Features of femininity: sportswomen in the Spanish sporting press, 1893 – 1923

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the visual discourses of Spanish sport newspapers during the initial era of modern sport in Spain. Employing a critical feminist framework, the research focuses on the representation of sportswomen and the construction of visual discourses of femininity. The study identifies a broad range of femininities: from characteristics symbolic of the most traditional image of the feminine, to completely transgressive versions of femininity. Femininity also appears associated with certain sports, and, in contrast to the discourses of the era, it is an active femininity, with the majority of images capturing sporting actions. We conclude that the most traditional femininities live alongside transgressive femininities, and that active movement is an accepted feature of femininity in the context of sport during the period under consideration.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport
• femininity
• patriarchy
• photographs
• newspaper

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Type of speed cycling adopting a more horizontal position over the handlebars, compared to the completely vertical posture used for cycling for leisure. The horizontal posture allowed cyclists to reach faster speeds, and as such was considered dangerous. This is the typical posture used today in cycle racing.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Itziar de Ozámiz-Lestón

Itziar de Ozámiz-Lestón. She received her PhD from the Department of Sports Sciences in the University of A Coruña in 2017. She is interested in studying the history of womensport throw the mass media.E-mail: [email protected]

Cristina López-Villar

Cristina López-Villar (PhD, University of Vigo) is a PhD professor in the Department of Physical Education and Sport at the University of A Coruña, Spain. Her line of research focuses on history in womensport from a feminist perspective. E-mail: [email protected]