The early stages of women's sports
Is it normal for women to do sports? Today this question may seem rather absurd. But just 150 years ago, the answer was clearly ‘no’. Women were excluded from strenuous sports, as the 'weaker sex' and there were no competitions in 'women's sports'.
The integration of women into sports is the result of long developments and debates. At the Olympic Games in 1896 women were not allowed to participate, because its founder, the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin, stated that participation should be reserved exclusively for men. It was the ‘task' of women to honour the achievements of athletes with applause and the ‘weaker sex’ was to crown the winners. Interestingly enough, to this day we still don't see a man honouring a female winner. But that's just some food for thought.
So, just over 120 years ago, that's how far women were from participating in active sports. It’s been a long journey since then to today, where women are accepted in most sports, are able to practice them professionally, and also work in the sports business. I would like to take a look at the beginnings of the liberalisation of sport for women and all the obstacles that had to be overcome. It is a look back to understand why unconscious biases and man-made rules and norms are still the biggest hurdle for women in sports - on and off the pitch.
The European Enlightenment created sport - without women
During the course of the Enlightenment, which meant new forms of production and technology, as well as social changes and political transformations for Europe, the first systematic concepts of ‘physical education’ emerged, as reactions to these new challenges and demands. German pedagogue, Johann Friedrich Christoph GutsMuths (1759-1839), published the so-called 'Bible' of physical education ‘Gymnastics for Youth’, in which girls do not appear at all. Physical education was a 'men-only affair'. Not strive for records but for training the whole body as a preparation for war.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the modern sport also developed in England, the roots of which were rowing and equestrian sports, as well as football in public schools. However, here too, only men and boys were allowed, not least because they were aimed at training soldiers and educating useful citizens. Yet, this sport enforced a comparison of performances and marked the beginning in striving for records and boys were expected to adhere to rules.
Despite the Enlightenment's ideals of equality, the first demands for equality between men and women were not fulfilled. On the contrary, the processes of urbanisation and industrialisation after the turn of the century also led to a separation of gainful employment and family life and thus to a cementing of the gender-typical division of labour.
Men were not only responsible for most professions, but also for political offices; women for household and child care. The gender-typical division of tasks was legitimised by the imagined physical and intellectual abilities and character traits of both sexes. A theory of polarity developed, based on the natural, innate and unchangeable polar characteristics of women and men. The ‘primal principles of the female’ are therefore tranquillity, external passivity, maternal care and securing the milieu of existence, whereas the ‘primal principles of the male’ are searching mobility and competition.
Furthermore, norms of morality and decency as well as clothing severely restricted the living and movement spaces of middle-class girls and women. ‘Decent’ young women were not allowed to go out alone and when they went out in company they had to wear long skirts and a corset that emphasized the female form. Attractiveness and femininity were especially important for the women of the upper middle classes, because they were judged only by their appearance and manners. 'Gentle' Gymnastics was increasingly considered as a means of enhancing beauty and health, to prepare young women for marriage, of course without violating morality and propriety.
The early 20th century - the dawn of change for women
It was not until much later, with the Paris Olympics in 1900, that the view of women's sport slowly liberalized. Women's movements gained influence, universities opened their doors to female students and educated women began to enter professions.
The 1900 Olympic Games were organized by the French sports federations, which hosted competitions for women in the modern sports of tennis and golf. Women were also able to take part in various other competitions, from sailing and horseback riding to ballooning, because the gender of the participants was not specified. In this respect the games in Paris were an exception. While in 1904 only 8 female archers took part in the games in St. Louis, in 1908 in London, 42 women competed in skating, archery and tennis. In 1912 women were admitted to gymnastics shows and swimming competitions.
However, the admission of women into some sports did not mean that they had secured acceptance in a male domain. In fact, even today, women often only earn a fraction of the income of men in numerous disciplines, such as football.
With the social and economic changes at the beginning of the 20th century, working women gradually gained social recognition. Women were now also tolerated in many of the new sports, but they were generally excluded from competitions. In addition, female athletes were still handicapped by long skirts and corsets.
While women were allowed to participate in some exclusive sports, such as tennis, golf or side-saddle riding, in many other sports they had to contend with prejudice and resistance; in conservative circles, women athletes were considered 'women's libbers' who on a whim put their health and reputation at risk. Also their participation was influenced by factors such as culture, religion, and social class.
New and particularly attractive sports for women were also cycling and rowing. In both sports, women were soon able to participate in competitions, but only for the time being. Privileges were withdrawn again and again on the grounds that the ‘weaker sex’ was not overwhelmed. Women cyclists were the first to wear split skirts or even bloomers, not least to avoid accidents. Women in other sports followed this trend, which was already established before World War I.
Nevertheless, the belief that women did not belong in sports was widespread. The resistance against girls' gymnastics was aimed at defending the existing gender order. One of the points of contention was that the participation of women in competitions seemed to change the body and nature of female athletes and endanger their 'femininity'. The most influential opponents of women's sport were a group of doctors, but also pastors and educators.
During the economic crises at the beginning and end of the 1920s, the number of working women increased, not only because they had to contribute to the livelihood of their families, but also because they were in demand as cheap labour.
This inclusion of women in the labour market seemed to improve the situation of women in terms of equality, especially because it proved that women could be just as creative as men. However, this was not what capitalism wanted. Equality should only go as far as not hindering the maximum exploitation of women's labour and allowing them to be paid less than men's labour. In the international and national workers' sports federations female members generally had the same rights as male members, at least on paper. However, positions of power and influence were held exclusively by men.
A short turning point came around the time between the two world wars. Following the First World War, women began to actively participate in sports and the first women's federations were formed. Yet, even in the countries in which they achieved the right to vote and hold office, they were still seen as 'the second sex'. Professional women suffered discrimination and housewives had to acknowledge their husbands as the head of the family.
During the economic crises at the beginning and end of the 1920s, the number of working women increased, not only because they had to contribute to the livelihood of their families, but also because they were in demand as cheap labour. This inclusion of women in the labour market seemed to improve the situation of women in terms of equality, especially because it seemed to be proven that women could be just as creative as men. However, this was not what capitalism wanted. Equality should only go as far as not hindering the maximum exploitation of women's labour and allowing them to be paid less than men's labour.
In the 1920s, disputes arose mainly in athletics. When the IOC refused to include athletics competitions in the women's Olympic programme, the French Women's Sports Federation founded an international women's sports organisation, which organised women's world games every four years from 1922 until 1934. Under pressure from this federation, the IOC admitted women to athletics competitions for the first time in 1928.
Then the Second World War followed. It is true that the ideology and politics of the National Socialists gave sport a new status in the form of political physical education. At the same time, the gender-related polarization of physical education reached a new peak, at least in the Nazi ideology, which demanded a separation of the sexes in sports; because girls should be prepared for motherhood, boys for military service.
After World War II, in the 1950s, only about 10% of sports club members were female. Due to the conservative ideals of women and the restrictive women's sports policy of the sports associations, this figure is not surprising. At that time, there were even discussions in the IOC about the exclusion of women from the Olympic Games. Especially due to the periods of high unemployment throughout Europe in the 1950s, the gender-related division of tasks and the theory of the different characteristics of the sexes experienced a new peak. The motto was now again: women back to the stove.
Feminine stereotypes also provided the arguments for excluding women from many sports. For example from playing football, even though professional women's football teams already existed in Germany.
Goodbye to equal rights for the time being
What this journey through time shows is that women had to subordinate themselves to men in their power system. It also demonstrates why it still continues today; replacing long-entrenched, learned practices and rituals that have been passed down through generations takes time. It takes time to change a societal system, established over centuries.
In the next blog I will take a look at the time after the early stages of women's sports. A time that brought about change in international governance. Although true equality, even now, still has to be implemented, respected and lived by.