Beneficio y transformación

Some of the general barriers to women’s participation in sport have already been examined in this chapter, but there were also some additional hurdles for women to overcome in terms of competitive sport, and competitive swimming more specifically. In participating in competitive swimming, women were subject to a number of

803

‘Unda’, ‘Swimming’, Australasian, 2 March 1895, p. 403. The statement regarding the presence of women’s swimming clubs in Sydney in this period is interesting, as according to multiple historians, the first Sydney ladies’ club was not established until 1902. It is possible these clubs are not considered official from the perspective that they were not affiliated with a state association, while the inaugural Sydney club in 1902 was granted conditional affiliation. See Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 59, or Phillips, Swimming Australia, p. 17.

804

‘Brighton Swimming Club’, Brighton Leader, 18 January 1896, p. 2.

805

administrative and ideological barriers, as well as the physiological problems that would reportedly ensue. One of the primary problems was access, and Phillips asserts that within public baths women had less than half the time allocated to the men, as women supposedly did not require as much access.806 Therefore, if women wanted to be able to swim at a reasonable standard, they were expected to do so in a reduced time period. Parker states that in England, pool time for the ladies was dependent on male baths administrators, as well as male swimming club committees,807 and it is probable that this was also the case in Melbourne. As well as the time restrictions imposed on the women by baths administrators, working class women often did not possess sufficient leisure time to participate in the competitive aspect of the sport, which would have involved training, participation in club activities, and later the competitions themselves.808

In terms of actual participation, another obstacle to competitive swimming was the restrictive swimming costumes women were expected to wear, so that the body was not exposed. Sex segregated swimming meant that costumes were freer than they would have been in mixed company, with early female bathing dresses consisting of a long-sleeved full-length dress and hat,809 but were still relatively cumbersome. The upper classes were able to import their costumes from Europe, but the lower classes were forced to make their own. It was recommended by women’s magazines that these costumes should be made from cotton serge or twill, as these materials did not cling to the body, but they were heavy and therefore difficult to swim in.810 From cursory examination of some of these barriers, it is immediately clear that competitive swimming for women was heavily skewed toward the middle and upper classes, who could afford the time and funds to do so.

However, regardless of class, there was also the general stigma of women’s competitive sporting involvement to overcome. In regard to approved female sporting and recreational activity, competitive sport was perceived as an indicator of masculinity. Female participation in competitive sport was incongruous with the aims

806

Phillips, Swimming Australia, p. 11.

807

Parker, ‘An Urban and Historical Perspective’, p. 311.

808

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 5.

809

Parker, ‘An Urban and Historical Perspective’, p. 284.

810

and objectives of the activity, as sport was essential in developing masculine traits such as manliness and leadership.811 Given that these were not socially desirable traits for the nineteenth century female, any activity women participated in needed to be significantly different, in order to prevent the masculine nature of sport from being corrupted. Therefore, the activities that were approved for women to participate in were ‘decorous, non strenuous and designed for perpetuation of the British race and its morals’.812

As McCrone suggests, female participants needed to play in moderation while maintaining their femininity, and play under conditions that minimised threats to modesty and femininity in order to gain public acceptance, and the activities they participated in had to reflect these values.813 It was also highly desirable for female competitive activities to have a utilitarian function.814 One of the primary reasons swimming for women was approved was its status as a ‘useful’ activity. Competitive swimming was endorsed due to its role in developing fast swimming, which would assist in the saving of a person from drowning. Therefore it could be construed that females were not competing for the sake of competition, but for the greater good of society.

McCrone also states that in the English context, sport for women in the late nineteenth century was a repressive and constraining mechanism. It idealised maleness, segregated the sexes and rendered women inferior to men. However, it could also be transforming and liberating, and offered women the opportunity to challenge some of the key principles underlying the popular ideology of femininity.815 In regard to competitive sport for women, there were a number of cultural constructs that dictated how they should compete. Participation in individual sports was much more acceptable than in team games, with team games considered undesirable for women as they were inconsistent with the ideology of how women should play. They were seen as ‘unbecoming’, ‘freakish’ and ‘frivolous’.816 Conversely, individual sports were desirable because they fitted the appropriate criteria for women’s involvement.

811

McCrone, ‘Play Up! Play Up!’ p. 117.

812

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 19.

813

McCrone, ‘Play Up! Play Up!’ p. 118.

814

Hargreaves, ‘Victorian Familism’, p. 137.

815

McCrone, Playing the Game, p. 2.

816

They generally had a longer history of female participation, and often involved membership in a socially exclusive club. According to McCrone, this rendered them more acceptable as the images associated with these socially exclusive clubs were much less competitive and not as overtly masculine.817

More notably, as McCrone suggests, individual sports were more likely to fit the social construct of how women should participate in physical activity. Bodily contact and displays of strength or intensity were rare, competitions were sex-segregated, and the women involved often made compromises that emphasised their femininity. Families could take part in individual sports, which enabled married women to compete without compromising their familial role. Therefore, their activities were not perceived as threatening to the existing male dominance of athleticism, and in some cases reinforced this male supremacy. Women’s competitive sport often required the patronage of men as organisers or advisers, which reinforced their higher position, ensured their approval, and prevented criticism.818 As Hargreaves also states, by partaking in their own approved activities and not threatening the existing patriarchal sporting order by impinging on the male institution, women were able to gradually extend the scope and nature of their participation.819

In line with such views, Raszeja suggests that competitive swimming was the first acceptable and recommended sport for women.820 As she states:

By virtue of its long association with health, by virtue of its ‘hidden’ qualities, and by virtue of the lack of obvious physical demands it made upon its participants, women’s competitive swimming escaped the constraints put upon the newer, more ‘public’ sports … It was a sport which epitomised the contradictions and ambivalences surroundings [sic] the development of women’s physical liberation. It involved the incorporation of the masculine qualities of stamina, endurance and striving for physical excellence, yet, conducted in a cool, aquatic environment, it retained a feminine image of gracefulness and non-exertion. It required the wearing of costumes often skimpier than those in penny peep-shows, yet because they were for a specific purpose, a purpose with long-standing medical and scientific sanction, they raised few eyebrows … it posed no threat to the image and ideals of ‘respectable’ womanhood … 821

817

McCrone, Playing the Game, p. 154.

818

McCrone, Playing the Game, p. 185.

819

Hargreaves, ‘Victorian Familism’, p. 137.

820

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 2.

821

Another key reason for the public approval for women’s competitive swimming was that it remained largely segregated from the male sport. Women bathed recreationally at separate times, which ensured that the competitive sport could also develop free of the rules governing behaviour in mixed society, in regard to dress.822 Therefore, the female competitive swimmer was able to escape censure, despite the sport being neither fashionable nor frivolous. The sport was not perceived to present a threat to the established order, or to the perceived idea of womanhood. It did not provoke hostility or outrage within the general public, or incite a great deal of public ridicule.823

In reference to the early women’s races that took place at VASA carnivals, it is significant that these races were sometimes referred to as ‘novelty’ events in press coverage. A press correspondent reporting on the prospective races at the 1895 Brighton carnival categorised the ladies’ event as part of the novelty component, alongside comical events such as tilting tournaments, greasy pole races and the harlequinade.824 It can be demonstrated that these events were considered novelties because of their rare inclusion, but it is also possible that this term was employed by males in order to reinforce women’s role as the inferior sex. By assigning a comical emphasis to these events, the subconscious fear that the women would shame the men in the sporting arena was somewhat assuaged.825

This ‘novelty’ terminology can also be considered in connection with the fancy dress novelty races that were held at the vast majority of carnivals. While it is suggested by the nature of the press coverage that these events were put on for the benefit of women attending Ladies’ Day events, often the winners of these events were males dressed as females. These costumes often bordered on the ludicrous, with competitors attired as characters such as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ creating ‘roars of laughter’.826 One participant in the 1896 Melbourne carnival was attired as the ‘New Woman’, whose paper costume and the subsequent loss thereof in the water also provoked

822

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 41.

823

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 25.

824

‘Unda’, ‘Swimming’, Australasian, 23 February 1895, p. 355.

825

McCrone, Playing the Game, p. 281.

826

much hilarity.827 His costume, according to the Australasian correspondent, was ‘sufficiently grotesque to evoke loud laughter’.828 Another gentleman in the same race was attired as the ‘New Girl in Old Clothes’.829 The use of these characters for inciting amusement was highly symbolic.

The ‘New Woman’, or the ‘New Girl’ as she was sometimes referred to, was the symbolic figurehead of women’s emancipation and a popular topic of public debate in the final years of the nineteenth century. At her most radical, she ‘challenged the most basic social institutions and beliefs, including marriage’ and ‘forced the re- conceptualisation of society’s view of womanhood’.830 As Parratt states, a key component of the ‘New Woman’ was her emerging sense of physicality.831 It was this aspect that the public latched onto in professing their disapproval of the ‘New Woman’. Raszeja states that the image of the ‘New Woman’ and her sporting achievements ‘summed up women’s attempts to transgress the dividing line between the sexes’.832 Participation in competitive sport, and the subsequent adoption of all the associated masculine qualities that it was meant to foster, was seen to be symbolic of the attempt by the ‘New Woman’ to overthrow patriarchy. Therefore, caricaturists frequently used images of sporting women to ridicule the idea of the ‘New Woman’ and to nullify their effect on society by making fun of their athletic efforts.833

It is likely that the adoption of ‘New Woman’ costumes at swimming carnivals was a reflection of these values. As a popular point of political humour at the time, it was natural that this would be reflected in wider society. Yet, it possibly served the purpose it was intended for in the press, ridiculing women’s attempts to seriously compete in the same manner as men. In a hegemonic fashion, it was the women who were supposed to be amused by these forms of comic representation, further reinforcing the importance of ideal womanhood in late nineteenth century society. However, this is not to suggest that men were not generally supportive of women’s efforts to compete. Popular opinion dictated that they should be, given the

827

‘Melbourne Swimming Club’, Age, 27 January 1896, p. 3.

828

‘Unda’, ‘Swimming’, Australasian, 1 February 1896, p. 212.

829

‘Costumes in the Fancy Costume Race’, Melbourne Punch, 30 January 1896, p. 77.

830

Parratt, ‘Athletic “Womanhood”’, p. 142.

831

Parratt, ‘Athletic “Womanhood”’, p. 142.

832

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 23.

833

humanitarian and healthful benefits the sport provided. As Raszeja also states, the inclusion of women’s races in carnivals was beneficial to the attendance. Competing women would bring their families, and more males would attend to watch the women swimming.834 However, men needed to control the form in which women competed, so they did not ‘feminise’ their masculine sporting activities.

It should be noted that these occasional ladies’ races at VASA carnivals received very little press coverage, apart from the listing of results. The Brighton Leader appears to be the only source which makes some comment on the actual competitive element, complaining about the handicapping in the 1895 ladies’ race:

Miss N. Nicholls was given ten seconds start of Miss K. Edmonds, which the latter young lady had no chance of making up. Emily Fagg, with eight seconds head start, also beat her. If three seconds each had been deducted from Miss Fagg’s and Miss Nicholls’ handicap the finish would have been closer.835

However, this was the exception to the rule, and it must be questioned why the press coverage of these races was limited, but not critical. It should be noted that the premier (and most prestigious) swimming club, Melbourne, did not hold races for women, and their carnivals commandeered the most press attention. Nevertheless, given the controversy surrounding women’s competitive sport in this period, it is surprising that these women’s races did not garner more coverage. Mixed bathing was still forbidden in Melbourne, yet the women who swam in front of men at these events not only escaped censure, but were commended by press correspondents. Clearly, women’s swimming races were not considered hugely controversial, and were being undertaken in the right spirit. The women that competed in these races were still feminine, submissive to the male competitors and were not demonstrably competitive. Undoubtedly, their sporting talent was also no threat to the males taking part.

It is suggested that rather than being serious competitors, the women involved in these races were perhaps relatives of the male competitors. Therefore, as long they were not threatening the masculine institution, and were solely reliant on men to provide them with these opportunities, the administrators of these events were happy to indulge these pioneering women. However, in much the same manner as the passive role of

834

Raszeja, A Decent and Proper Exertion, p. 54.

835

women as spectators, the inauspicious nature of these races paved the way for a distinct brand of female competitive sport. The lack of participation in the ladies’ races staged at the VASA carnivals suggested that Melbourne women were uncomfortable with this format, and another solution was required for women to swim competitively, whilst still maintaining their femininity and respectability.

5.5 ‘Not a Swimming Animal’: Building a Case for Women’s Carnivals Despite the widespread popularity of recreational bathing, women were still not perceived as competent swimmers. In reference to this problem, the Punch correspondent was typically blunt in an 1898 column, stating that:

Women do not swim. There are exceptions, but they are comparatively so rare that it is safe to say that woman is not a swimming animal. Amongst any twenty women who might be present when a child falls into the sea it is almost certain that there will not be one swimmer.836

However, Phillips suggests that there was a boom in women’s competitive swimming in this period, and he attributes this to three major factors, namely the general acceptance of the activity, access to tuition and the opportunities provided within the education system. These increased opportunities ensured that by the 1890s, the popularity of the sport meant that the inclusion of women’s races in swimming club programs was desirable.837 It is noted that ladies’ races became more popular on VASA carnival programs from approximately 1895 onwards, which is testament to the growing public acceptance of the activity. However, an examination of press coverage suggests that the boom in women’s swimming in this period was also assisted by the popularity of bathing with the Melbourne gentry, and the representation of this in press coverage. By reporting on swimming as a fashionable activity, and highlighting its popularity with the social elite, a trickle down effect was created, with women naturally seeking to emulate their social betters.

From 1896 onwards, press columns espousing the benefits of recreational swimming for women became commonplace, with these columns often penned by female correspondents. One such column suggested that swimming improved the figure, with the chest becoming more developed and the waist smaller. This was compared with

836

Melbourne Punch, 13 January 1898, p. 22.

837

cycling, a popular sport for females in this era, where it was reported that the activity enlarged the waist with ‘fearful rapidity’.838 This was, as the lady correspondent dramatically declared, ‘a consummation but few devoutly wish … the average smart Melbourne girl is not at all willing to adopt the kind of figure favoured by a certain set of women in our midst, who regard intemperance, corsets and cigarette smoking with equal horror’.839 Another article in the Australasian in 1896 provided instructions on teaching girls how to swim, and on the important issue of bathing costumes for women. The column suggested that in putting together a swimming costume, ladies should follow the prescribed fashion guidelines:

Avoid frills and furbelows. Push back all the hair on the forehead under the rubber cap, substituting an artificial fringe of Polish hair, warranted to curl