Women, sport and francoism in Catalonia: perceptions of sportswomen from the early years of the dictatorship (1939–1961)

Abstract

This research delves into the lives and perspectives of women who embraced physical and sporting pursuits in Catalonia during the tumultuous post-war era and the early years of the Franco dictatorship (1939–1961). It explores the biographies of the sportswomen and uncovers the intricate tapestry of moral and religious dynamics that coloured their experiences. The strategies used to collect data were a document and literature examination, in-depth interviews to 32 women (ranging in age from 73 to 100 years old), and a discussion group. Subsequently, content analysis was conducted using version 7 of the Atlas.ti software. We identified five categories of analysis for the moral sphere, which enabled us to construct a story to help understand the sportswomen’s experiences in the early years of Francoism. Without a doubt, practising sport was not common among women between 1939 and 1961 because it diverged from the model promoted by the Franco regime based on religious, scientific-medical and educational arguments. Within this context of women’s invisibility in the public practice of sport, the interviewees’ voices recounted the influences which led them to start practising sport and the moral pressures exerted by a highly moralised national-Catholic society influenced by the traditional Church, which hindered women from practising sport.