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The Women’s World Cup is Tackling Period Shame

Jasmine Collett

Jasmine Collett

The FIFA Women’s World Cup came to an end last night. Those who have been tuning in might have noticed that the England team have ditched their usual white shorts, but why?

England’s Lionesses knocked out co-hosts Australia in the semi-final but were outlasted by Spain in their first Women’s World Cup Final.

Some viewers have noticed the Lionesses are dressed slightly differently from when they took the Euros trophy in 2022. This notable change is the switch from their traditional white shorts to blue.

Other teams have also ditched their white shorts for other colours. New Zealand is one, opting for teal blue. Countries including Canada, France and Nigeria have also made the trade from white shorts to various other colours, with the United States home kit no longer including white shorts for the first time since the Women’s World Cup began in 1991.

Why the sudden switch?

Lots of women’s football teams have made the colour switch due to long-standing concerns players have had about wearing white shorts during their menstrual cycles.

Whilst the Football Association has not officially announced any reason behind the change, the campaigning from the England players is believed to have been the driving force behind the switch.

“Professional footballers play two 45-minute halves without breaks.”

The kits, which have been redesigned by Nike, include new period leak protection liners alongside a material that meets the needs of high-performance women footballers.

Jordana Katcher, Vice-President of Nike Women’s Global Sport Apparel, expressed her need for a change in an interview with the BBC. She said, “We are thrilled to offer this new innovation to all athletes playing for Nike-sponsored federations this summer. Professional footballers play two 45-minute halves without breaks. Many told us they can spend several minutes on-pitch concerned that they may experience leakage from their period.”

Beth Mead, who is absent from the World Cup this year, said that last summer she had been in talks with Nike regarding the concerns of the England team. She said, “It’s very nice to have an all-white kit, but sometimes it’s not practical when it’s that time of the month. We deal with it [menstruation] as best as we can but we discussed the shorts issue together as a team and fed our views through to Nike.”

Lobbying for change

Female athletes have started to speak up about period anxiety in women’s elite sports as they lobby for a change.

At Wimbledon earlier this summer, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Shelby Rogers of the United States were among the first competitors to wear dark shorts under their tennis whites, in recognition of menstruation. 

At the EuroHockey Championship which started this week on 18th August, all players now have the option to wear shorts or traditional skorts.

“I did not realise how much I did not like having my stomach on show until I had a functional and valid option to change it.”

Some track and field athletes have also chosen to swap their bikini-like ‘buns’ for something with more coverage. Olympic sprinter Dina Asher-Smith expressed her lack of thought to question the practice of running in tiny bikini bottoms and a crop top. It wasn’t until she was offered a leotard, which covers the torso but allows her legs to run free, that she considered the impact of the shift.

She said, “I did not realise how much I did not like having my stomach on show until I had a functional and valid option to change it. For some women, empowerment is wearing a crop top and knickers, and that’s absolutely OK. But I wasn’t one of those girls, and when I was running around in the leotard prototypes testing and was confident that I wasn’t going to fall out of it, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Get this on.'”

This change in women’s uniform follows the uproar in 2021 when the Norwegian handball team were fined by its governing body for wearing shorts over the mandated bikinis.

Addressing the taboo

Since the first female athlete, issues have been raised concerning prejudices about femininity, sexuality, power, gender and stereotype.

Interestingly, Nike did not start making women-specific World Cup kits until 2019. Until this point, the women’s football kits were downsized versions of the men’s uniform. Other sports, like beach volleyball, have very feminine uniforms. They’re designed to highly sexualise women’s bodies, tailoring them for the male gaze.

Statistically, when women start their periods, female participation in sports begins to fall. A UK survey of more than 4,000 teenagers found there are complex barriers and deep-rooted negative attitudes affecting girls’ enjoyment of sports that has caused an increase in period shame and body image issues.

“78 per cent of girls said they avoided sport when they were on their period”

It found that 78 per cent of girls said they avoided sports when they were on their period, and 73 per cent said they didn’t enjoy others watching them take part in any physical activity.

Of girls who avoided exercise on their periods, 73 per cent said it was due to pain and 62 per cent did so out of fear of leakage.

The shame associated with periods stops many young girls from continuing sports, and an important way for clubs to address these issues is to take inspiration from the uniform change in the Women’s World Cup this year.

The beginning of the end

The changes made by clubs in the 2023 Women’s World Cup have been an opportunity to dispel period myths and put a focus on the specific needs of athletes who menstruate.

Tanya Martin, head of insight at Women in Sport said, “It’s a really welcome change to see.” The London-based charity works to break down gender inequalities in sports.

“Because we do have to recognise that women and girls have unique needs to men and boys”, she explained.

This is only the beginning of the plight to overcome period shame in sports. Local clubs have started to undertake similar measures too. Examples include: providing comfortable and period-friendly uniforms, and having open discussions about periods whilst also discussing how they may impact athletes.

Whilst there has been improvement in the recognition of the effects of menstruation in women’s sports, the Women’s World Cup has been recognised as a significant turning point as their rule change begins to encourage greater discussions for future generations.

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Featured image courtesy of BorgMattisson on PixaBay. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

I am an NCTJ student at News Associates in Manchester who is passionate about all things sports, lifestyle, entertainment and more!

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