guard had been worn down — or simply died off.

15

By the end of the 1930s, younger women were acknowledging a shift in attitudes. “American women live 24 hours a day in sports clothes,” one college student told the Boston Post. “Husbands no longer come home and deliver stern lectures upon finding their wives cooking supper in shorts. It’s just taken for granted.”

16

While some husbands may have skipped the stern lectures, it took three more decades for shorts to fully reach widespread acceptance.

17

But in tennis, notions of immodesty and informality die hard. When female tennis players such as Billie Jean King wore very short, gored skirts6 and sleeveless polo shirts in the 1970s, they were criticized for their “radical” outfits. Time and again, the powers-that-be in tennis push back on immodesty, and the players push forward towards personal choice and — dare we say — personal style.



Billie Jean King, © International Tennis Hall of Fame

18

So, we’ve seen this all before. New stuff — never-seen-before stuff — has long spelled trouble for female athletes and sparked public outcry.

19

Today, the sartorial7 standards of what you can and can’t wear in certain settings have changed so radically that institutions can’t keep up. You almost feel sorry for the French official who announced the ban on the catsuit. In the big picture, he won’t do anything to stop the crawl of social change.

20

And how did Serena Williams respond to being chastised for wearing her black catsuit?

21

She simply showed up a few days later to win U.S. Open matches wearing a tulle tutu.



________________________________________________________________________________________



1. (noun) critical observation or examination

2. a place, event, or time at which trouble starts

3. divided in two parts

4. (verb) to cause persistent annoyance or resentment

5. the original or long-standing members of a group who are reluctant to accept change

6. a style of folded skirt
7. related to clothing or style of dress
.


Read the article “Serena Williams' Catsuit Controversy Evokes the Battle over Women Wearing Shorts.” Based on the information in the article, write a response to the following:



Identify and explain how women’s clothing, particularly in sports, has changed over the past century.



Write a well-organized informational essay that uses specific evidence from the article to support your answer.



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Write your response in the box provided.

Answer 1

Thesis: Over the past century, women's clothing in sports has evolved significantly from restrictive and modest attire to more functional and expressive options, demonstrating a continual shift towards personal choice, comfort, and acceptance of female athletes' bodies.

In the early 20th century, female athletes faced immense scrutiny regarding their clothing and appearance. As Deirdre Clemente notes in her article, the controversy surrounding Serena Williams' 2018 French Open catsuit is not a new phenomenon but part of a long-standing debate about women's attire in sports. Historically, female athletes were expected to adhere to rigid standards of modesty that dictated both their movement and expression. For example, tennis players in the late 1910s, like Suzanne Lenglen, shocked audiences by wearing knee-length dresses, which was considered audacious at the time. The discomfort that such attire caused illustrates the societal expectation for women to prioritize appearance over practicality.

The debate intensified in the late 1920s when shorts began to replace bloomers, which were viewed as bulky and unfeminine. Clemente details how shorts became a point of contention, with opinions like those of sportswriter Paul Gallico critiquing female athletes for their appearance and behavior while playing. He argued that it was a woman's duty to appear beautiful and that sportswear undermined this ideal, revealing the deep-seated bias against women participating in athletics. Yet, as women began to wear shorts on the courts, many pushed back against these outdated beliefs, often facing penalties and expulsion from matches.

The gradual acceptance of shorts marked a significant shift in the perception of women's athletic wear. By the end of the 1930s, attitudes towards women wearing sports clothes began to change, as Clemente points out when one college student declared that American women lived comfortably in sportswear. Despite the resistance from traditionalists, the integration of practical clothing became increasingly normalized, foreshadowing future trends.

Fast forward to the 1970s, when iconic figures like Billie Jean King began to challenge notions of immodesty further by donning shorter, gored skirts and sleeveless shirts, signifying an evolution in sportswear that prioritized both performance and personal style. This movement continued into the present day, as exemplified by Serena Williams' choice to wear a catsuit—a radical departure from the past that faced immediate backlash from sports officials but ultimately affirmed her autonomy and strength as an athlete.

In conclusion, the evolution of women's sports clothing over the past century reflects a broader cultural shift towards prioritizing comfort, functionality, and individual expression in athletic pursuits. As female athletes continue to challenge traditional norms and embrace innovative styles, they not only reclaim their agency but also pave the way for future generations to redefine what it means to be a woman in sports. The struggle for acceptance continues, but each step forward symbolizes a break from the limitations of the past.