How has the participation in the games by women changed during the history of the Olympics and what are the reasons for these changes
-Quick Introduction of women in general and sporting issues for them
-First Participation of women in Games: 1900
-Go through significant Olympics Chronological Order and how changed
-Things which restricted opportunity: 1928 games 800m
-Reasons for change what was overcome: Equality, Cultural, World wars, Religion, IOC (International Olympic Committee), and De Coubertin
In many societies women do not have an equal opportunity to participate in sport. It is necessary to tease out desired differences in role from culturally induced discrimination and look at others countered to see if we can learn from them. It is important to recognize that this is not fundamentally a sport issue but is a case of social inequality which is also evident itself in sport.
The physiological differences between male and female are the source of sexual stereotyping, but cultural traditions and trends distort and exaggerate the male/female roles in society, to the extent that basic freedoms are denied.
The differentiation of sex roles in society stems from the traditional notion of family life. This tradition recognizes the role of the woman as a wife and mother where her leisure time is committed to home and family. Though it was originally very much a middle class concept, it became a feature of the respectable working class family. The development of this stereotype coincided with the emergence of modern sport and this resulted in a dominance of men. There are a large number of myths about the capacity of women to cope in sport. Many of these are being refuted as illustrated by the successful inclusion of a women's marathon in he 1988 Olympic Games, but it is a slow process of eroding traditional attitudes.
In the Ancient Olympic Games, women were forbidden to take part. In fact, they were ...