Pink says she’ll pay the fine for the Norwegian women’s handball team

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Last week, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team made news when they defied International Handball Federation (IHF) rules on uniform regulations. During their bronze medal match to Spain, the team opted to wear fitted shorts and sports bra tops instead of the required bikini bottoms for their match. The official regulations call for, “a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg. The side width must be of a maximum of 10 centimeters.” As will surprise no one, the men’s teams all play in shorts, so the change to essentially bike shorts didn’t affect the game play. In fact, the team lost their match. But the message resonated across the globe. One of those who felt it was Pink, who voiced her support on Twitter. Pink complimented the women for their decision and she agreed to pay the fines that the IHF imposed on each player for the uniform violation.

Pink is showing her support for the Norwegian women’s handball team after they protested a “sexist” dress code.

The three-time Grammy Award winner, 41, offered to pay the team’s $1,765.28 fine imposed by the European Handball Federation. The EHF said the women competed in “improper clothing” when they opted for shorts instead of the mandated bikini bottoms at the European Beach Handball Championships.

“I’m VERY proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team FOR PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR ‘uniform,'” Pink wrote on Twitter Saturday. “The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.”

Player Katinka Haltvik revealed that the team decided last-minute to make the change in their uniforms. “It was very spontaneous. We thought, ‘Let’s just do it now, and then see what happens,'” Haltvik told Norway’s NRK.

Their decision was defended by Norway’s Handball Federation (NHF), who agreed to pay the fine for each athlete. “I got a message 10 minutes before the match that they would wear the clothing that they were satisfied with. And they got our full support,” NHF President Kåre Geir Lio told NBC News.

[From People]

Just to clarify, because I had to look it up, this is beach handball, not beach volleyball. Beach volleyball does not require bikini bottoms, it’s just most players prefer them. I read Pink’s tweet on Saturday and was really glad she’d sent it. I appreciated that she offered to pay the fines and have no doubt she would have paid them happily. But I think it’s an even stronger message that Norway’s Handball Federation (NHF) paid them and backed their team in that way. I posted a tweet below that shows the difference in the men’s and women’s uniforms. I cannot imagine an explanation that justifies requiring they wear those bottoms. If they want to, that’s one thing. But if they opt for the fitted shorts, they should be allowed those.

The NHF posted how proud they were of the women’s decision and said they would support them as they fought to change the regulations. Michal Wiederer, president of the European Handball Federation, has pledged to use his influence to bring out change in the IHF after the team’s statement as well. Whatever happens, good for Norway’s team, good for NHF for backing them up and good for Pink for putting her money where her mouth is.

Pink

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19 Responses to “Pink says she’ll pay the fine for the Norwegian women’s handball team”

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  1. Merricat says:

    This is a great story, and I enjoyed reading it. Everyone comes off well except the EHF.

  2. Laalaa says:

    My God, the sexism, BARF
    I don’t know why I’m surprised, unfortunately, as I am a woman

  3. Bettyrose says:

    Yay Pink! So great to show them international support. Everyone should do themselves a favor and never read a comments section on this topic other than this one. 😬

    • TaraBest says:

      Second to not reading any other comments. I read the comment section on another website and could not believe how many people were posting pictures of women wearing bikinis at the beach. As if what one wears in one’s free time is the same thing one should have to wear when competing in the Olympics. The sexism was raging, I had to stop looking at the comments.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        Wow. That probably shouldn’t be surprising, but it is. The male gaze is incredibly fickle.

      • SarahCS says:

        Yeah, we know that this is an issue in so many aspects of life. I can’t think of the proper term but its the basis of ‘she had sex with him willingly once so it can’t be rape’, ‘how can they ask for privacy then give an interview’, etc. False equivalence?

    • Yoke says:

      Too late for me, but I second that for others. The misogyny of proudly declaring that men only watch women sports for skimpy outfits is unfathomable.

  4. Lucy2 says:

    That’s great! It’s been so wonderful to see so many people rallying around them. All athletes should wear what they are comfortable in, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the game.

  5. Jessa says:

    To build on this story, and highlight the impossible narrative women have to live with, a GB athletics athlete was recently pulled up on her competition outfit being too skimpy, because it apparently wasn’t appropriate. Can find the links if off interest. We literally cannot win.

  6. InVain says:

    This is just downright disgusting. These are PROFESSIONAL athletes. What violation occurred here exactly? Oh, that they’re “modestly” covered. Fucking gross. Have loved Pink forever and this just adds to my admiration of her.

  7. Truthiness says:

    Way to go Norwegian athletes and Pink!

    • Otaku fairy says:

      Yes, this is great. Nobody should be made to go against their boundaries and if the male athletes get to wear shorts, why shouldn’t the female athletes be able to?

  8. detritus says:

    I wish a men’s team would wear speedo bottoms in support of the women.

  9. SarahCS says:

    I’m so pleased that this is till being discussed and fantastic that their national federation is supporting the move. More of this please. These women are athletes, just like their male counterparts so why do they need to be nearly naked to play when the men don’t?

  10. candy says:

    Watching the olympics with this story in the back of my mind and just knowing how creepy men are, I am noticing the attire of female athletes more and it’s making me uncomfortable. I always assumed this was the athletes preference, but not anymore, especially with how young some of these athletes are.

    • Sof says:

      No, it’s not about women’s attire, men sexualize athletes regardless, for example, Elisa Meneghini (Italian gymnast) was filmed while doing her warm up fully clothed. These pigs made a compilation of her movements, with super upclose shots of her bottom. There are entire twitter threads of videos of her warming up, the comments are gross.

  11. meloroast says:

    Jeezus what the actual f*ck!?!?!?!? The patriarchy is alive and well. We either can’t bare too much skin, or should bare more.

    Oh i know…how about you don’t GOVERN WOMEN’S BODIES and get a life.

    The rage is real today.

  12. Grace says:

    But maybe a weee bit of progress…have you noticed the female swimmers and these wonderful volleyball players. I hope it continues! Women having to be half-naked to demonstrate their skills is RIDICULOUS!