WOMEN AND SPORTS,

OVERVIEW GENERAL TRENDS ATHLETIC & SOCIAL CLUBS PHYSICAL EDUCATION “THE ATHLETIC GIRL” THE BICYCLE REVOLUTION WOMEN’S BASKETBALL BERENSON RULES SPORTS AND GENDER DEBATE

GENERAL TRENDS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19 TH CENTURY AMERICAN WOMEN DEVELOPED SOME VENUES TO PARTICIPATE IN ORGANIZED PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND COMPETITIVE SPORTS, DESPITE AN ENORMOUS RESISTANCE AND CRITICISM FROM RELIGIOUS, MEDICAL, SCHOOL AND CIVIC AUTHORITIES. GIVEN THE PREVALENT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COMPETITIVE SPORTS AND MASCULINITY FEATURES, THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SPECIFIC PHYSICAL CONTESTS WAS SEVERELY LIMITED, IF NOT ALTOGETHER PROHIBITED. SPORTS WERE PERCEIVED AS DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES FOR THE FEMALE BODY, PARTICULARLY THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM, SND AS THREATENING BEHAVIOUR FOR “FEMININE” PROPER BEHAVIOUR. ACCORDING TO THE PREVALENT VIEWS OF THE TIME, IN GENERAL WOMEN SHOULD NOT PRACTICE SPORTS..

GENERAL TRENDS THE ASSOCIATIONBETWEEN SPORTS AND MANLINESS REPRESENTED A SIGNIFICANT BARRIER FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SPORTS. ANY INVOLVMENT IN STRENOUS PHYSICAL COMPETITIONS WAS PERCEIVED AS INNATE TO MASCULINE BEHAVIOR, WITH SERIOUS NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IF PRACTICED BY GIRLS AND WOMEN ON REGULAR BASES. MODERATE EXERCISE, HOWEVER, WAS PERCEIVED AS A POSITIVE ELEMENT IN HELPING GIRLS AND WOMEN TO OVERCOME “FEMALE FRAILTY”. MODERATE EXERCISE, NO STRENOUS ACTIVITIES, NO PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH OTHER ATHLETES, AND STRICT SUPERVISION, WERE SEEN AS PARAMOUNT TO THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ORGANIZED SPORTS.

ATHLETIC & SOCIAL CLUBS PARTICIPATION OF AMERICAN WOMEN IN ORGANIZED PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES FOLLOWS DIFFERENT TRENDS FROM THE MALE SPORTS. IN GENERAL THE DEEP ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SPORTS AND MASCULINITY GENERATED A HOSTILE ATMOSPHERE FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SPORTS. IN MANY INSTANCES THE ONLY TWO VENUES FOR WOMEN SPORTS WERE ATHLETIC & SOCIAL CLUBS AND COLLEGE PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES AND ACTIVITIES. WEALTHY FAMILIES RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES. CROQUET, GOLF, LAWN TENNIS, ARCHERY. “WIFE AND DAUGHTERS OF CLUB MEMBERS” MARY OUTERBRIDGE FORMED THE WOMEN’S CLUB IN STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. WITH LAWN TENNIS AS THE MAIN SPORT.

ATHLETIC & SOCIAL CLUBS TENNIS DEVELOPMENT IN CRICKET AND BASEBALL CLUBS. PHILADELPHIA CRICKET CLUB ORGANIZED THE FIRST WOMEN’S NATIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN “REFINED GAMES FOR REFINED WOMEN”: FULL-LENGTH DRESSES, COURT ETIQUETTE, MODERATION AND RESTRAINT.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AFTER CIVIL WAR, INCREASE IN WOMEN ATTENDING COLLEGE. PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES WERE CONCEIVED TO HELP FEMALE STUDENTS TO ENDURE COLLEGE LIFE, DESPITE THEIR “NATURAL FRAILTY” MODERATE EXERCISE ONLY HELP vs. FEMALE FRAILTY, REGULAR SPORTS RESTORE ENERGY USED IN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY. PHY-ED FORMAL ACCEPTANCE, BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS 1889, SARGENT SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES SPREAD TO OTHER COLLEGES, HIGH SCHOOLS AND LATER NATIONWIDE SCHOOLS.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES SOON BECAME AN IMPORTANT VENUE TO INTRODUCE WOMEN TO ORGANIZED SPORTS AND EVENTUALLY COMPETITIVE SPORTS. AS MORE WOMEN ATTENDED COLLEGE IN THE LAST DECADES OF THE 19 TH CENTURY, THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN THE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE FOR WOMEN IN SPORTS UNDER SPECIFIC RULES & SUPERVISION. PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROVIDE A REGULAR OUTLET FOR ORGANIZED RECREATIONAL AND COMPETITIVE SPORTS. MODERATE EXERCISE, NO-CONTACT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND COMPETITIVE SPORTS WITH MODIFIED & SPECIFIC RULES FOR WOMEN BECAME THE NORM FOR WOMEN IN SPORTS.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION FEMALE STUDENTS IN COLLEGE FORMED THEIR OWN BASEBALL TEAMS AND SCHEDULES. SOON THEY WERE SUBJECTED TO HARSH CRITICISM FOR PRACTICING A “MALE SPORT” AND ENDANGERING THEIR BODIES AND MORALS. COLLEGE AUTHORITIES DISBANDED FEMALE BASEBALL TEAMS. PROHIBITION FOR WOMEN TO ORGANIZE AND PARTICIPATE IN COLLEGE BASEBALL REMAINED THE PREVALENT RULE.

THE ATHLETIC GIRL THE COMBINA TION OF PARTICIPATING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES IN COLLEGE AND JOINING ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES IN COUNTRY & SOCIAL CLUBS MADE POSSIBLE THE “ATHLETIC GIRL” GENERATION. THE ATHLETIC GIRL COULD BE DEFINED AS: UPPER CLASS, COLLEGE EXPERIENCE, CLUB MEMBER, URBAN SPHERE. PHY-ED TRAINING, PLUS ACCESS TO CLUB SPORTS FACILITIES FACILITATED THE PARTICIPATION OF THE ATHLETIC GIRL IN “REFINED” SPORTS THAT ADHERE TO THE NO-CONTACT, RESTRAINED COMPETITION, MILD EXERCISE RULES. MODERATE SPORTS WITHIN THE CLUB BOUNDARIES, ELITES ONLY. “NET-SPORTS” AND NO-CONTACT COMPETITIONS WERE DEEMED IDEAL FOR THE ATHLETIC GIRL: TENNIS, HORSE RIDING, ARCHERY, CROQUET, GOLF.

BICYCLE REVOLUTION 1890s DESIGN CHANGES, MASS PRODUCTION, AFFORDABLE. UPPER CLASS, MIDDLE CLASS OUTDOOR EXERCISE, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT. INDIVIDUAL-EGALITARIAN EXERCISE MODERATE, NON-COMPETITIVE, NON- ELITIST. BICYCLE CRITICS: “UTERINE DISPLACEMENT, SPINAL SHOCK, DISTORTION OF FACIAL MUSCLES, BICYCLE FACE”.

BICYCLE REVOLUTION THE MASS PRODUCTION OF BICYCLES AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY MADE THEM AFFORDABLE FOR MEN AND WOMEN NATIONWIDE. WOMEN OF LOWER SOCIAL CLASSES FOUND IN RIDING BIKES A NEW WAY TO EXERCISE BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF COLLEGE AND ATHLETIC CLUBS. ALTHOUGH SUBJECTED TO HEAVY CRITICISM BY MALE PHYSICIANS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS, THE ARRIVAL OF A BETTER DESIGNED AND CHEAP BYCICLE MADE POSSIBLEE A WIDE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN BIKE RIDING AS A REGULAR FORM OF EXERCISE.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 1891 PHY-ED ROUTINE SCHOOL TOURNAMENTS, INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS, STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS. FIRST COMPETITIVE TEAM SPORT FOR WOMEN. FIRST POPULAR SPORT. DEBATES OVER BASKETBALL AND WOMEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CRITICS MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT IN FEMALE BODIES, REDUCTION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN. GREAT DANGER TO FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM. SOURCE OF UNDESIRABLE PASSIONS AND “UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR” FOR WOMEN. TOO AGGRESSIVE, TOO CLOSE TO PRIMITIVE APPETITES. NO HELP FOR SEXUAL CONTROL.

BERENSON RULES SENDA BERENSON (NEE SENDA VALVROJENSKI IN LITHUANIA, 1869, IMMIGRATED AS A CHILD TO THE UNITED STATES. STUDIED IN THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS SENDA BERENSON WAS HIRED IN 1892 AS PHYSICAL-ED DIRECTOR AT SMITH COLLEGE, IN MASSACHUSETTS BERENSON ORGANIZED A SCHOOL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WAS STRONGLY CRITICIZED. BERENSON THOUGHT OF WAYS IN WHICH THE SPORT COULD BE ADAPTED TO THE GOALS OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND ALLOW FEMALE PARTICIPATION. MODIFICATION OF RULES TO FIT BASKETBALL WITH ORIGINAL PHY-ED GOALS (MODERATED EXERCISE) LESS PHYSICAL CONTACT DESIGNATED AREAS FOR PLAYERS, NO BALL- SNATCHING, POINTS TAKEN FOR FOULING.

BERENSON RULES 1899 PHY-ED COMMITTEE, LED BY BERENSON AND SPALDING COMPANY PUBLISHED THE “OFFICIAL RULES” OF WOMEN BASKETBALL. 1910s BERENSON RULES REPLACED BOYS RULES NATIONWIDE. PREVAILED IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES UNTIL THE 1960s. BERENSON RULES ALLOW MANY FEMALE STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN BASKETBALL COMPETITIONS AND PREVENTED CRITICS FROM HAVING THE SPORT BANNED, AS IT HAD OCCURRED WITH WOMEN’S BASEBALL.

BERENSON RULES ADDITIONAL RULES WERE DEVISED TO MINIMIZE CONTACT BETWEEN THE ATHLETES, REDUCE POTENTIAL INJURIES, DECREASE THE INTENSITY OF THE GAME AND CREATE A MORE APPROPRIATE SPORT FOR FEMALE STUDENTS: DIVISION LINES (3 FIELDS) TEN ON TEN NO DRIBBLING NO SNATCHING THREE BOUNCES MAX. LIMIT THEN PASS. PLAYERS ALLOW TO HOLD THE BALL FOR NO MORE THAN THREE SECONDS

SPORTS AND GENDER DEBATE ATHLETICS MAKE GIRLS MASCULINE DOCTORS, EDUCATORS, JOURNALISTS OPENLY CRITICIZED ATHLETICS FOR WOMEN. MODERATE EXERCISE, BENEFITS OF EXERCISE, PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES, POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON “FEMALE FRAILTY” PROHIBITED SPORTS FOR WOMEN: BOXING, BASEBALL, RUGBY, WRESTLING, WATER POLO, ETC. REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM RISKS, ALWAYS A PRESENT ELEMENT IN SKEPTICS’ VIEW OF FEMALE ATHLETICS. MODIFICATION PRINCIPLE, GOLDEN RULE FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS.