12. Czech Republic

IRENA SLEPIČKOVÁ 12. CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Women in the Sports Media INTRODUCTION The Czech Republic has opened itself to the world in which globalization penetrates all fields of the life of society. Czech sport appears to show the same tendencies as anywhere else in the world. A question is to what extent such tendencies mutually correspond in the field of female sport media coverage. Media not only provide information on the sporting community but also create and influence the views and attitudes of the general public regarding various aspects of (not only) elite sport. They also have a potential to attract people to play sports for other reasons than those typical for elite sport. During the Olympics, sport broadcasts and news media coverage are followed avidly by people, even those who show little or no interest in sports in the period between Olympics (Slepička & Slepičková, 2002). No major research examines the coverage of Czech female athletes in our media. Only simple analyses, usually based on student work, are currently available. While media gender issues in general have been analysed by numerous Czech authors (e.g., Havelková & Vodrážka, 1998; Jirák & Köpplová, 2003), no larger study covering the subject matter of gender in sports exists. Therefore, to situate the current study in context I provide an introductory historical explanation of cultural, social and political milestones in the development of Czech society and sport as a social phenomenon. This is meant to facilitate the understanding of the presentation of women’s sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. WOMEN’S SPORTS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE CZECH LANDS Women’s sports have had a very long tradition in the Czech lands, with the beginnings of their organised forms dating back to the latter half of the 19th century. In similar fashion to numerous other European countries, there were two different lines of women’s sports development in the Czech lands. The first of them related to the physical education system of the Sokol organisation, while the other one was connected with the development of competitive sport. The latter half of the 19th century is known to have been a very dynamic period of European and Czech history connected with economic progress, as well as political changes. The emergence of a national revival as well as the pursuit of national identity were T. Bruce, J. Hovden and P. Markula (eds.), Sportswomen at the Olympics: A Global Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage, 153–165. © 2010 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. I. SLEPIČKOVÁ among the significant social development trends of that time. These trends took place concurrently with the development of modern sport quickly spreading across from the British Isles to the countries of the Euro-American cultural region. The territory of the present-day Czech Republic was then part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. By far the most developed in terms of economy, the region was politically controlled from Vienna. With the establishment of the voluntary Sokol organisation in 1862, sport became one important platform to strengthen the ideas of national consciousness. The views of the ideal woman and her place in society began to change. Educated and healthy women were needed to lead the nation towards self-awareness through the education of children (Bláha, 2003). In 1863, girls’ physical education was introduced by Sokol, and the year 1866 was marked by the first public presentation of girls’ physical exercising. In 1870, the Physical Activities Association of Prague Ladies and Girls obtained permission for running its activities. Gradually, women began to set up their own training programmes, overcoming the previous men’s recommendations to perform only ‘cautious and feminine’ exercises. Obviously, even then, the issue of the appropriateness of different kinds of sports for women was discussed. In 1911, Sokol adopted equal membership conditions for both men and women. It can be argued that the foundations of the traditional focus for Czech women’s physical activities were laid in that particular period of time and further developed into the present, in many different forms which are based on the basic gymnastic exercises connected with various forms of dance as well as music. This kind of sport activity is very popular among women in the Czech Republic at present, which holds true for sport organisations1 as well as private organisations offering paid services (mostly fitness centres that offer aerobics, spinning, etc.). This form of women’s physical activity or ‘sport’ is also documented in the tradition of so-called ‘mass performances’. In the period between the two World Wars, so-called All-Sokol Meetings with a significant female attendance reached maximum popularity. During the socialist era, the same festivals, which were well-known all over the world, took place under the name of Spartakiáda (or Spartakiads). Women’s performances were always among the peak events of these sport festivals in terms of aesthetics, and were very important for women themselves. The other line of women’s sport development, competitive sport, must not be forgotten. Women had previously participated in various sports (ice-skating, swimming, etc.) for fun. At the very outset of sports clubs, bicycle, tennis and ski clubs in particular, the participation of women had a rather sociable character, rather than a strong focus on competition. Czech women joined tennis and cycling competitions for the first time in 1893 and 1894, respectively. In 1897, they took part in the first skiing competitions. With ball games promoted by physical education teachers, the first Czech handball club was founded in 1907. Its female members practiced also track and field sports. The first Czech female sports organisation, the Association of Handball and Women’s Sports, was among the founders of La Féderation Sportive Féminine Internationale in Paris in 1921 (Schutová, 2003). 154 .

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