Accessing sport through education. Policy frameworks for girls’ practice of sport in France from 1945 to today

ABSTRACT

Our research analyzes French public policies concerning girls’ access to sport through educational measures. It is based on the study of official texts and institutional reports published since 1945. They are seen as being indicators of the policy frameworks defined by the French State and guiding educators’ action. Insofar as school has a socialisation role and contributes to the construction of stereotypes from a very young age, it appears essential to understand the practice possibilities offered there. It is thus a question of identifying the possibilities offered to girls and the representations associated with them, as well as the political, ideological and social foundations determining the directions taken. The historical approach was chosen to apprehend the processes that structured policy action and identify the changes over the long term. Justifying a policy of segregation, the naturalisation of the physical and moral qualities attributed to girls was followed by a universalist perspective adopted, from the 1980s onwards, as the condition for democratised access to the practice of sport. Failure to consider the social gender-related division of sports practices, constituting an obstacle to the construction of equality, gave way to reflection on the diffusion of stereotypes. This reflection achieved consensus in relation to policy ambitions at the beginning of the 2000s without, however, managing to detach itself from a naturalisation of the tastes and aptitudes of each sex.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• gender
• girl
• socialisation
• politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This universalist position was not unique to France (Van Essen 2003).

2. The following activities were mentioned: Volleyball, basketball, handball, football, rugby, badminton, table tennis, running, jumping, throwing, triathlon, swimming, artistic gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, climbing, orienteering, dancing, judo, wrestling, long distance running.

3. Minister of Labour and Solidarity, Minister of Education, Research and Technology, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Minister Delegate for School Education, Secretary of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training.

4. The official document makes reference to several sociological works conducted during the 1990s.

5. Code de l’éducation, Article L. 312–17-1, 2010.

6. The implementation of the ‘ABCD of Equality’, whose experimentation followed the promulgation of the law for same-sex marriage and its related heated debates, generated great opposition, in particular concerning the teaching of an alleged ‘theory of gender’.