Never fear being yourself: Fassina

TASMANIA’S silver medal weightlifter Kaity Fassina is on a mission to show all girls they can wear whatever they feel comfortable in.

The Risdon Vale mother who took home one of Australia’s three weightlifting medals at the recent Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast said she hoped her “andro-girl” masculine dress style would be an inspiration — and not just for tomboys.

“People often think that I’m a lesbian, but I’m not,” said Fassina, a PE teacher at The Friends’ School.

“I’m trying to help girls that like to be a bit more masculine but be in some way feminine too. If I can sort of be that role model for girls who are not really fitting into what they are expected to look like then I think that’s amazing — and even to young women to sort of show they can be who they want to be.

“I feel happier with this look. I’m more comfortable. It’s just more me and I’m going to promote it because I’ve seen how it has already made a positive impact on others and I’m not going to really hide it any more.”

Fassina was teased by other girls in both primary and high school for wearing her hair short and playing sport at lunchtime with the boys. A teacher once even told her she looked like a bloke.

“I was a massive tomboy at school,” she said. “That wasn’t always easy. I didn’t have a role model when I was younger.

“I was confused because I thought there was something wrong with me because I wanted to wear boy clothes.

“It would have been great for me to see a female who dresses like me who was strong and successful.”

On the Gold Coast, she was pressured to wear the team skirt at the opening ceremony instead of her preferred option — the male dress uniform. She said an official insisted she had to wear the female version.

“I said to him: ‘I don’t want to wear the skirt, I don’t feel comfortable. This is my Commonwealth Games and I want to wear the suit. That is what I want to wear, how come I can’t wear that suit?’’ she said.

“And he actually said to me ‘because you are a girl’ and I said: ‘So what! I want to wear the suit.”

Fassina said a female official quickly stepped in and helped her with the fitting of the shirt and tie and pants.

“When I tried on the female’s uniform, it didn’t actually fit me so there was a bit of practicality there too. So I told them I’d much rather wear the tie than that weird scarf thing, so why can’t I just wear the tie?”

She posted a photo of her wearing the Commonwealth Games suit designed for males on her Instagram with the comment: “Girls can rock the suit as well. Never be afraid to just be you.”

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