How has the participation in games by women changed during the history of the Olympics and what are the reasons for these changes? Plan

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Olympics

How has the participation in games by women changed during the history of the Olympics and what are the reasons for these changes?

Plan

1st paragraph – introduction - talk about what I am writing about. Give an overview.

2nd paragraph – chronological order – discusses the early events of how women 1st became involved with the Olympic Games.

3rd paragraph – discusses how women gradually became more involved with the Olympics.

4th paragraph – talk about when women started to compete in track events and compete along with men

5th paragraph – discusses about women taking drugs and becoming involved in team games.

6th paragraph – discusses modern day and how women compete in everything men compete in.

7th paragraph – conclusion.

Women have overcome bigotry and indifference towards their participation in sport and particularly the Olympic Games. However, the number of events and athletes and members of the IOC have increased and will continue to increase if the participation of women is given better media coverage and more female representation in the decision-making corridors are encouraged. Women have had to overcome many problems in order to participate in the Olympic Games and still have problems today due to ethnicity and culture for example. Sport reflects society and in the past women were seen as inferior to men in society therefore they were seen as it in sport as well.

There are many reasons why women were not treated as equals in sport and why the participation of women in sport has changed over the years. There are many sporting reasons for this for instance women were not allowed to compete because men were seen as being bigger, stronger, faster meaning that there was no point in women competing as they could not compare to the men. There were and are many social reasons for women not competing in sport for instance religion plays a big part because some religions do not allow women to compete due to clothing issues ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Indifference in the participation of women in the Olympics first occurred in 1894 when Baron Pierre de Coubertin did not invite women to Olympic congress. They were also excluded from participating in the Olympic Games. A Greek woman ran the marathon unofficially in the Olympics. De Coubertin’s view of women was that their only role should be to “bestow garlands upon the athletes”. 1900 was the first time women were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games and it was British woman who became the first woman to win a gold medal. In 1920 one hundred and thirty six women from twenty countries competed in tennis, swimming, archery, figure skating and yachting then in 1922 the first women Olympic Games took place in Paris in protest at the exclusion of women by the amateur athletics federation. Athletes from eight countries competed in eleven athletic events before crowds of thirty thousand people. In 1928 eight women competed in the 800m in Amsterdam. 5 out of the 8 women that competed collapsed resulting in the event being banned for 36 years. In 1956 at the winter games in Italy the first female took the Olympic oath for all competitors and in 1960 Rome saw an increase in female competitors five times that of men. There were now 30 women’s events with 537 competitors. In 1968 at Mexico City, Enriquetta Basilio became the first woman to carry the Olympic flame into the stadium and sex tests were introduced for women. In 1981 the 11th Olympic congress now had six women delegates from 149 NOCs. First women appointed to the international Olympic committee. Princess Anna was to become one of Britain’s members. In the year 2000 in Sydney 4 new sports and 24 new events were introduced for women. They also competed for the first time in the same number of team sorts as men.

Problems with women participating were overcome mainly due to changes in society for instance the suffragette movement of 1908 which threatened the London games if women were excluded so this enabled women to compete in the London Olympics of 1908. In 191 the First World War deprived de Coubertin of the opportunity to ban female competition as the role of women had changed in society along with attitudes. In 1936 the international amateur athletics federation decided to recognise women’s athletics resulting in the demise of the women’s organisation and opportunity of self-government. Also in many societies women do not have the opportunity to participate in sport and this is changing at the moment.

Sporting reasons why women were and still are not allowed to compete in events are that some sports did not present a feminine image and this was overcome by change in clothing for example. Also more opportunities for women to participate came along and people took these opportunities. There was also commercial interest as with money comes power so people who were paying influenced what happened so with the more money going in to women’s athletics more opportunities arose and more women started to compete.

The reasons why sport reflects society is because women in the 1800’s did not have any opportunity to do anything. So when men were performing sports then the women would have no part, often just spectators so when women such as the suffragettes for example start to protest for equal rights socially this then overlaps into sport where the women wanted equal rights in this as well. Sport was predominantly a male based activity along with much of society so women saw this unequal and they too wanted to participate in sport as well have equal rights in society.

There are still some problems with women competing in sport for instance Muslim countries will still not allow women of their religion to compete in sport as it goes against what they believe to be right. Some sports for instance rugby still do not advertise women as much as they do men but at this moment in time women are indeed excelling in all sports and I am sure one day women and men will compete together and against each other in all sports. I believe the main reason why women have become more involved in sport is due to the social side of it. When women wanted equal rights I believe this overlapped into sport and this is how women participation began. I believe women have every right to be equal to men in all sports and believe one day this will be the case.

MICHAEL MCDONNELL 12SH

[1101 WORDS]