A one-piece garment that covers the torso and limbs, often worn for athletics, performance, or fashion.
Compound of 'body' and 'suit,' emerging in the 20th century as fashion and athletic wear diversified. The term became standard in the 1960s-1980s as bodysuits became iconic in fashion and performance contexts.
Bodysuits became huge in the 1980s because they perfectly matched that decade's aesthetic—tight, coordinated, covering the body like armor—and now they appear in everything from gymnastics to Beyoncé's stage costumes, making it a genuinely versatile garment.
Bodysuits became hypersexualized in fashion and media, particularly for women (1980s-90s), while worn functionally by men in dance/athletics with less scrutiny.
Use 'bodysuit' functionally without gendered assumptions; recognize utility in dance, athletics, and fashion equally across genders.
Women performers and athletes reclaimed bodysuits as functional performance wear, resisting sexualized interpretation while asserting athletic and artistic authority.
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