Women participation in sports remains one of the clearest indicators of our progress as a civilization. The current place women occupy in sports has been a long way in coming. This spans from the days when women could not even watch sporting events such as during the ancient Olympics where violation attracted the death penalty, to the modern day where there are some exclusive sports for women. The masculine heritage of sports continues to give way to a more inclusive disposition that recognizes the contribution and participation of women to the world of sport. The process has been very gradual, with minute changes over a long time and with sustained debates in various circles.
The Olympics provide one of the most suitable platforms to discuss the issues that have defined women athletics activities in the twentieth century. It is the oldest athletics event on record and continues to be one of the most important sporting events of modern times. Different aspects of the society provide the various facets to explore in this discussion. Sports take place in a societal context, hence, everything that affects the society affects sports and influence policies.
Bloom and Willard (2002) observe that, “As the twentieth century has developed, sports have indeed become an increasingly important cultural terrain on which most racialized groups have contested, defined, and represented their racial, national, and ethnic identities.” (p. 1). The major facets that have defined women’s participation in sports include the fight for gender equality, the struggle for representation and sustained action by individual women.
At the close of the 19th century, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin reintroduced the Olympics, marking the beginning of the modern Olympics. He was a French aristocrat who rode on the wave of revivalism sweeping through Europe marked by an interest in Europe’s ancient culture. It appears that along with this revival, old attitudes towards women participation in sports were reborn. Baron de Coubertin, “believed the role of women should be limited to the placing of laurel wreaths around the necks of the victors” (Robinson, 2008).
This unfortunate stance was the point of birth of modern athletics for women. Within the same period, more than a million American women owned and rode bicycles, which marked an unprecedented historical occurrence where women became widely involved in an athletic activity. From then it became a full-scale struggle by women to find their rightful place as athletes deserving all honor due to them. They did not have to wait too long. In the next Olympics, women participated formally but in a very limited range of events that were not strenuous.
The most influential facet in the history of women athletics is the push for equality. The human society collectively has been through leaps and bound in this regard over the past century. Gender based discussions filled the horizons in the early part of the twentieth century. The tone was set during the first modern Olympics in 1896 by Melpomene who ran alongside the men unofficially. This was because of restrictions against women participation in the games. Reacting to this display of nerve by Melpomene, Baron de Coubertin said, “It is indecent that the spectators should be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a women being smashed before their very eyes” (A Celebration of Women, 2008).
He added, “Besides, no matter how toughened a sportswoman may be, her organizm is not cut out to sustain certain shocks” (A Celebration of Women, 2008). Despite these sentiments by the father of the modern Olympics, nineteen women participated in the 1900 Olympics. Over the next twenty years, strong opposition to the involvement of women in competitive sports surfaced as instructors felt that such competition made women lose their femininity. This was aggravated by a myth that Dr. Clelia Duel helped unravel in 1910, that women had a different breathing mechanism, possibly inferior to men’s, that ruled them out of strenuous activity. This did not seem to deter the American Olympic committee from officially coming against the involvement of women in competitive sports in 1914.
Another important facet in women athletics in the twentieth century was the push for representation. Generally, the geopolitical world saw a lot of effort, some of them bloody, from various quarters seeking to attain representation and ultimately self-rule. In the sports arena women had to do their bit of fighting to achieve representation in the various sports governing bodies. Several attempts took place to seek representation that at times took the form of creation of women sports governing bodies. One of these attempts was in 1917 when the Women’s Swimming Association of New York came together to provide professional training for women in swimming.
In 1921, some French women organized international games specifically for women called the “Jeux Olympiques Feminine du Monde”. These efforts for representation continued through the decades and the capstone in the struggle for representation came in 2000 as, “a 44 year old lawyer, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki of Greece, becomes the first woman to head an Olympics organizing committee” (A celebration of Women, 2008).
Women have had to fight for space to participate in sporting events. Where this has not been possible, or where their needs are unnoticed, they have gone right ahead to form sporting associations where they are assured of representation. Political issues affecting wider society did affect women in sports. Some women could not participate in competitions because of segregation laws such as the two black women, Louise Stokes and Tidye Pickett, who could not participate in the 1932 Olympics because of segregation laws.
The third facet that has been influential in the athletic world of women in the twentieth century is sustained action. Women have been indefatigable in their quest for space to participate in athletics. Following Melpomene’s example, several women have come out in their individual capacity to demonstrate the fitness of women for athletic engagement and to claim their rightful place. In some cases, they have displayed superior performance to men’s performance. In an effort to cross the English Channel, in 1926, “Mrs. Clemington Corson of New York made the swim across the in 15.5 hours (A celebration of Women, 2008) It adds that this time, “became record time that also beat all the men swimmers” (A Celebration of Women, 2008). Earlier on in 1917,
Similarly, Lucy Diggs Slowe won “the singles title at the first American Tennis Association (ATA) national tournament, becoming the first female African-American national champion in any sport” (A Celebration of Women, 2008).
Sustained action has seen women get more opportunities for participation in athletic competitions. The results for these efforts came in trickles. More girls have enrolled to participate in women sports across the world. Sports governing bodies continue to level the playing field by adding more women’s events. In 1998, the IAAF announced the inclusion of “women’s pole vault and the hammer to the 1999 World Championships and 2000 Olympics, meaning for the first time women would compete in the same number of field events as men” (A celebration of Women, 2008). Also in 2000, the International Olympic Committee made public a plan to ensure that women competed in all sporting categories that men had.
While women’s athletics have come a long way, there is still some ground to cover for complete equality. The story of women in sports has been one of resilience and has seen them overcome great odds. A lot more still needs to happen in the three facets. Political developments against state segregation and legislation for entrenching women empowerment have aided the fight. As women become more influential in society, they will most likely lead an onslaught against unfair practices in various athletic competitions.
Women must be encouraged to seek positions in sports governing bodies to address the issues of representation. Formation of exclusive women bodies serves the sport well but this also splits the sport. The effort should be towards unified sporting governing bodies that take care of all the interests of the athletes, without discrimination. This increases the bargaining power of the body.
More women will still be required to follow Melpomene’s example to open more space for upcoming generations. She demonstrated that the action of one person has capacity to influence the society and it is laudable that many others have followed her steps to become trailblazers in the women athletics arena.
The three facets discussed above will continue to inform the development of women sports in coming decades because they continue to shape our society today. As more social and political space opens up, especially in closed countries under totalitarian regimes, more women are likely to come forward in the sports arena.
References
Bloom, J. & Willard, M. N. (2002). Sports Matters, Race, Recreation, and Culture. New York: University Press.
A celebration of Women (2008). Women and Sports History. Web.
Robinson, L. (2008). Chelataine-A History of Women and the Olympics. Web.