Page 22 - seminars

WOMEN AND SPORTS

ASSOC. PROF. DR. FEYZA MERYEM KARA
Kırıkkale University Faculty of Sports Sciences,
Department of Recreation

It can be said that the story of women in the world of sports began 3,000 years ago. In this context, it is
possible to come across Homer's statements such as "Princess Nausicaa was playing ball with her maid
and Odysseus was awakened by the sounds of girls playing ball" (Homer, trans, 2001).
The participation of women in sports in a society is seen as a reflection of the general status of women in
that society. Considering the position of women and the roles assigned to them throughout the world, it
can be said that women are evaluated by their gender before being an athlete in sports. Women have
historically been restricted from sports and physical activity due to various societal norms, attitudes and
false beliefs (Vertinsky, 1990).
However, Baron Coubertin, the founder of the Olympic Games, has many words about women not
competing in the Olympic Games. In addition to his statement, "Women should not pollute the Olympics
with their sweat, only the victors should be crowned", the following words also drew attention.
• "women's role is to celebrate men's victory", 1901,
• "women's sports are against the laws of nature", 1902,
• "The Olympic games should be reserved for men, emphasizing the notion that the appearance of female
athletes is intimidating.", 1912, (https://coubertinspeaks.com/quotes/).
Above all, it can be seen that at the beginning of the 20th century, thousands of years later, women's
voices finally awakened the world of sports. In addition, it can be said that the issue of women and sports
has been seriously discussed and started to be discussed, especially with the feminist movement that has
developed since the beginning of the 1970s. Women athletes, who were kept away from the Olympic
Games until 1920, were able to find a place for themselves on the stage of history after this date. On the
other hand, when women started competing 20 years later than men in 1924, Coubertin demanded that
women be removed from the games in the IOC (Leigh & Bonin, 1977).

19