Yesterday it dawned on me. After noticing that all the guys have been sporting snazzy new no-gi shorts with our association logo, I realized that I didn’t look like a member of the team.
Let the wallowing in the pity of discrimination commence.
Why, as someone who has been training at my gym for over 5 years, don’t I get to look like a full-blown team member? Even dudes who joined like last week get to be all decked out in our team gear, while I have to sport generic compression shorts and tees.
These invisible slights, the ones you don’t recognize for 5 years until one day you look down and realize you are the only one in class without the team gear on, serve to alienate you and downgrade you to a fringe team member.
When my association came out with pink gis, I was thrilled, and purchased one immediately. It wasn’t so much the thrill of wearing pink, as it was the acknowledgement that women are team members too. Wearing my pink gi, I get to be a woman AND a team member.
It’s time I get to feel like a member of the team without the gi too. Yes, as my coach pointed out, I could buy the oversized board short style grappling shorts. But no thanks. I want lady shorts. I want no-gi shorts and a rash guard made to fit a woman’s body and aesthetic. Am I asking too much? I just want to belong!
When I asked my coach why there weren’t women’s clothes available, he responded that with so few women, it just isn’t worth it financially. I understand. However, striving to be inclusive to all team members has true value. It’s also good business.
Let the wallowing in the pity of discrimination commence.
Why, as someone who has been training at my gym for over 5 years, don’t I get to look like a full-blown team member? Even dudes who joined like last week get to be all decked out in our team gear, while I have to sport generic compression shorts and tees.
These invisible slights, the ones you don’t recognize for 5 years until one day you look down and realize you are the only one in class without the team gear on, serve to alienate you and downgrade you to a fringe team member.
When my association came out with pink gis, I was thrilled, and purchased one immediately. It wasn’t so much the thrill of wearing pink, as it was the acknowledgement that women are team members too. Wearing my pink gi, I get to be a woman AND a team member.
It’s time I get to feel like a member of the team without the gi too. Yes, as my coach pointed out, I could buy the oversized board short style grappling shorts. But no thanks. I want lady shorts. I want no-gi shorts and a rash guard made to fit a woman’s body and aesthetic. Am I asking too much? I just want to belong!
When I asked my coach why there weren’t women’s clothes available, he responded that with so few women, it just isn’t worth it financially. I understand. However, striving to be inclusive to all team members has true value. It’s also good business.