Martina Navratilova slams Bluebella's 'regressive' Strong is Beautiful campaign featuring Team GB Rugby Sevens players wearing bras and suspenders on the pitch People have taken to X/Twitter to criticise the 'sexist' campaign By Jessica Taylor For Mailonline Published: 05:31 EDT, 3 July 2024 | Updated: 05:08 EDT, 5 July 2024 e-mail 97 shares 641 View comments Women's rights campaigners have hit out at a sport campaign which sees professional female rugby players donning skimpy lingerie to prove 'strong is beautiful'. Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics , the Team GB Rugby Sevens stars took part in the campaign which was launched by London-based lingerie brand Bluebella. In snaps released to promote the campaign, the players are seen on the pitch in matching bras and knickers - some complete with suspenders.
The aim of the imagery, Bluebella says, is to encourage women to go to the gym for strength over aesthetic in a bid to promote 'body confidence' - but many women's rights campaigners, including prominent sportswomen such as Martina Navratilova, have slammed Bluebella for what it says is a 'sexist' message. Women in Sport, an organisation that encourages women of all ages to take up sports around the UK, has added it is 'uncomfortable' to have had its statistics included in the campaign 'without our knowledge', while criticising the use of 'highly sexualised' images in order to promote the message. The Strong is Beautiful campaign, run by east London-based lingerie brand Blue.