Swimsuits as uniforms: Bodily transformation, control and transgression

Abstract

This article considers how national swimsuits are more than team garments worn at international events such as the Olympics. In their development and construction as well as the public contexts within which they are worn, swimsuits have a long history of transforming and controlling swimmers’ bodies and when the swimsuit fails to control or transform, the swimmer rather than the swimsuit is blamed for any transgressions. This article follows the development of the competitive swimsuit from the Victorian era, which required swimmers to fully cover their body, through to the mid-twentieth century when swimsuits revealed more and more of the body, before returning to full body racing swimsuits in the late twentieth century. For women, swimsuits have had a history of regulating their public bodies. For female competitive swimmers, national swimsuits have been particularly problematic because the design radically changed how their bodies looked when competing. Similarly, swimsuits for transgendered competitive swimmers overly focus on body image. In transforming and controlling the competitive swimmers’ bodies, and in punishing transgressions, it is argued that this impacts on the wearer’s identity and well-being.

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