Sports clothing and eroticism

[sebbie]

Sports clothing and eroticism

I got to thinking about that, at least for guys, the large number of sports that require the participants wear specific clothing in order to engage in the sport, and also, that for a large number of sports this clothing has an erotic component to it that affects the fan base male and female as well as being of no small concern to the guy participating in the sport. I am going to focus on sports men and boys normally are in, in part because I understand little about a possible parallel world in women’s sports.

The obvious first example is men’s swimming and diving. There has been much discussion about how guys donning their first swim brief for team participation might feel about the situation they face. Mandating swim briefs for swimmer-athletes at least forces all the guys to be confronting the same set of issues, but given that the other guys are all wearing briefs too I would look silly if I did not look as if I were part of the team.

Letting guys choose either a brief or jammer may appear to alleviate the fear of briefs problem, but then this sets up a situation whereby the guys are not all doing the same thing. Are the guys wearing the briefs the ones who generally are the better swimmers, or do they simply “like” the brief for other reasons that cannot be openly discussed.

So if a guy wants to be a serious diver and has some sort of an objection to being seen clad in a brief, he had better get over it soon.

Water polo has always fascinated me in part because on average water polo guys are muscular but bigger than the average diver or swimmer. Water polo is a very physical sport, and requires great physical skills. Hence the big muscular dudes who get into the sport, and thereby need to force their bodies in really snug-fitting water polo briefs. I also hear that in a game of water polo lots of interesting stuff can and often does happen underwater, as in maybe grabbing the opponent’s swim brief or even more, ostensibly to affect the ability of the opponent to score. A big reason why water polo briefs fit so snug is because that makes it more difficult for the opponent to get any leverage by grabbing on to your brief. So the tight fit is very much part of the game.

Part of the fun for fans male and female for the three major swim brief sports—swimming, diving and water polo is seeing the guys clad in their gear. I think swimming has lost some of its appeal to fans was lost when all the guys were wearing jammers or even full body suits, and seeing briefs come back in competitions is in part helping the sports from the standpoint of the audiences.

Moving on to other sports, let me begin with US rules football, a game in which most of the successful players are really big, burly and muscular, at least for most of the positions. I find it interesting that currently the football pants mandated as the uniform for college and professional teams do not hide the fact that guys have penises. (see the HS football players in the attached photo)

Traditionally players wore a strap and cup underneath the pants, but nowadays the bulges do not look like the kind of bulge that a cup would make. Part of the sport is for the guy to leave the impression both with opponents and fans that the guy has a serious male organ and the current football pants play into that. Part of the US-Rules football fan base no doubt is there because they like to see obviously virile males clad in such snug-fitting garb. I’m presuming that most competitive players now wear compression shorts with a cup pocket under the pants we see, but exactly what guys do currently is a bit of a mystery—do some guys still wear jock straps and cups, for example, and if so how does that end up looking like the bulge the fans see under the pants?

Basketball is fascinating as well. When I was in high school basketball players wore uniforms that could basically be called a combination of a short satin gym short with a matching satin sleeveless A-shirt with a number and name on it. I always thought the guys looked really neat as the shorts had maybe only a 5-inch or so inseam. I presume that everyone had something on underneath, in those days specifically an old school jock strap and cup. And the guys in order to play had to all appear in public wearing this. This was not like appearing in public as a brief-clad swimmer or diver, but close. It’s fun to look back at old High school annuals at team photos and take note how scanty these uniforms really were.

Compression gear as undergarb was unheard of. The idea of wearing a compression tee UNDER the satin A-shirt was unheard of, nor would anyone be wearing white compression shorts under the looser fitting satin ones.

But, times change. Guys started wearing the compression tees and pants that covered the shoulders and extended below the shorts. Straps were replaced with pockets in compression shorts that could hold a cup. And the inseams on the shorts in the uniforms kept getting longer and longer, extending all the way to the knee.

The shorter shorts seem to be making a small comeback, but this has been very gradual.

The wrestling singlets as worn by the competitive wrestlers at the high school and college level have long fascinated me. Part of the issue is that, like swimming jammers, bulges for the guy’s anatomy often show given the snug fit, not unlike the situation football players face. A question I have for wrestlers is what, if anything do you wear UNDER the singlet. Not much, apparently, given some of the photos I have seen. A strap? A pair of brief underwear? Something else? Is a cup mandated?

I also hear that some wrestling coaches complain that guys do not take up the sport because they do not want to be required to wear a singlet, a problem similar to the swimming coach that has trouble convincing team swimmers that they need to wear a brief. Some coaches have responses by allowing wrestlers to practice and maybe to compete at local events clad in sweatpants. But at the college level, the singlets still rule.

Water rowers tend to like to wear garb similar to what the wrestlers do. But there are singlets designed specifically for rowers. They are expensive--$100 or more--compared to wrestling singlets that can be found on line for maybe $20-25. What to wear underneath for the rower is another issue. A strap--no real need for a cup.

As a stationary rower and stationary bike rider, I think I look the part wearing a wrestling singlet. The stretch fabric works well. The serious outdoor bike riders wear a two-piece uniform consisting of tight compression pants that have padding sewn into the butt area, and a top that fits equally snug but usually in a team color other than black.

How about the cowboys? The uniform here is a pair of snug-fitting wrangler jeans and a snug-fitting, snap button, colorful, long-sleeved, western-style shirt. Rodeos have a strong female fan base who watch the “wrangler butts” The “right” pair of jeans emphasizes the cowboy’s male anatomy in front as well, which is of interest as well.

There are all sorts of other sports we could talk about as well. The really skimpy briefs worn by the competitive bodybuilders that appear to leave almost nothing to the imagination. Winter Olympic sports such as the luge and the speed skaters, participants in both sports clad head to toe in some of the snuggest –fitting outfits I have ever seen.

Today, I got to thinking about writing an essay on the erotic nature of the clothes worn in a lot of different sports. The problem is that the essay has gotten longer the more I think about the subject.

I will stop for now and see if you have any comments.