ABSTRACT
On 13 August 2009 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would allow women to box for the first time in London in 2012. To make room for women’s three weight classes, the IOC cut men’s from eleven to ten. Although far from equality, this new arrangement was perceived as a major victory for women’s boxing. On 18 September 2010, merely a year after this major milestone for the sport, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) ‘invited’ women athletes to wear a skirt as part of their uniform for the 5th Women’s Boxing World Championship in Barbados. Only Poland and Romania made all their athletes wear the skirts (Bourgon 18 January 2012). As a result, only 14 out of 40 competing athletes wore the skirt in Barbados 11 of whom stated fear of retaliatory action (Rivest 18 September 2010). Rumours circulated that the skirts may become mandatory at future international events, as AIBA considered different possibilities for women’s official uniform.
