This movement, started by what many considered a cranky Frenchman, would give rise to the modern Olympic Games and the formation of the International Olympic Committee. So now, here they all were, in April of , the Games symbolically taking place in Athens.
But there was only one issue that seemed to blot out the celebrations: Women were excluded from the athletic events. They could partake in the festivities, accompanied by chaperones. As participants, they were not even considered. Coubertin always had envisioned the Olympics as a display of athletic performances, representing men's abilities, endurance, strength, virility and courage.
He never believed women possessed any of those traits; thus, they could only stand aside as spectators. It is indecent that spectators would be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a woman being smashed before their eyes.
Given some backlash he was receiving, he decided to show a bit of flexibility and eventually agreed that some women, if so inclined, could enter horses in the Games, but only in those equestrian events where the horses were the stars of the show. Stamata Revithi didn't want to be a horsewoman, but an athlete.
Needless to say, her run was not officially recorded. Pierre de Coubertin was even less happy when, in , four years after the inaugural Games in Greece, women made their appearance at the Games in Paris. The idea of a male-only Olympiad had somewhat backfired, thus the IOC had decided to allow a limited number of women to participate in an equally limited number of events, those events deemed feminine and benign enough that the audience could tolerate.
There weren't a great many female participants — only 22 out of athletes. It appeared that 22 were still too many for Coubertin's liking, even if they were allowed to participate only in tennis, golf and sailing. Along with the athletic contests held at ancient Olympia, there was a separate festival in honor of Hera the wife of Zeus. This festival included foot races for unmarried girls.
Although it is not known how old the festival was, it may have been almost as old as the festival for boys and men. Little is known about this festival other than what Pausanias, a 2nd century AD Greek traveler, tells us. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.
Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Ancient History and Latin Expert. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. Updated October 24, Featured Video. But even with all the progress, much more must be done to ensure women and people of color are treated, represented, and supported equitably in the field of athletics. Even today, top women athletes are dealing with unfair and outdated regulations which infringe on their rights to bodily autonomy.
Earlier this week, the Norwegian Beach Handball team was fined by the European Handball Federation for wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms, although men are allowed to wear loose fitting shorts four inches above the knee. You might be thinking, what do all of these incidents have in common?
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