- •
Historically, sport has been a male-dominated realm. Women were initially discouraged from participating in exercise and sport activities because they were thought to be too fragile.
- •
Over the course of the twentieth century, women have gained greater access to athletic participation opportunities. This access is largely attributable to Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972.
- •
Although women have not been granted the same opportunities to participate in professional sport than men, there
Women in Sport: Historical Perspectives
Section snippets
Key points
The development of competitive sport programs for women
Throughout the 1890s and into the twentieth century, basketball became one of the most prolific sports for women nationwide. Teams formed across the country, and women's rules designed to decrease vigor and physical contact were created. Growth occurred rapidly after the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) published the rules in a newsletter distributed nationwide.3 The rapid growth alarmed some female leaders of physical education programs, which provided structure, support, and coaching
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act
The most significant law for women's athletics was Title IX of the Education Amendments Act, which passed in 1972. Title IX explicitly states “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 educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”13 Title IX consists of 3 separate, yet interrelated parts. All federally funded institutions must prove their
Women's intercollegiate athletics
Just before the passage of Title IX, leaders in women's physical education and athletic programs once again recognized the need for the presence of a national governing body for women's intercollegiate sport. The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was established in the months preceding the passage of Title IX in 1971.14 It was the first and only governing body of intercollegiate athletics formed on an educational platform. The organization was committed to keeping
Women in professional sport
Despite the fact that sport was viewed as an activity for boys and men during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sport participation grew rapidly in America.3 In New York City and surrounding regions, sport developed from merely a pastime into a modernized, formalized enterprise used for entertaining the masses.23 Sporting fraternities were one social group that helped modernize sport in the city. Perhaps the most significant sporting fraternity was the New York Knickerbockers
Benefits of sport participation for women
Girls and women are benefitting from sport participation in a variety of ways. Scholars have determined that high school girls who participate in interscholastic sport are likely to get better grades and are less likely to have unintended pregnancies.34, 35 Women and girls who play sports regularly have higher levels of self-confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression. Collegiate athletes also fare well after their eligibility has expired. For example, it has been determined that
Summary
Much like other facets of society, sport was shaped by Victorian ideals that positioned women in the home. Proper forms of exercise for women during the nineteenth century were nonvigorous activities that could be completed in appropriate feminine attire.2, 3 During the twentieth century, sport solidified its position as a vastly popular form of entertainment. Because the 1920s was a liberal era in America, women gained opportunities to compete in sport on a wider scale. Participation
References (36)
Modern history of women in sports: twenty-five years of Title IX
Clin Sports Med
(2000)- et al.
The female animal: medical and biological views of woman and her role in nineteenth-century America
J Am Hist
(1973) A sporting time: New York City and the rise of modern athletics, 1820–70
(1986)The eternally wounded woman: women, doctors, and exercise in the late nineteenth century
(1990)- et al.
Youth sport programs: an avenue to foster positive youth development
Phys Education Sport Pedagogy
(2005) Risks and benefits of youth sport specialization: perspectives and recommendations
Pediatr Exerc Sci
(2000)Sports and male domination: the female athlete as contested ideological terrain
Sociol Sport J
(1988)- et al.
A century of women's basketball. From frailty to final four
(1991) Working women, class relations, and suffrage militance: Harriot Stanton Blatch and the New York woman suffrage movement, 1894-1909
J Am Hist
(1987)Towards a new sporting ideal: the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation
Frontiers
(1978)
A history of the women's sports program at Memphis State University
Women's struggle for governance in US amateur athletics
Int Rev Sociol Sport
Title IX
Association for intercollegiate athletics for women
J Phys Educ Recreation Dance
NAGWS and AIAW: the strange and wondrous journey to the athletic summit, 1950–1990
J Phys Educ Recreation Dance
Playing nice and losing: the struggle for control of women's intercollegiate athletics, 1960-2000
Success and gender: determining the rate of advancement for intercollegiate athletic directors
Sex Roles
Girls can play, too: has the lack of female leadership in NCAA athletics become an afterthought
Seton Hall J Sports Ent L
Cited by (18)
Incidence of Cardiac Arrest During Sports Among Women in the European Union
2023, Journal of the American College of CardiologyChinese Path to Sports Modernization: Fitness-for-All (Chinese) and a Development Model for Developing Countries
2023, Sustainability (Switzerland)Motivation in physical education for junior high school students: a gender perspective
2022, Journal of Physical Education and SportProfessional development, skills, and competences in sports: a survey in the field of sport management among public managers
2022, Journal of Physical Education and Sport
Disclosure statement: The author has nothing to disclose.