Gender and the Olympics

http://olympics.yardbarker.com/blog/olympics/women_volleyball_players_given_option_to_wear_shorts_and_sleeved_shirts/10412446

I remember watching the 2008 Summer Olympics with a big group of friends.  The biggest thing I remember was the debate that ensued after the female volleyball players came out to play.  Some of my female friends were frustrated that the women wore such little clothing when they played.  Some of my male friends were pleased with what they wore.  But when we started talking about it, it became an all-out gender battle.  The guys began saying it wasn't fair that girls got to play sports in barely any clothes, and then the girls switched their side too!  They began saying girls have every right to wear what they want when they are fighting for their chance to win gold.

I heard about the extension on the rules within the Olympics to allow female volleyball players the option to wear shorts and sleeved shirts, and was surprised that it was actually a rule that women had to wear the uniforms that left little up to the imagination.  I can't help but think it's a double standard set by the media. During those 2008 Olympics, I remember commentators on the TV stations covering it making snide remarks about how little they were wearing.  Mentioning how it was inappropriate for the women to CHOOSE to wear something that risque.  But isn't it interesting that the women had no choice?  That was their uniform, it was exactly what the Olympic regulations allowed.  Yet, the women were talked about and condemned by some for it.  Why is it such a big deal to everyone?  Well, I think that media has seriously played up sexuality for so long that it is impossible for anything on TV to be void of it.  Again though, I'll raise this question.  Why is it okay for us to watch a show on television that is full of women barely clothed portrayed in sexual acts? And why is it that  when there is a rule set up in real life about women playing a sport to win, they are considered too sexual?  Doesn't that seem a little backwards?