A Brief History
In September of 2014, a female Columbian cyclist team created a stir when their uniforms, or kits as they are known in the cycling world, made the headlines. Normally, such uniforms are commented on for their aerodynamic qualities, but these were literally “racy.” And by racy we don’t mean good for racing… With nude, or rather flesh-colored (beige, if you prefer being politically correct) material covering the torso and crotch, these uniforms were considered provocative and shocking.
Digging Deeper
The kit’s female designer, who also happens to be a team member, could not understand the outrage, stating the color of the material was gold and that even she was comfortable wearing it. Apparently, the color gold was in homage to the team’s primary sponsor, a manufacturer of vitamins. This explanation, however, was not good enough for the president of the International Cycling Union who described the outfits as “unacceptable by any standard of decency.”
Actually, before the uniforms caught the public’s attention, they had already been in use for 9 months, and no one seemed to find them provocative or offensive in that time period. It was an internet post that went viral that brought international attention to them. So, there are two lessons here: 1) the internet can make or break you; 2) the public loves naked women, even if its just the suggestion of nudity. It is for this latter reason that the girls of the Columbian cyclist team made History and Headlines’s Naked Ladies Series.
There is currently little information on the internet as the whether the team still wears these uniforms, however, since the aforementioned president even went so far as to say that an investigation would be started, one can assume they had to quickly come up with another design. In response to that, the author of this article exclaims, “Now, come on!” This supposed “scandal” is nowhere near as dangerous as all the doping that has been going on in competitive cycling. Furthermore, it is not like girls were entirely nude or that they even exposed some inappropriate skin. Perhaps he should watch the rock band Queen’s music video to their song “Bicycle Race” to bring this all into perspective. And for those of you who have never seen it or for those of you who would like a refresher, here it is, sung by the late, great Freddy Mercury:
So, in your opinion, was the controversy generated by these outfits justified, or did a few people blow something that was relatively innocent out of proportion to the point that it created trouble?
P.S. As you can tell from online pictures of a Colombian men’s cycling team, the trend toward wearing nude-colored kits seems to be a Colombian thing.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: When did you last ride on a bike?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Macy, Sue. Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way). National Geographic Kids, 2011.