The rules of Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament in world tennis held every year between June and July in London, have always been very strict on the color of the participating athletes’ clothing, which must be entirely white. This year, however, the rules have been changed: tennis players will in fact be able to wear underwear in other, darker colors. The goal is to alleviate at least in part a widespread anxiety: that derived from the fact that during matches menstrual blood stains can be seen in the underwear that is often seen under the skirt.
The white dress rule has existed at Wimbledon since the 1800s and was introduced to make sweat patches less visible. It has since become a tradition which the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the club which organizes the tournament, has been keen to uphold. Initially, however, the rule did not apply to underwear, which was only included in the list of things that had to be white in 2014.
During last year’s Wimbledon tournament some demonstrators they had protested outside the club in white shirts and red shorts to ask for the regulation to be changed. On that occasion the British tennis player Alicia Barnett had declared that “having your period during the tournament is hard enough without also having to wear white”. Sally Bolton, chief executive officer of All England, said the new rule will help female tennis players “get rid of a form of anxiety and allow them to focus solely on the game”.
The new regulation has been welcomed by many athletes. In a article aboutAthletic it is told how many of them had agreed on a signal with some trusted people who from the stands were in charge of checking that no bloodstains were seen, possibly letting them know. Some have explained that for those with irregular periods, the anxiety isn’t limited to those games where they already know they’re bleeding, but also to many others where they know it could happen.
The club’s decision is not the first of its kind in the sport’s recent history. Women’s soccer teams Orlando Pride (US) and Manchester City (UK) are just a few of those who recently changed the color of their shorts from white to black for the same reason.