History of Women in Sports

Women have faced many difficulties throughout the history of sports. There are a lot of obstacles that have been thrown in their way. People tend to believe that women are weaker than men. They think that women can not do the same things that men can do. They think that sports are for men. Women should stay home and take care of their children. Many women try to shatter these pre-conceived notions.

Let’s look at the Olympic Games, which started as a male dominated organization. Originally, women were not allowed to participate, but they kept trying to get into the games anyways. Historical evidence proves that the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. As women were “excluded, … they compete[d] every four years in their own Games of Hera, to honor the Greek goddess who ruled over women and the earth. [In] 396 B.C.[,] Kyniska, a Spartian princess, [won] an Olympic chariot race, but [was] barred from collecting her prize in person.” (History of Women in Sports Timeline)

There were many restrictions to try to keep women out of the male dominated sports world. They were continually reinforced until the twentieth century. Women were not even allowed to participate in the first modern Olympics in 1896. Finally, women were allowed to participate in 1900 Olympics, which were held in Paris. However, only nineteen athletes were women. Only three sports were opened to women at that time. They were tennis, golf and croquet. (History of Women in Sports Timeline).

After women started to get into the sports world, they still faced many different criticisms. Throughout history, our society is a patriarchal society. So people believed that women were too weak to handle physical activity. Women’s role in sports was limited to being a spectator. In the early days, Physical Education instructors strongly oppose competition among women because they tend to think that Physical Education would make women less feminine. Women were told that they were too fragile to participate in most sports.

In addition, people were afraid that using too much mental and physical power would make a woman become manly. Moreover, in earlier times, women were told that sports were harmful for them because they believed that too much physical activity would damage a woman's reproductive system. It became a good reason for men to keep women away from many sports. As a result, in the early day, women in sports were very feminine, such as, golf, tennis, skiing, skating, etc. Women's singles tennis competition was added to Wimbledon in 1884. The first Women's French Tennis Championship was held in 1887. The first Women's French Tennis Championship was held in 1897. The first Australian women's national golf championship was held in 1894. (History of Women in Sports Timeline) “These sports demonstrated the agility and elegance “natural” to women and, although athleticism is clearly a major aspect of these sports, the individual stars were known, culturally at least, for their “feminine” attributes: self-sacrifice, glamour, grace.” (Bryant, P487). However, at that time, only the women who were from the upper class could have the privilege of sporting.

Women started to enjoy sports in the 20th century. Many organizations were established in 1920’s to serve as the collective voice of women. The National Women's Athletic Association was organized in 1921. The National Amateur and Athletic Federation (NAAF) were founded in 1922. They were eager for equal footing with the same standards, the same program and the same regulations for boys and girls.

The Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (IWFA) was founded by Bryn Mawr, Cornell, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1929. The Lake Placid Club organized skiing events for college women. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) added track and fielded events open to women. AAU sponsored the national women's basketball championship and used the men’s rules. (History of Women in Sports Timeline)

Thanks to the passing of Education Amendment to the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, women were able to participate more than ever in sports. Moreover, their funding has been increasing. Title IX states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (Suggs, Welsh) The number of women participating in college sports has increased. Female sports started to expand and grow. Title IX was giving women a huge step towards achieving their goals in sports. It provided an opportunity for females in the sports world. But women still have a long way to go.

We did see the influence that Title IX has had on female sports participation. “In the year prior to the passage of the law, only 1 in 27 high school girls participated in varsity sports.”(A Quarter Century In The Evolution Of Women's Sports) In contrast, in 1998, the figure is an astounding one in three, while male sports participation on the high school level, which is one in two. Another statistic also shows the effect of Title IX involves the number of females participating in college sports. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), “only 31,852 females participated in sports during the 1971-1972 school years. Five years later during the 1976-1977 school years, one season prior to mandatory compliance of Title IX that figure had more than doubled to 64,375. Currently, there are more than 125,000 female athletes playing on teams sanctioned by the NCAA.” (A Quarter Century In The Evolution Of Women's Sports)

“History of Women in Sports Timeline” http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/timelne4.htm

“A Quarter Century In The Evolution Of Women's Sports” http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Equity-Issues/A/A-Quarter-Century-In-The-Evolution-Of-Womens-Sports.aspx

Suggs, Welsh. “A Place on the Team”. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press, 2005.

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