“Women need health as men do, nay still more since within her own life she is to nourish another. Women’s anatomical characteristics are analogous (similar) with men, but her physiological predisposition demands less vigorous treatment. The rounded forms of woman must not be transformed in to angularity as such in a man”
Swedish gymnastics became the popular form of exercise for women because it was believed that it would not encourage masculinity in women. Swedish gymnastics (comprised of a set of standing exercises) was still based on the physiological principles of women being naturally weaker than men. This meant that in effect, although women were permitted to take exercise, they were still being discriminated against because the exercise they were allowed to take was based on the theory of constitutional overstrain.
Gradually, medical gymnastics became more of a fashionable idea rather than being viewed as a medicinal aid. In 1857 a Mrs Mathias Roth (whose husband was a doctor who specialised in Swedish gymnastics as a medicinal aid) created the ‘Ladies Sanitary Association’. They held daily classes in Swedish gymnastics and in 1887 special classes in for women became popular at the London Orion gym and many other places.
Gradually, there was a rise in the total number of sports that were available to women (although they were still based on the idea of gentle exercise for ‘weak women’) such as skittles and gentle forms of tennis and badminton. Croquet in particular was very popular. There were several indoor versions such as ‘parlour croquet’ ‘table croquet’ and ‘carpet croquet’. Its rise in popularity was due to the fact that it was a social game that could be played by both sexes. The reality however, was that women played an ornamental role, as in-active players who wore stiff corset-like dresses. Although the middle-classes were beginning to be more social, women were still required at all times to remain ‘lady-like’ in their actions and mannerisms. They were often only spectators of men’s sport such as cricket.
Tennis started to become more accessible to women, although more of a status symbol rather than for sporting reasons. It started off as a game of pat-ball and began to grow among the middle and upper classes as a more enjoyable way for middle & upper class women to show off their talents. The acquisition of private courts symbolised the affluence of a particular family. Middle-class women also saw it as a way of displaying their ‘cultured mannerisms’ to prospective husbands. Needless to say the traditional stereotype of weak women did not disappear. If men and women played together then the man would always give the woman every advantage possible such as allowing her to stand as close to the net as she would like when serving, and gentle rally’s and shots.
The playing of games became an important aspect of middle-class women (although it was rather out of fashion than the thought of it being a necessity for health). The vast majority of middle-class girls were educated in private schools or by private tutors. Exercise was encouraged so that girls could gain a ‘ladylike disposition’. It eventually became a part of the curriculum on par with other skills such as playing the piano, singing and needlework. Typical examples of exercise include crocodile walks, callisthenics, croquet and dancing. To be strong and healthy was deemed to be ‘vulgar’ instead frailty and paleness was encouraged.
Late 19th Century – The Beginning Of A Change?
The major changes in women sport occurred through the education of young girls. The encouragement of girls’ sport in schools set a precedent for women. Equal education rights for women were increasingly being lobbied for. In 1848 Queens College and Bedford College in 1849 were landmarks opened for the development of higher education. Other elite schools for middle-class girls were opened such as the Girls’ Public Day School Company (1872) and the Church Schools Company (1883). Specialist colleges of physical education were also established such as the Dartford College (1885) and Anstey College (1897), which were responsible for the training of teachers for physical education of girls and women.
The elite schools immediately established a set curriculum for p.e for girls, which included a wider range of activities. This was a substantial change and was quite radical for the time. In light of the changing curriculum for girls there was a gradual shift in medical opinions about girls exercise. Many doctors were in support of more energetic forms of exercise for girls, whilst some were even campaigning for it to be made a compulsory part of the curriculum. They argued that “prolonged exercise of brain, deficient exercise of limbs” would produce sickness in girls, and that allowing energetic exercise for girls was good preparation for when women needed strength e.g. during pregnancy.
Female physical education and sports were influenced by a number of factors towards the end of the 19th century, such as the changing position of women I society, the growing debate about exercise for girls and women, and the opinions of numerous doctors, educational specialists and liberal reformers. Despite new and more varied sports being made available, this differed from school to school and generally there was no overall programme of sports meaning that the standard of sports that were available to girls was a ‘lottery’.
Gradually more sports were being included on the physical education syllabus for girls, such as hockey, tennis and cricket. Team games were very much promoted and were beginning to become a serious aspect of daily school life. Inter-house and inter-school competitions became popular with many girls teams beginning to train in the gym in preparations for girls matches. In this way, games playing in girls started to take on the traditional characteristics of boys playing.
For this reason, girls’ games playing had to be strongly and regularly justified. It was never argued that girls were equally as strong or stronger than boys, but that girls needed regular exercise to promote a ‘healthy mind’.
Education In The Working Class
Although physical education for girls was improving for the middle and upper classes, it was yet to be mirrored in the education of the working class. The London School Board started to show keenness for some form of exercise for girls in London elementary schools, which was previously non – existent.
In 1879 Miss Concordia Löfring was appointed as the ‘Lady Superintendent Of Physical Education’ in girls and infant schools. She was trained in Per Henrik Ling’s system of gymnastics and effectively started the training of teachers in gymnastics which then went on to teach in state schools. Her successor, Martina Bergman (who worked for the London School Board from 1882 – 1887) trained 1312 women teachers in Swedish gymnastics who then went on to introduce the system in to 300 schools. By 1888, every girls and infants department were being taught Swedish gymnastics.
The Work Of Madame Bergman Österberg
Madame Österberg was the successor to Martina Bergman. She was the biggest advocate of Swedish gymnastics, maximising on the work of her predecessors.
Swedish gymnastics became popular for a number of reasons. Many doctors and teachers thought that it promoted health (it was claimed that the exercises would ‘develop the chest’ ‘straighten the back’ ‘improve digestion’ and ‘produce courage’). It gained instant credibility because it was formulated on ‘scientific’ principles. It was also cheap, safe and easy to do with large groups of children making it easy to introduce nationwide. It was less harsh than the traditional drills, although there were still some drill aspects to it, such as marching as can be exemplified by the typical program for 7-year-old children:
- Hips firm
- Feet Opening & Closing
- Trunk bending forward and raising (hips firm)
- Foot placing sideways (hips firm)
- Marching
- Arms bending upwards.
Each movement was preceded by the command ‘Po-sition’ and followed by ‘Re-pose’.
Madame Österberg promoted it by organising public displays, which forged links with more influential people, which in turn furthered its popularity. Swedish gymnastics would become
The Inter-War Years
Britain’s involvement in the First World War enabled women to gain more confidence and to challenge the traditional role of women in society, because for the first time they were allowed to take on what had been traditional male roles (although many women were dismissed from their war-time jobs after the war). Although Britain in the pre-war era had been the most influential country within sports, by the 1920’s America had started to influence globally, the participation in sports, particularly among women. In 1923 (when Wembley stadium was first opened) many British sports e.g. rugby league and American sports (for example ice hockey) were on the Wembley programme. Despite the fact that the majority of the participation was geared towards males, women competed in swimming, diving, table tennis and tennis. Perhaps most surprisingly there were open competitions between men and women between speedway riders. Women’s participation in sport had now started to encourage a more ‘provocative’ use of the body, which was very different from the more rigid use of the body institutionalised in schools and clubs. Sportswomen were achieving more within sports and were being celebrated for. For instance in 1933, Gwen Neligan became the first woman to win the Fencing Foil world title, and Peggy Scriven became the first Briton to woman to win the French Tennis Championship.
However although women were making long strides in the battle for equality, resistance still occurred. Increasingly more sporting competitions for women took place, sportswomen were still expected to keep within certain boundaries of behaviour. Any woman who did not was strictly dealt with. For example, during the British Ladies Golf Championship in 1933, a competitor (Gloria Minoprio) wore a dark blue tight sweater with trousers instead of the stipulated skirt and sleeved blouse. Her appearance attracted many complaints from the spectators and numerous newspapers from the time as well as the Ladies Golf Union. Her outfit was deemed improper and rebellious – the tight sweater was seen to be too provocative whilst trousers were seen to be unsuitable for men. The fact that it may have been more comfortable to play in trousers was never taken in to consideration.
The general persistence of women helped to facilitate the general growth of two particular sports – cricket and netball. In 1926 the Women’s Cricket Association (WCA) was created. It was created to arrange fixtures and tours within the various female cricket clubs around the country. After just one year 10 clubs, 28 schools had affiliated to the WCA. In 1929 the first county match was organised and by 1938 20 county associations were established. Female cricket received more opposition as the game became more popular – it was rarely taken seriously because traditionally it had been a ‘mans game’.
Netball however received hardly opposition at all specifically because it was created by female students in rejection of basketball (which was deemed too physical for women). It was rarely played by men so it was immediately perceived as a women’s sport. It soon became the most popular team game among the working classes, spreading from England, to other parts of Europe. It became particularly popular in the USA, Canada, South Africa, India and New Zealand, and during the 1930’s the West Indies. The All-England Netball Association (ANEA) was set up in 1926, which was soon followed by similar organisations in other countries, although there were no standard international rules at the time.
During the inter-war years, women made considerable progress within their own section of sport, however when they needed the same facilities and equipment as men, they were still discriminated against, because men monopolised the main facilities and held controlling and decision making positions. For example at universities with strong rowing backgrounds (such as Oxford and Cambridge), female rowers had fewer boats, far less river time and poor coaching and finance in comparison to their male counterparts. They were often barred from competitions because it was thought of as being ‘much too unladylike’
In spite of the set backs women continued to strive towards high achievements, for example in 1948 Nilla de Wharton Burr became the only woman to win the World Individual Archery Title twice, in 1952 Jeannette Altwegg won the Olympic Figure Skating title and in 1964 Mary Rand won the Olympic Gold for Long Jump (this was the first ever gold medal for British women’s athletics).
Women At The ‘Top’
Although women had made significant progress in their fight for equality across all sports, the biggest limiting factor to their progress was the lack of representation they had on decision-making bodies such as the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) – these are in control of Olympic sports within individual countries, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). During the 1980’s, some women managed to gain top management level roles, however they made little impact. For instance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, there were 168 male events as opposed to 73 female events and 15 mixed events. At the summer Olympics in 1988 there were 26 sports and 165 events for men compared with only 22 sports and 83 events for women. Even in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona women made up only 40% of the total number of competitors. Despite the fact that new sports for added to the programme (judo, canoe slalom and windsurfing) men’s events still outnumbered the number available for women – there were 28 sports and 171 events available for men in comparison to 24 sports and 98 events available for women. Between 1884 and 1981 there were no women members of the IOC, the only way women could become members was for men to campaign on their behalf – however this was rare became most of the members were strongly opposed to female membership. It was not until 1980 (when Juan Samaranch became president) that two women were co-opted as members. Samaranch actively incorporated women in to the IOC by inviting them to serve on numerous IOC commissions. However male dominance sill continued, in 1993 out of a total of 93, only 7 members were female. Quotas of the overall percentage of women within the IOC and NOC were set that were expected to be achieved in 2000 and 2005. The IOC and all NOCs were required to achieve at least 10% membership rates of women on the executive boards by 2000 which was then to rise to 20% by 2005. Currently the first target has been achieved (although this may be due to the fact that some NOCs exceeded the target whilst others fell short). Currently Britain has 15% of its membership in the NOC allocated to women.
The fight for equality in managerial roles for women had not occurred only in international bodies. In Britain currently, there is a severe imbalance in the number of managerial positions held by women. This is often due to many factors:
- The nature of women’s careers – they often take breaks for family or maternity reasons. Many coaching qualifications do not take this need in to consideration.
- Women are perceived to have less power of control. The general notion is that women will not be taken as seriously in roles that require commands, in comparison to men (e.g. the chairing of meetings).
- Women are perceived to be more suited to caring positions (e.g. refreshments, or caring for athletes with disabilities).
There is also a lack of role models to inspire other women to gain managerial roles. The few women who have senior positions are often exposed to far more criticism than men. The current percentage ration of females and males in managerial positions is as follows:
Sports Administration
Coaching
There are initiatives in place to try and improve the number of women in senior roles. For example, the UK Strategy for Women and Sport (a three year plan that aims to increase the number of women leaders in sport by changing the culture of sport), the Sport Coach Delivery plan. The government has also developed a plan, which aims to 50% female representation on all public bodies (inclusive of all sporting bodies). The effectiveness of these proposals is yet to be discovered.
Women’s Sport In The Media
Since the growth of women’s sport and sport in general, the main way of communicating with the general public has been through the media. Recently there has been a large increase in the different types of media available, apart from the traditional newspaper; there has been an increase in the number of specialist magazines available and numerous Internet websites available to display sporting results, match fixtures and other such information.
However, even with the expansion of the media, coverage of women’s sport is grossly neglected. Women’s sport is rarely shown (with exception to large sports events such as the Olympics) and when it shown their accomplishments is rarely celebrated, instead their private life is often the topic.
Television & Radio
The main terrestrial channels and satellite channels rarely show women’s sports events; men’s sport is often prioritised over women’s. For example, in 1993, women’s sport only made up 0.5% to 6% of the overall coverage of sports on television and even when female sport was covered, action shots were rare.
Newspapers
Newspapers also have a long history of under-representation of women’s sport. It is quite common to find absolutely few or no mention of female sports within many newspapers sports section (this is regardless of whether they are a broadsheet newspaper or a tabloid). This can be exemplified by a study between December 2000 to January 2001, which was conducted by The Women’s Sport Foundation. After the analysis of 49 different issues of newspapers, they found that out of 701 pages of sports reports, there were 1,564 photographs of men in comparison to just 36 of women. This meant that overall; women’s coverage was just 2.3%.
The media overall has the ability to define and shape the views of women in sport. Often the coverage that female competitors receive, concentrates on their femininity and treats them as ‘sexual objects’ rather than a powerful sportsperson. This type of coverage has the effect of undermining women’s sports in general, and in limiting the amount of sponsorship that top female athletes receive.
The Women’s Sports Foundation
The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) was created in 1984, by women who were concerned by the lack of representation women received in the world of sport. It is funded by the government body Sport England, however since May 2003, the Pentland Group Plc has sponsored them. The aim of the Women’s Sports Foundation is to increase the profile of women within many sporting roles. This has been partly achieved by:
- The National Action Plan for Women and Girls' Sport and Physical Activity - this was designed to encourage sporting organisations to identify targets and implement actions that would help to address the imbalance between the two genders.
- The Women into High Performance Coaching Project – this was a three-year pilot scheme, (established in 2000 by the foundation and Sports Coach UK) that was created to develop women into senior coaching positions.
The WSF also aims to increase the number of women and girls that are participating in sport.