Thesis of my Project

The evolution of women's participation in the Olympic Games from 1877- 2016 reflects how global struggles for gender equality have been shaped by the inclusion, representation and treatment of female athletes on one of the world's most influential stages.  

Initially, my research question focused on the "why" aspect. Why did women have to fight for their equality in the first place? I came to this question by considering the history of gender discrimination in sports and noticing how women have often been kept out or pushed to the sidelines in areas that have been dominated by men, including the Olympics. When learning about the development of the Olympic Games, I noticed that women competitors had to overcome huge barriers just toparticipate, let alone competes alongside men. This led me to question why those barriers existed in the first place, and how social beliefs had shaped the rules and traditions of such a big international event.

I focused my research after examining how women's Olympic participation mirrored broader social and political movements across different areas. In the late 1800s and early 1900s , the exclusion of women from the Olympic Games was rooted in restrictive gender norms that saw sports as inapropriate for female in general. As I entered the early and mid 20th century, I found women who resisted those norms, such as Alice Milliat, who created space for women athletes when they were excluded by the official Olympic committee. Those actions signaled a growing resistance, not so much to exclusion from sport, but to societal restrictions on women;s participation in general