The performance itself may be of world quality but the commentary has been dragged back to lipstick, hair and bodies.
The same trend is characterized by female athletes as members of the high level team: after a match, a training, or a race, there are comments on social networks that are less related to the sport than they are to judgement. Wales and Saracens rugby player Georgia Evans claimed when she appeared at the Women World Cup in England criticism centered on her hair styles and not the way she tackled. My play is nothing to do with the way I look, said she.
In the case of Evans, dressing up is not a distraction to playing rugby but one of the ways she manages the attention. She talked of a “ritual” of hair, make-up, tan and nails that allow her to feel down-to-earth when all the cameras are recording every moment. She has claimed that at the beginning of her career, she received “derogatory” messages which were influenced by stereotypes such as her being labeled a “butch lesbian.” My sexuality does not play any role in whether I look girly or whether I am butch or anything else I portray myself to be, she said. “I’m not going to change who I am.”
She was challenged by that rejection when she was mocked online over wearing make-up and bows saying that the appearance should be on a runway and going as far as to attribute the outcomes to it. It was not only about the large pink bow of my hair but also about the makeup that I was sporting, how I was carrying it like a fashion show, she said. I have spent my entire life to become the best in what rugby is and all of a sudden that has been questioned as now I am wearing pink bows in my hair. She wrote to her followers: a rugby player is no longer the one, who is identified by his/her gender or appearance. Support flooded in. She even had to switch off her phone after an hour, she could not deal with it. The contact sports are not the only sports subjected to pressure.
Olympic gymnast Ruby Evans has stated that her appearance can sometimes be a significant part of it, even more so than the gymnastics. When asked about her bad makeup days and whether she has to compete, she answered that it will be a bad day. She also characterized the lift of being ready: It’s the best feeling ever… And even though, it was not as good, when I look good, I’m like, it’s alright, you know, it is okay. According to her, she has seen viewers following minute variations, such as when she did not put on fake tan: Those days when I went without any tan, people could tell.
She tends to standardize what young fans may watch. Some of the men on the Internet, she said, are usually strange. My target audience are little girls, therefore, in case there is a comment that is somehow a bit inappropriate I will delete it… I simply wish [young girls] would admire me, I want to be a good example.
The greater expense manifests itself in ambition. A survey by Women in Sport revealed that those girls who fantasized of becoming the best dropped to 38% in 2024 but 23% in 2025 on top of boys who had fantasized 53%. The charity attributed the fall to gender stereotypes and it comes at a time when the sport is done more by women than at any time in decades. The trends in coverage remain unchanged in large viewer groups: a 2016 language study at Cambridge University discovered that many more sports language of women is described through appearance and personal life, whereas performance characteristics are more commonly used to describe men.
Gwennan Harries, a former Everton player and Wales international turned commentator and PE teacher, told them that social media has contributed to increasing the levels of abuse that players are subjected to, and said that being seen is still important to those on the sidelines. See it not, be it not, as she said, and sport among women needs showing on the regular and with respect.
Evans keeps the bows. Everybody has their right to dress a certain way, to be a certain way, which she referred to rugby as being inclusive to each and every one of us. The message to the players taking the comments is still the same: the appearance is theirs to pick, and the business is the sport.
