FFS. Today in one rule for women, one rule for men news, let's take a look at the case of Helen Skelton, the nice, accomplished and together woman who has been appointed as swimming presenter at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Helen, ICYMI, (and we're sure you haven't) hasn't been attracting attention for her presenting skills though. Rather she has supposedly been 'shocking' viewers with her 'racy' outfits.
The first outfit Helen wore was a navy blue dress. It was dead nice. I'd wear it. I'd wear it to work in England even if it wasn't the balmy 30 degrees it currently is in Rio De Janeiro. Apparently though, by wearing it, Helen was getting viewers 'hot under the collar'. Outfit number two was a spaghetti strap lace dress thing which again, was very nice. According to one tabloid website though, by wearing it, Helen was 'getting her shoulders out' and 'delighting viewers by showing some skin'.
Gross.
Even outfit number three, a nice long lilac skirt and a shell top couldn't escape scrutiny as she still managed to 'flash a glimpse of midriff'.
First things first. Mark Foster, the handsome ex-swimmer on the vitamin adverts was sitting next to Helen during the navy blue dress incident. He also was 'exposing' his legs in a pair of shorts. No-one gave a toss about that.
Secondly, Helen is presenting from inside an aquatics centre, in Brazil. Humidity knows no bounds like an aquatics centre in Brazil. Hell, I struggle to deal with the heat in my local gym's pool and I'm usually dressed in a bikini.
Which brings us to the most bonkers-ly ironic thing about the whole debacle. Helen is presenting a sport in which people are required for aerodynamic purposes to wear skimpy, lyrca-based things*. Swimmers literally wear less clothing in order to do their job better. *Helen, like the swimmers, is performing a job, and therefore is completely within her rights to wear what makes her feel comfortable enough to do it.
It's exactly peoples' reaction to Helen's outfits that makes a woman think twice about what they're wearing. Why she asks 'is this too short' whilst nervously pulling at her dress's hem as she stands at the bar. Why women with bigger boobs feel like they can't wear low cut tops or polo necks, and why tall women worry about wearing bare legs and heels. It's because, at some point, we've all been victims of the treatment that Helen is currently receiving. We've all had times in our lives where someone feels like it's their place to make us feel uncomfortable about a choice that we've made about how we're visually presenting ourselves to the world. Times where someone thinks they can make assumptions about the sort of person you are because you're wearing a sleeveless top, or a short skirt.
Do you know what though? Those people can bugger right off. You wear whatever the hell you want. If it's hot and you want to wear a short skirt then go for it. Hell, if it's cold and you want to wear a short skirt then that my friend, is your damn choice. The only way we're going to get past this whole judging women by what their wearing thing is by defying the expectations of the hand-wringing middle-aged and the gross old men who think you're going to act a certain way because of your wardrobe choices.
May I suggest a mass mini-skirt wearing in solidarity with Helen? Haters not invited.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Japanese Olympic Gymnast Gets $5000 Data Roaming Bill After Trying To Play Pokémon GO In Rio
From Yusra Mardini To Dina Asher-Smith, These Are The Women To Watch Out For At The Rio Olympics
WhatsApp Support Groups And Homemade Anti-Zika Meds: Being Teenage And Pregnant In Rio’s Favelas
Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.