You may not know this about me, but I happen to be a ridiculous sports fan. Growing up in Brooklyn with four brothers (and two sisters), I have been exposed not only to the fascinating world of fashion, but the wide world of sports too.
Very rarely do these two merge; in fact, more often than not, the basketball court, the baseball and football fields, the hockey rink and the soccer pitch are the only places where fashion statements don't make a play (pun intended). Aside from the tennis pros (ie: Venus and Serena Williams), the sports arena is where the clothes on your back literally define who you are. You just can't be a Red Sock and wear a Yankee uniform in the game (pssshhh, like they could! But I digress).
It is largely accepted, however, to wear certain other garments that define the life you lead off the court/field/rink/pitch/etc.; (Serena and Venus know that all too well).
Yea...try telling that to Naama Shafir or the Iranian Women's Soccer team.
In the past few weeks, these women have been subjected to eliminations and forfeits in their respective sports on account of, believe it or not, MODESTY.
Shafir, an Israeli, orthodox girl who won an NCAA basketball scholarship to the University of Ohio was eliminated by FIBA Europe (Europe's basketball governing body) from playing in a match in Poland. Why, you ask? Because she wears a t-shirt underneath her uniform for modesty reasons (see below), and their rules state that all players must be wearing the exact same uniform. Shafir refused to go bare-shouldered, and so she was not allowed to play. Dislike!
In a country where women scarcely have rights, let alone the luxury to play sports, the Iranian women's soccer team and Olympic hopefuls were disqualified from their pre-Olympic qualifying match because they refused to take off their head-scarfs for their match. FIFA, the governing body of soccer cited safety concerns and chocking hazards for their justification, but I call that bull-doody. It's just ridiculous.
I have no intentions of making political or religious statements on whether these women should forgo their beliefs and traditions for the sake of a game, but then again, I shouldn't have to. Women should have every opportunity to play, and just like in the real world or in the workplace, there should be appropriate allowances and room for personal beliefs. Whether they are religious in form or not, I would never tell a player not wear their lucky underwear that they haven't washed since they were 12 years-old, or whether they should cheer or pray or point to God after a game-winning shot.
If no one else will, I applaud these women. In a mostly boys club, they stay true to their beliefs and are every bit the fierce women they are in their game.
After all, it's not whether you win or lose, but HOW you play the game, right? Clearly FIBA and FIFA did not get that message. Despite that, at the end of the day, these women are the real winners.
D
Very rarely do these two merge; in fact, more often than not, the basketball court, the baseball and football fields, the hockey rink and the soccer pitch are the only places where fashion statements don't make a play (pun intended). Aside from the tennis pros (ie: Venus and Serena Williams), the sports arena is where the clothes on your back literally define who you are. You just can't be a Red Sock and wear a Yankee uniform in the game (pssshhh, like they could! But I digress).
It is largely accepted, however, to wear certain other garments that define the life you lead off the court/field/rink/pitch/etc.; (Serena and Venus know that all too well).
Yea...try telling that to Naama Shafir or the Iranian Women's Soccer team.
In the past few weeks, these women have been subjected to eliminations and forfeits in their respective sports on account of, believe it or not, MODESTY.
Shafir, an Israeli, orthodox girl who won an NCAA basketball scholarship to the University of Ohio was eliminated by FIBA Europe (Europe's basketball governing body) from playing in a match in Poland. Why, you ask? Because she wears a t-shirt underneath her uniform for modesty reasons (see below), and their rules state that all players must be wearing the exact same uniform. Shafir refused to go bare-shouldered, and so she was not allowed to play. Dislike!
In a country where women scarcely have rights, let alone the luxury to play sports, the Iranian women's soccer team and Olympic hopefuls were disqualified from their pre-Olympic qualifying match because they refused to take off their head-scarfs for their match. FIFA, the governing body of soccer cited safety concerns and chocking hazards for their justification, but I call that bull-doody. It's just ridiculous.
I have no intentions of making political or religious statements on whether these women should forgo their beliefs and traditions for the sake of a game, but then again, I shouldn't have to. Women should have every opportunity to play, and just like in the real world or in the workplace, there should be appropriate allowances and room for personal beliefs. Whether they are religious in form or not, I would never tell a player not wear their lucky underwear that they haven't washed since they were 12 years-old, or whether they should cheer or pray or point to God after a game-winning shot.
If no one else will, I applaud these women. In a mostly boys club, they stay true to their beliefs and are every bit the fierce women they are in their game.
After all, it's not whether you win or lose, but HOW you play the game, right? Clearly FIBA and FIFA did not get that message. Despite that, at the end of the day, these women are the real winners.
D
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