User:Christby1005/Women's sports

Article Draft

The article provides comprehensive introduction to women's involvement in all kinds of sport activities and competitions. However, since the article covers a lot of topics, some of the explanations to some sub-claims are not clear enough and many sections of contents needs supplemental information to explain and thus provide more detailed introduction to the history of women in sports.

History

In Book Six of the Odyssey, Nausicaa and her handmaidens engage in light sport as they're waiting for the clothes they've washed to dry ...

Then they bathed, and gave

Their limbs the delicate oil, and took their meal

Upon the river’s border⁠—while the robes

Beneath the sun’s warm rays were growing dry.

And now, when they were all refreshed by food,

Mistress and maidens laid their veils aside

And played at ball.

Early modern

During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, women played in professional Cuju teams. Cuju, also known as Tsu Chu, was an ancient Chinese ball game that is considered to be the predecessor of modern-day football (soccer). It was first recorded in the 3rd century BC and was played by both men and women. Women's Cuju was different from men's Cuju in a few ways. First, the women's ball was smaller and lighter. Second, the women played with smaller teams and on a smaller field. Third, the women were not allowed to use their hands or feet to touch the ball. Instead, they used their heads and chests to control the ball. Women's Cuju was a popular sport for centuries in China. It was played by women of all social classes and ages. The game was often played during festivals and holidays.

Chinese ladies playing cuju, by the Ming Dynasty painter Du Jin

Modern era

Late 17th century

The educational committees of the French Revolution (1789) included intellectual, moral, and physical education for both girls and boys. With the victory of Napoleon less than twenty years later, physical education was reduced to military preparedness for boys and men. In Germany, the physical education of GutsMuths (1793) included girl's education. This included the measurement of performances of girls. This led to women's sport being more actively pursued in Germany than in most other countries. When the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale was formed as an all women's international organization it had a German male vice-president in addition to German international success in elite sports.