Women and the Olympics

Women have had their fair share of struggles and battles throughout the past. From having limits on occupations and rights, being discriminated against, and being labeled and stereotyped, women have been through many hardships throughout history. Women used to be known as only being the ones to take care of the children, cook, clean, and serve others. Women did not always receive proper education. We know that women are no longer looked at in this way, and there have been many big changes for women. Women were able to act in theatre in 1660, gained the right to vote in 1920, and were allowed to be in the military in the 1940s, so it was just natural for women to gain the right to compete in the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games first began in Olympia in the year 776 BC. This was the year when the names of the winners were first recorded, but the actual games began at least 1500 years beforehand. Only free men from any country or city who spoke Greek could compete in these sports. Women were not allowed to participate in these Games. They were thought to be second-class and it would not have been acceptable for a woman to compete in these Games. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games) Women were forbidden to watch the Games, and if they were caught doing so, they would be killed. (http://period8dolzall.tripod.com/olympics.html) We know that women finally received their chance to be a competitor in the Olympics and are very much a part of the Games today.

In Ancient Greece, unmarried virgin women were able to be a part of the Heraea Games. These ancient Games were dedicated to the goddess Hera. They date back as early as the sixth century BC. These were the first recorded women’s athletic competitions that were help in the stadium at Olympia. Heraea originally consisted of only foot races. The majority of the competitors and winners were Spartan girls. When competing, their hair was supposed to be down so that it could flow behind them. Short tunics were worn and all girls ran barefoot. (http://greek-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/did_women_compete_in_the_ancient_olympics) The champions would win olive crows, cow or ox meat, and the right to dedicated statues inscribed with their names or painted portraits of themselves on the columns of Hera’s temple. The competitors in these games were dressed like men. It is said that the Heraea games were started because the Olympic Games became very popular. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraea_Games)

In the 1880s, Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France wanted to revive the ancient Olympic Games and create modern Olympic Games. Only summer sports were included at the beginning. (http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_668.pdf) Coubertin, along members of the International Olympic Committee, opposed women’s participation in the Olympics and only included them so that they could applause the male athletes’ awards. “During the nineteenth century, a common belief was that men were naturally aggressive and competitive and women were emotional and passive, making men better suited for strenuous exercise and sports.” Doctors became involved by arguing that because of the energy women expended on reproductive functions, “minimal energy was left for physical, psychic or intellectual endeavors.” Later in the nineteenth century, physicians decided that some physical exercise in small doses could aid women’s health and their ability to bear strong children. Walking and a few recreational sports such as croquet, archery, and skating were the main activities that women were allowed to participate in. By the end of the century, a few middle and upper class women participated in tennis and golf. Around the same time that this was occurring, “changes such as industrialization, urbanization, the women’s reform movements, and an alteration of the restrictive clothing women wore brought more women into the leisure sports world were taking place, which led to their inclusion in competitive sports.” Women lacked the international support to be fully included in the Olympics, but they did get a “foot in the door” through leisure sports. The first female participants of the Olympics were the nineteen women who competed at the 1900 Games in Paris. Women were allowed to compete in tennis, golf, and yachting, although none participated in yachting. Women began to earn their place in the Olympics, sport by sport, and event by event. (http://www.nwhm.org/olympics/olympics1.htm)

Women had some important occasions in the Summer Games. The 1912 Games in Stockholm were the first appearance of women swimmers. In 2004 in Athens, women’s wrestling joined the Olympic program. At the turn of the third millennium, over 40 percent of the athletes at the Games were women, the largest proportion of female participants in the history of the Olympic Games! The only sports that woman cannot compete in during the Summer Games are boxing and baseball. Softball, synchronized swimming, and rhythmic gymnastics involve only women. (http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_668.pdf)

Today, there are many famous women who participate in the Olympic Games. A fair share of these women competes for the United States of America. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin are known for being great in gymnastics. Liukin is the 2008 Olympic individual all-around gold medalist, the 2005 and 2007 world Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars. Liukin is tied with Shannon Miller as the American gymnast having won the most World Championship medals. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nastia_Liukin) Johnson is the 2008 Olympic women's balance beam gold medalist, the individual all-around silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Johnson) One woman we have been hearing a lot about during the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver is Lindsey Vonn. She is an American alpine ski racer, who is the first American woman to win the gold medal in downhill. She has become the most successful American woman skier in history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Vonn)

Despite all that women have gone through to be included in the Olympics, they definitely deserve their spot in the Games and have proved it by doing so well. Women bring a different dimension to the Games and are definitely people definitely love to watch them. Many women who compete in the Olympics have made history and will continue to do so. It was no mistake to allow women to join in on the Olympics, and that has been made evident by the great impact they have made.

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Picture Source: Flickr. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/23105414@N07/4370965786/>.