Women, Sport and Culture: From The 1948 Olympic Games to Rome 1960

Abstract

The chapter has two sections. The first looks at the expansion of the Olympic programme for women between 1948 and 1960 and the changing cultural values of Olympism during this time. The second section argues that Olympic sport was not really representative of how most women experienced their favourite forms of active leisure and became sporting professionals. Using examples from bowls to track and field athletics, the chapter shows how diverse women enjoyed amateur and professional sporting careers across the course of their lives.