Women In The 1920s

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In the 1920s everything was prosperous. The war was over, people had new jobs, speculation was good, and everything in America seemed to be full of unending possibilities. Along with all of the wonderful conditions of the economy, there were also great changes in society itself. Women began to gain rights and play bigger roles in the societal standard. Among these new roles was being an athlete. “Once women started running, they couldn’t be stopped.” (Runner’s World) Women’s sports started popping up early in the twentieth century. It was a barrier breaker between men and women, especially in their roles. In the very beginning of the century, women got to compete in the 1900 Olympics. The events they competed in were golf, tennis, and croquet. …show more content…

The biggest reason they didn’t allow women to run long distances is because they believed that it would mess up their reproductive system. They thought that the extensive fatigue would either hurt future children or make it so they couldn’t have children at all. At this point in time, it was still thought that the main role of women was to be in the house, and taking care of the children. This issue came up after the “Eleven Wretched Women” incident. In the 1928 Olympics held in Amsterdam, nine women ran in the first women’s 800-meter run. After finishing it is told that some women had already quit and dropped out before the race was over. Others had finished and were so exhausted that they couldn’t stand. It was deemed that this extensive exercise was going to hurt their reproductive organs. Most of this was a lie. It was originally believed that eleven women ran this race, but it was only nine. All of the women finished the race, and no one dropped out. “The sensational descriptions are much exaggerated I can assure you” (Harold Abrahams; Runner’s World). After this event, the women’s 800 was cut out of the Olympics until 1960. Women, though, were still involved in the Olympics, but not allowed in long events. The Olympic board agreed to have ten women events, but that got cut down to