This is a new move for school swimsuits used in school classes.
A manufacturer in Sumida Ward, Tokyo has developed and started selling "genderless swimwear" with the same design for men and women so that it is easy for sexual minority students to wear.
Swimsuits are designed to reduce the exposure of the body, and it has become a hot topic on SNS on the Internet, such as "I wanted to wear this kind of school swimsuit."
This "genderless swimsuit" has the same design for both men and women, and is divided into upper and lower parts. The upper part has a zipper in front of the long sleeves, and the lower part is shorts.
According to the manufacturer, in addition to the design that reduces the exposure of the body, the parts such as the chest and buttocks where the difference due to the growth of the body appears are devised to have a loose silhouette.
Behind the development of such swimwear by manufacturers, some schools have introduced "genderless uniforms", and there are also movements that consider sexual minority students at school sites.
Under these circumstances, manufacturers were told that there was a swimsuit that was easy for sexual minority students to wear, and that it was embarrassing to see their body shape and expose their skin by wearing a swimsuit. is.
The "genderless swimwear" developed in this way will be introduced at three schools in Tokyo and Hyogo prefecture this year, and will be sold to the general public next year.
When this swimsuit was announced, on SNS, "I didn't like school swimsuits with a lot of exposure, so I wanted to wear this kind of school swimsuit," or "I don't want boys to be shirtless. Voices such as "I think" have been received and it has become a hot topic.
The shape of school swimsuits has changed with the times toward less exposed skin.
▽ From around the 1970s, boys were called "swimming type" and girls were called "one-piece type", and the type that exposed the thighs was the mainstream.
▽ From around the 2000s, "trunks type" for boys and "all-in-one type" for girls have appeared, and recently, more and more students are wearing long-sleeved jackets as a measure against UV rays.
According to the manufacturer, recently, the number of schools that have stopped school-designated swimwear and that there is no designation if it is dark blue is increasing, and students have more choices.
Reiko Sano of the school education division of the swimming equipment manufacturer "Footmark" said, "I'm glad to hear a lot of feedback. Not only LGBTQ students, but also skin shape, hair, atopy, etc. I realized again that many people didn't want to be exposed. I hope that genderless swimwear will become one of the school swimwear options so that people can enjoy swimming lessons without worrying about the eyes. I was talking.