Girl’s and Boy’s Cross Country starts at the same time, 2:45, and ends at the same time, 5:00. Even though both teams are a part of Cross Country, within that 2 hour and 15 minute time block. The girls and boys are still separated.
“What I’ve heard from other people is that no athlete is supposed to take their shirt off while being on campus.” Senior Josephine Sibert said.
There is actually not a dress code for all athletes, it is ultimately up to the individual team’s coaches on what their student-athletes can and can’t wear.
“Like when they’re about to start running, most of the time they do always have it off. When they’re on the track, I always see them with their shirts off.” Sophomore Jasmine Garciga said.
Members of Boy’s Cross Country admit to being aware of this.
“The boys have their shirts off, and girls don’t. It gets hot out, and it allows our body to breathe easier without shirts on.” Senior Marshall Heck said.
The girl’s cross-country team and managers have started to notice.
“Every day, 24/7, all the time.” Senior and Boy’s Cross Country Manager Nasiha Az-Zubair said.
“We are allowed to basically strip down to nothing but shorts.” Junior Parker Shipp said.
Not only do they take their shirts off when they get to practice, but they also make the girls feel uncomfortable.
“When they’re sweating, and they stand really close to me, I’m like, you guys
gotta back up. I don’t like that.” Az-Zubair said.
Understandably so, being so close to hot, sweaty men would be uncomfortable for anyone.
“They’ll always either be in your space or they’re just, especially if they’re muscular, and they’re right in front of you, that is equally as distracting as if I didn’t have my shirt on. It’s kind of unfair.” Alexa Braton said .
Even though this can make some girls uncomfortable, some don’t mind.
“I don’t really care. Most of the time, I’m focused on my workout, and I’m not looking over at them. I don’t care what they do. Or what they look like.” Sibert said.
Most girls feel like this privilege should be shared over the gender barrier.
“I’m not saying to take the privilege away from the boys; it’s just like if you’re going to let the boys, let us too…And I feel like we don’t we just wanna be the same as the boys. It’s just unfair.” Guevara said.
If it was an unintentional gender boundary, there would be some form of understanding, but it’s blatantly obvious.
“I get told to put my shirt back on, and then they don’t get told. It’s like, why don’t they have to put their shirt back on? You know, we’re equally sweating, we’re equally hot. Why do I have to do that?” Braton said.
Not only is this not a rule for boys, but athletes feel like it targets certain types of girls.
“If one girl is built more curvy than the other, obviously, they’re gonna get shamed more if they dress a certain way, rather than a girl that’s not as curvy as them. It is kind of biased towards that.” Braton said.
There have been occasions of certain girls being asked to put their shirts on, but not others.
“Our coaches were enforcing this rule with some girls and not others. So certain girls with a certain stature were allowed to be wearing a shirt that was basically a sports bra, while other girls that had a different body shape and stature were not allowed to wear that same shirt or same type of thing at practice.” Sibert said.
When it’s hot and runners are sweating, girls feel like they should be able to take off their shirts down to their sports bras. While boys are allowed this privilege, girls are not.
“You guys take your shirt off all the time. If a girl wants to take her shirt off because she’s hot, she’s sweaty, she doesn’t want to feel the material stick to her skin because it’s uncomfortable, then she should be able to have the right to do so.” Az-Zubair said.
Collegiate women athletes are allowed this privilege, so why does it change for high school.
“We’re not in the 19th century. It’s not that big of a deal if it’s hot and we want to take off our shirts. I’m sorry, I have a chest. I don’t know, I’m just a girl.” Guevara said.
