Uma história da ginástica artística no corpo das mulheres entre os anos de 1952 a 1964: graça, leveza e feminilidade nos aparelhos

Abstract

We noticed that the athletes that started in the artistic gymnastics’ competition have been subjected to a gender ideological system which had imposed the roles and values of women. Based on that context, the purpose of this study was to cover the period from 1952 to 1964 and seek to understand the ramifications of the establishment the female category apparatus. The methodological approach chosen was the historical approach, in which we used documentary and bibliographic research to obtain the data. In the documentary research, the guidelines and official reports of each edition of the Olympic Games were consulted, as well as the pioneering magazines in the area of gymnastics. And when we look through the history of women in sport, more specifically until the 1950s, we observed that women were not recommended to practices related to running, sports and competitions. We understand that to the International Gymnastics Federation the periods of 1950s and 1960s were considered as the era of Artistic Gymnastics strictly sporting and that marked the entry of the sport in the contemporary era. The first apparatus that was approached in this study was the balance beam. We realized that although there was a tendency to develop this apparatus for pre-acrobatic elements (which was shown in free exercises), we found that in compulsory exercises, the focus was on body elements such as displacements, body waves, turns, rolls, balances and jumps and leaps. However, the purpose of the apparatus was to show the performer balanced high upon her slim pedestal, in all her feminine charm and elegance. The second one, was the uneven bars, and we observed that the uneven bars had the purpose of opposition the male parallel bars and their characteristics that required physical valances from the male universe, because the ideology was who that women didn't have the necessary strength to perform on uneven bars, and the change would allow for a greater variety in artistic expression. The floor was the third apparatus studied, the floor exercises excelled in showing the beauty, femininity and harmony, aspects that emerged through the combination of the use of space, well-elaborated choreography and musical accompaniment. The last one was the Vault, because of medical discourse at that time, based on Victorian principles, which postulated that women should not be physically committed, so there was this differentiation in the position of the pommel horse that sought safety so that women could perform with less strength in the upper limbs when compared to men in this apparatus. We have concluded that several aspects were changed in the course of this history of women’s artistic gymnastics until the edition of the Olympic games in Tokyo in 1964. In addition, all the changes that were observed in all the apparatus, the changes did not happen only inside the gym. Women tried to escape of the subordination, invisibility and impotence, looking for equality and control over their lives and their bodies. That movement became strong in the 1960s with the second wave of feminism.