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From Mixed-Sex Sport to Sport for Girls: The Feminization of Figure Skating

2010; Routledge; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17460263.2010.481208

1746-0271

Mary Louise Adams,

Sports and Physical Education Studies

Abstract The history of women's sport is often written as a history of gender segregation and women's subordination. This article, however, demonstrates the historical contingency of gendered sport categories and argues that gender segregation has not always been fundamental to the organization of competitive sports. Drawing on the history of figure skating, the article illustrates how a once 'manly exercise' went through a relatively gender-balanced period in the early 1900s before coming to be understood, by the end of the Second World War, as a 'girls' sport'. Focusing on the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s as significant decades in this change, the paper discusses the factors that contributed to the shift in the meanings of skating: the popularity of Norwegian Olympic champion Sonja Henie, whose post-competition career as a Hollywood film star brought figure skating to a mass audience for the first time; women's increasing prominence as the technical innovators of the sport; and the intersection of these factors with the social and demographic changes that resulted from the Second World War. Notes 1. Mary Jo Kane and Eldon Snyder, 'Sport Typing: The Social "Containment" of Women in Sport', Arena Review, 13, no. 2 (1989): 77–96. 2. See for examples Brenda Riemer and Michelle E. Visio, 'Gender Typing of Sports: An Investigation of Metheny's Classification', Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sports 74, no. 2 (2003): 193–204; Sherri Matteo, 'The Effect of Sex and Gender-schematic Processing on Sport Participation', Sex Roles 15, nos. 7/8 (1986): 417–32; Nathalie Koivula, 'Perceived Characteristics of Sports Categorized as Gender-neutral, Feminine and Masculine', Journal of Sport Behavior 24, no. 4 (2001): 377–93; Suzanne Laberge and Mathieu Albert, 'Conceptions of Masculinity and Gender Transgressions in Sport Among Adolescent boys', Men and Masculinities 1, no. 3 (1999): 243–67. 3. See for examples Brian Orser with Steve Milton, Orser: A Skater's Life (Toronto, 1988); Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler with Linda D. Profuse, Brasseur and Eisler: To Catch a Dream (Toronto, 1997). 4. Skate Canada's own membership records show clearly the skewed gender balance that results from figure skating's feminine reputation. Between 1995 and 2005 – the decade following the Kerrigan/Harding incident and the period in which figure skating enjoyed its greatest public exposure and highest popularity – the number of male skaters ranged between 21 and 28 per cent of the total. Skate Canada [known as the Canadian Figure Skating Association until 2000], 'Associate Membership Profile Statistics', taken from Annual Reports published between 1996 and 2005. 5. Mary Louise Adams, 'The Manly History of a "girls' Sport": Gender, Class and the Development of Nineteenth-century Figure Skating', International Journal of the History of Sport 26, no. 7 (2007): 872–93. 6. National Museum of History and Technology, American Skating Mania: Ice Skating in the Nineteenth Century (Washington, DC, 1978); The Skating Club, Historical Sketch of the Club and Description of the Rink and Pavilion (London, 1909); Franz Biberhofer, Chronik des Wiener Eislaufvereines [Chronicle of the Vienna Ice Skating Club] (Vienna, 1906). 7. For examples of early textbooks see R. Jones, A Treatise on Skating (London, 1772); J. Garcin, Le vrai patineur ou principes sur l'art de patiner avec grace(Paris, 1813); A. Skater, The Art of Skating (London, 1832); Edward L. Gill, The Skater's Manual (New York, 1867). 8. Dennis Bird, Our Skating Heritage: A Centenary History of the National Skating Association of Great Britain, 1879–1979 (London, 1979), 36; Charlotte [Oelschlagel], Hippodrome Skating Book (New York, 1916), 7; Larry Perry, 'Boston Woman Skater Wins Championship', (n.d.) [newspaper clipping reporting on a competition that took place in March 1917], filed with the papers of Theresa Wells Blanchard 1911–1918: 78.7.10, World Figure Skating Museum, Colorado Springs, CO. 9. J.A. Mangan, Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School (Cambridge, 1981). 10. David Whitson, 'Sport in the Social Construction of Masculinity', in Sport, Men and the Gender Order: Critical Feminist Perspectives, eds Michael Messner and Don Sabo (Champaign, IL, 1990), 21. 11. Susan Cahn, Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-century Women's Sport (New York, 1994); Helen Lenskyj, Out of Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality (Toronto, 1986). 12. For discussions on the implications and meanings of so-called 'feminine' behaviour for boys and men, see R.W. Connell, Masculinities (Berkeley, CA, 1995); Michael S. Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History, 2nd edn (New York, 2006). 13. Dawn Pawson Bean, 'Swimming, Synchronized', in International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports, vol. 3, eds Karen Christensen, Allen Guttmann and Gertrud Pfister (New York, 2001), 1145–1149. 14. Cahn, Coming on Strong, 219. 15. 'Sportswomen of the Day', 1907, source unknown, file: Syers, World Figure Skating Museum and Archives. See also Madge Syers, 'Skating for Ladies', in The Book of Winter Sports, eds Edgar Syers and Madge Syers (London, 1908), 117. 16. John Lowerson, Sport and the English Middle Classes, 1870–1914 (Manchester, 1993), 267. 17. British Olympic Committee, The Fourth Olympiad: The Official Report of the Olympic Games of 1908 (London, n.d.), 295. The report refers to the 'Autumn Games' because the figure skating events at the London summer games were held in October, several weeks after the rest of the competitions. The first winter games were not held until 1924. 18. In films of early competitions one can see the tremendous similarity in the styles of male and female skaters. In present-day skating one of the main differences between men's and women's performances lies in the use of the arms. But in the 1920s, skaters rarely used their arms, so this avenue of difference was unavailable to them. They also used their free legs in similar ways. Overall their skating was less embellished; it had not yet become the kind of theatrical performance that we are used to today. And so skaters had fewer opportunities to present themselves differently from each other, whether in terms of gender or other aesthetic qualities. Films of the 1928 Olympics are available for viewing at the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs, CO. For commentary on the relative merits of male and female skaters, see T.D. Richardson, 'Retrospection', Monthly Freeze, Nov. 1928, 5. 19. Carl Fillunger, 'Zur Europa-meisterschaft [European championship]', Allgemeine Sportzeitung, 26 Feb. 1893, 193–4 20. 'Miss Weld Wins Laurels', New York Times, 7 Feb. 1918, 12. 21. 'The National Skating Association's commemoration week', The Field, 22 Feb. 1902, 256. 22. Kenneth M. Beaumont, 'Some Aspects of Modern International Skating', Skating, Jan. 1929, 5. For comments on the British championships in 1927 and 1928, see A.C.A. Wade, The Skater's Cavalcade: Fifty Years of Skating (London, 1939), 59. 23. George H. Brown, 'The International Skating Union (Again)', Skating, Feb. 1925, 28; 'Editorial', Monthly Freeze, Dec. 1931, 1. 24. Kathleen E. McCrone, Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women, 1870–1914 (London, 1988), 2. 25. Kathleen E. McCrone, Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women, 1870–1914 (London, 1988), 13. 26. Mike Cronin, 'Bobsledding', in International Encyclopedia of Women's Sports, vol. 1, eds Karen Christensen, Allen Guttmann and Gertrude Pfister (New York, 2001), 144. 27. Mike Cronin, 'Bobsledding', in International Encyclopedia of Women's Sports, vol. 1, eds Karen Christensen, Allen Guttmann and Gertrude Pfister (New York, 2001), 144. 28. British Olympic Committe, The Fourth Olympiad, 295. 29. McCrone, Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women, 162. 30. Ellen W. Gerber, 'Chronicle of Participation', in The American Woman in Sport, eds Ellen W. Gerber, Jan Felshin, Pearl Berlin and Waneen Wyrick (Reading, MA, 1974), 4. 31. Audio interview with 'Wag' Richardson at the Onslow Court Hotel, London, conducted by Ben Wright, 1979, World Figure Skating Museum. 32. Nigel Brown, Ice Skating: A History (London, 1959), 161. 33. Raymond Strait and Leif Henie, Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (New York, 1985), 22. 34. Maribel Y. Vinson, Advanced Figure Skating (New York, 1940), 287. 35. David Young, The Golden Age of Canadian Figure Skating (Toronto, 1984), 55. 36. George E.B. Hill, 'Ladies' Championship', Skating, May 1931, 8–9. 37. Sonja Henie, Wings on My Feet (New York, 1945), 8–9. 38. Brown, Ice Skating: 164–5. 39. Matthias Hampe, Stilwandel im Eiskunstlauf. Eine Ästhetik und Kulturgeschichte (Frankfurt, 1994), 79. 40. 'Editorial', Monthly Freeze, April 1928, 1. 41. 'Olympic Skating: An Appreciation and Some Comments', Monthly Freeze, March 1928, 7. 42. T.D. Richardson, 'Retrospection', Monthly Freeze, Nov. 1928, 5. 43. T.D. Richardson, 'The Master Skater: An Appreciation of Gillis Grafstrom', Monthly Freeze, Dec. 1930, 4. 44. Beaumont, 'Some Aspects of Modern International Skating', 5–6. 45. Beaumont, 'Some Aspects of Modern International Skating' 7. 46. Richardson, 'Retrospection', 5. 47. Wade, The Skater's Calvacade, 59. 48. Wade, The Skater's Calvacade, 59. 49. 'Comparisons', Monthly Freeze, Nov. 1931, 12. 50. Brown, Ice Skating, 165. This is an astounding figure, thus far not possible to confirm. 51. Maribel Vinson, 'Gay Blades: Part II' [a typewritten collection of letters to her family], 1936, 50. World Figure Skating Museum. Box: Vinson Diaries. 52. Henie, Wings on My Feet. 53. Jack Cuddy, 'Sonja Henie a Sensation Both in Making Pictures and in Public Appearances', Globe and Mail, 22 Jan. 1938, 18. 54. Tommy Munns, 'Scanning the Field', Globe and Mail, 29 Jan. 1938, 17. 55. Henie, Wings on My Feet, 92. 56. Strait and Henie, Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows, 166. 57. 'Ice Skating Goes into Big Figures', Skating, March 1940, 17. 58. Advertisement for Saks Fifth Avenue, Skating, Dec. 1937, back cover. 59. 'Twenty Years of the USFSA', Skating, Dec. 1941, 14. 60. 'Twenty Years of the USFSA', Skating, Dec. 1941, 15. 61. 'What Has Happened to Skating All Over the World the Last Two Years', Skating, Dec. 1941, 7. 62. Theresa Weld Blanchard, 'Skating's Part in the War', Skating, Jan. 1942, 5. 63. Katherine V. Kasser, contributor to 'Round Table Talks on Boy Skaters', Skating, Dec. 1945, 18. 64. Maj Britt, 'A Swede in Britain', The Skater 1, no. 2 (1949), 17. 65. Rosetta Hoffman, 'Sonja Henie – Queen of the Ice', Strength and Health, March 1937, available online at http://www.zianet.com//jjohnson/sonja/qoi.htm, accessed 21 Jan. 2002. 66. American Psychiatric Association, 'Gender Identity Disorder', Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, available online at http://www.psychiatryonline.com.proxy.queensu.ca/content.aspx?aID=10357, accessed 21 May 2008.