A Contested Victory: Liberal Reformism and Women’s Physical Culture in Colombia, 1930–1946

Abstract The relationship between women’s sports, female physical education, and liberal reformism is pivotal to understanding gender relations in Colombia from 1930 to 1946. The Liberal Republic was a political period when public officials placed cultural reforms at the centre of governmental attempts to ‘transform’ and ‘modernise’ Colombia. Print media, official correspondence, and legislation are crucial to grasping women’s reactions to the advancement of female physical culture and how they publicly advocated for its implementation. The endeavours of the Liberal Republic to promote physical culture at the national level highlight the way in which their reformism worked in everyday life and uncover how female educators and sports enthusiasts discussed and embraced the government’s initiatives from below.

women's participation in sports and physical education.By examining the voices of female athletes and educators who publicly articulated their perspectives in the printing press or answering official correspondence, it is possible to shed light on the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon. 4While the advantages of women's sports and physical education were widely acknowledged, certain aspects sparked contentious debates.Varied and sometimes contradictory perspectives emerged concerning masculinization, motherhood, healthiness, and discipline. 5Examining the importance of sports and physical education is crucial for understanding the gendered policies of the Liberals and the dialogues surrounding women's public lives between 1930 and 1946. 6ince 1909, under the political hegemony of the Conservative Party, Colombia initiated a 'transition' in which moderate sectors of the Liberal and Conservative parties compromised, hoping to build a 'system' to overcome the violence that characterized the country's politics since the establishment of the Republic. 7Under their conciliatory formula, the parties' elites hoped to grow the economy, stabilize the political system, encourage 'civilized comportment, ' enforce 'public order, ' and control the emergence of mass politics, which they believed were essential elements in their quest to modernize society. 8Political leaders also aspired to transform the popular classes, which they considered backward, unhealthy, and naïve, by expanding their access to social rights, including improved labour conditions, health and hygiene, education, and housing. 9Liberal Carlos Lleras Restrepo, elected president of the Republic decades later, summarized the era's spirit: 'To civilize a people is in sum nothing more than to give birth to new [modern] needs in them.' 10 For the future Head of State and many public officials at that time, it was clear that the 'masses' needed to be pulled from above and rescued from their vices. 11ollowing Olaya Herrera's election and the rise of the Liberal Republic, which held sway over Colombia until 1946, the country continued experiencing demographic, social, cultural, political, and economic changes. 12Notably, marginalized members of society experienced a substantial increase in social visibility. 13Women, for example, ventured even more than before into the conquest of social spaces traditionally dominated by men, like the world of labour, higher education, and public administration. 14In this framework, sports and physical education, regarded by enthusiasts and commentators as part of the broader realm of physical culture, emerged as arenas where women encountered heightened mobility and autonomy, which contributed to an expansion of their agency and efforts for liberation. 15ports and physical education, then, competed with and complemented traditional milieus such as churches, religious festivals, markets, and civic celebrations, which, up until that moment, were the conventional social spaces for women's associativity. 16Furthermore, through active engagement in physical culture, women had increased opportunities to contemplate their societal roles, immersing themselves in debates about the 'new woman.' A modern paradigm that reformists believed to be crucial in transforming a traditionally conservative nation into a more modern and progressive society. 17he analysis of women's sports and female physical education has flourished as a significant subject in historical studies since the 1980s. 18Scholars in different geographies have approached these topics using theoretical tools drawn from cultural studies, biology, sociology, anthropology, feminist theory, and psychology, developing a myriad of different works focused on aspects such as gender identification, femininity, class analysis, race, ethnicity, and queerness, amongst many others. 19nglish-based scholarship examining women's sports and physical education in Latin America has produced notable examples that have significantly advanced our understanding of these activities.These works contribute valuable insights into women's physical culture, including socio-economic dynamics, historical developments, and the impact of policies and initiatives promoting female athleticism.Patricia Anderson's research delves into the multifaceted realm of female sports in Argentina.She explores several key themes, including the intellectual discourse surrounding women's sporting participation in the early twentieth century and how sportswomen epitomized modern forms of femininity, showcasing how their athletic prowess defied entrenched gender conventions and societal perceptions.Additionally, her work explores the scholarly discussion on female sports, shedding light on the complexities inherent in such academic pursuits. 20In their 2016 edited volume Women and Sport in Latin America, Rosa López de D'amico, Tansin Benn, and Gertrud Pfister comprehensively explore the topic from a multidisciplinary perspective.Encompassing analysis from ten countries, the volume provides different regional perspectives and presents an overview of the recent scholarly advances in the field. 21The two volumes of Women's Football in Latin America, edited by Knijnik, Acosta, and Garton, feature contributions from scholars in the region who examine the complexities of the sport and the evolving interactions of women with it across time.Their research contributes to historical and contemporary discussion on the topic. 22Marjolein Van Bavel explores the relationship between boxing, gender, politics, and identity in Mexico. 23David Wood studies female agency through football in Brazil and Argentina. 24Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel's Futbolera focuses on women's historical involvement in sports.The book delves into how state agencies intervened in physical education programs throughout the region, giving essential insights into the intersection of sports, female athletics, gender, and public policy. 25rom a Latin American perspective, the study of women's sports, fitness, and physical education is a growing field.In Brazil, historiography is notably rich, encompassing various topics and perspectives.Marcelo Moraes e Silva and Maria Rita Assis César examine the idea of 'gender trouble' within the study of physical education. 26ariana Purcote Fontoura and Moraes critically assess the specialized discourses and representations of the female body as portrayed in newspapers and magazines during the 1940s. 27Silvina Goellner's scholarly contributions on gender, physical education, sports, and exercise includes diverse works that delve into the representation of women's bodies, sports policy, eugenic practices, and race throughout the twentieth century. 28Victor Andrade de Melo discusses women in lawn tennis and cycling during the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. 29Mônica Schpun reviews the relationship between sport and beauty in Sao Paulo. 30Brazilian historiography continues adding new theoretical elements to the current epistemological discussion while exploring innovative topics.
Historians in Spanish-speaking Latin America have been actively working on women's sports for the last two decades.Pablo Ariel Scharagrodsky has conducted comprehensive research on women's sports and female physical education in Argentina and Uruguay.His work delves into the representations and practices within these contexts, shedding light on how they have circulated and influenced attitudes and policies in both countries. 31Andrés H. Reggiani examines the diffusion of physical culture in Argentina and how women's sports were an example of social and cultural transformations in the country during the 1930s and 1940s. 32Carolina Paz Cabello explores the long history of women's football in Chile. 33Lucía Martínez Moctezuma discusses the importance of physical education, physical culture, and sport and their place within Mexico's post-revolutionary educational projects during the 1930s and the 1940s. 34he emergence of scholarly work on women's sports and female physical education in Colombian historiography represents a growing recognition of the importance of these topics.While historically overlooked, recent research efforts have begun to shed light on women's experiences and contributions in these fields. 35Anthropology, sociology, and pedagogy scholars such as Zandra Pedraza and Claudia Ximena Herrera Beltran have also successfully discussed the importance of women's physical culture and its relationship with education and health discourses. 36The underlying meanings attributed to women's sports and physical education during the Liberal Republic varied across class, race, age, education, and geographic location.They played a pivotal role in shaping the social and cultural landscape of the country during this period. 37hile not all aspects of women's cultural and social 'modernization' were ushered in by the Liberal reformist agenda, certain elements, such as female physical culture, gained prominence within the public sphere after 1930, emerging as significant and contentious dimensions of social life. 38

Embracing Physical Culture
As shown by scholars Lucía Martínez Moctezuma and Meily Assbí Linhales, by the late 1920s, amid the popularization of Western and Anglo-Saxon feminine standards, the secularization of society, and the advancement of education and consumer culture, Latin American women began to display their bodies more freely and independently. 39In Colombia, women's physical culture acquired notoriety despite being a 'socially circumscribed phenomenon.' 40 It generated a 'consensus' among educators, public officials, intellectuals, and enthusiasts who accepted how essential and beneficial physical culture was independent of their politics. 41Almost everybody agreed it was necessary to 'improve' women's bodies, health, discipline, and intellectual capacities. 42Sports, gymnastics, and physical education were pioneering arenas where women could freely express their physical capabilities, embody and embrace 'modern' behaviours, and associate with each other. 43espite the consensus and widespread recognition of its benefits, physical culture sparked debates mirroring the tension between modern public attitudes and traditional private obligations that characterized Colombian society at the time.The most discussed issue was that physical culture could 'masculinize' women. 44dditionally, female athletes, by embodying a perceived 'imitation of virility' , risked being labelled as embodiments of failed femininity. 45However, many countered this view, asserting that the 'modern era' required Colombian women to be disciplined in mind and spirit, with physical culture providing the means to achieve both. 46ithin the advocates of physical culture, some women played an important role.Athlete and martial artist Rubi Gutiérrez wrote against the 'ingrained belief among many South American men that sports [made] women butch.' 47 She said, '[A] sports lady [is] very feminine and has superior physical abilities than her peers.' 48 Colombian journalist Filina argued that '[t]he news [of women playing sports]' was the most joyous she had ever received, 'I studied in another country (The United States), where women's education aspires to be comprehensive, that is to say, cultivating mind, soul, and body.Therefore, I wish the same benefits for my Colombian sisters.' 49 Filina acknowledged that people's attitude toward women's sports was extreme: '[the] positions are exaggerated.Some, the minority, believe women need to develop their physical strength as well as men.In contrast, the majority argues against violently introducing physical deformations into the delicate texture of women's bodies.' 50 Filina did not share either of those perspectives.Instead, she claimed that 'feminine sports harmoniously developed women's bodies without endangering them' and that it was entirely possible to foster a culture both respectful of women's femininity and helpful to advancing their physical emancipation. 51ucía Olaya Londoño, the daughter of President Enrique Olaya Herrera, advocated for increased governmental support akin to the emphasis on sports in 'civilized nations' such as the United States. 52Luz Ramírez-a renowned sportswoman-often portrayed as a gentle athlete, queen of grace and sport, and an example of the modern girl, claimed that sports were essential to developing 'intelligence, health, and morality.' 53 She also argued that physical culture was 'important and indispensable for women …' and that 'the enthusiasm aroused by sports cannot be unnoticed by those who [had] the duty and obligation to promote Colombia's progress.' 54 In an article called Femininity and Sport, writer Maria Luz Morales affirmed that '[t]he contempt of our own body is rooted in the idea that physical exercise-games of strength or skill-are made for fools and acrobats.' Thus, she felt it was necessary to change people's mentality and prejudice towards physical culture. 55She continued by saying, 'sports will embellish [Colombian women], who [were] depleted by inaction, depressed by rickets, and burned by an unsightly fat.' 56 Educator Amy Camargo González argued that women's development should have three bases: religion and character building, vocational education, and physical education.She also contended that 'the care of the body' was beneficial not 'only to achieve a better life but also to be strong enough to confront its challenges.' 57 Sayer Delgado, a well-known member of Bogotá's elite, argued that 'women's sports, practised methodically' , were necessary to reach the formation of a beautiful and healthy body, which was why 'every woman should exercise every day.' 58 On 15 November 1932, two physical culture advocates, Nohora Villegas and Victoria Reyes, founded the Asociación Femenina de Deportes (AFD). 59It was initially based in Bogotá, but women in other cities rapidly formed regional chapters. 60By 1937, the AFD had representatives from 10 of the country's 14 departments.Alix Pineda, a sportswoman from Bucaramanga, travelled half of the country to become president of the Women's National Basketball Association.Interviewed during her layover in Bogotá, she said: 'The AFD is a clear example of the country's sporting spirit.Ten of the fourteen departments were represented at the meeting.' 61 The Association's primary goals were to promote women's physical education to people from all social classes, build social networks through sports, and educate the public about the benefits of physical culture. 62For female athletes and enthusiasts, the AFD became a space where they could become dynamic agents in the promotion of their activities. 63irroring what happened in the US and Europe, female athletes began to be portrayed as symbols of 'health, elegance, and beauty' . 64An example of personal care and prevention against 'fatness and laziness' , which were '[w]omen's greatest enemy' , and only 'callisthenics, sports, and gymnastics, practised daily' , could stop their harmful effects.As mentioned earlier, during the Liberal Republic, Colombian 'sportswomen' did not make clear distinctions between sports, physical education, and physical culture. 65To be a modern woman, it was necessary to fulfil certain body expectations.Physical exercise was thought to be essential to invigorating bodies and minds.Some commentators even claimed that 'success was impossible without physical and mental clarity.' 66 Physical culture made bodies 'strong, lean, and flexible' , indispensable elements in the quest to 'modernize Colombian women.' 67 Ideally, educating healthy and athletic bodies would help build a modern society.Physical culture was a new 'way of life' , in which female athletes emerged as symbols of mental, physical, and spiritual progress and modernization. 68

Liberal Reformism and Women's Physical Education
Martha Cecilia Herrera has shown how modernizing education became one of the Liberal Republic's primary goals. 69National and international pedagogical trends and models were deliberated upon, aiming to identify a unified set of ideas suitable for Colombia and its transition from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing one. 70The Liberals were 'fully aware' of the reach that a modern pedagogical project, in which physical culture was included, could have to achieve their modernizing 'mission.' 71 The 'proper use' of leisure time in public schools, universities, factories, and other locations became one of the government's goals. 72Spaces like libraries, concert halls, theatres, cinemas, public parks, and sports venues were becoming necessary for a 'new and intense modern life.' 73 As a result, physical education evolved into a platform for disseminating a model of femininity that not only honoured women's traditional societal roles as nurturers and caregivers but also embraced modern notions surrounding the cultivation of beauty, body capital, and feminine empowerment. 74he National Pedagogic Institute for Girls (NPIG) is an excellent example of how Liberal reformism impacted educational institutions.On 9 April 1932, Franzisca Radke-the Institute's principal who had arrived in Colombia with a German pedagogical mission in the 1920s-wrote on the importance of the school, saying it was 'the most concrete Colombian contribution to the history of female education in Latin America.' 75 Being critical of women's traditional roles in the country, her article described how the Institute planned on working across the nation to promote modern values and attitudes: 'The institute's main goal is to train future teachers.These ladies will go to normal schools around the country and will promote a modern European type of training inspired by their German teachers …' 76 Radke contended that Colombian women, already regarded as 'owners of their houses and mothers of their children' , required a complementary institution-a 'hygienic, modern, and pragmatic' National Institute-to train effectively both body and mind.The NPIG's 'new' pedagogy focused on transforming the 'small role' of Colombian women into a presence more 'consistent with [modern] times.' 77 The institute's educational project reflected the country's emulation of Western liberal ideals, but also the desire to preserve 'traditions.' Radke concluded the article by writing: 'It is needless to say that purely feminine activities are not neglected.Cooking and housekeeping are taught, and the students enthusiastically meet these requirements.' 78 Designed for women between the ages of 14 and 21, the school curriculum included a 'specialization' made of gymnastics, sports, and physical education, called 'physical culture' , which was offered among others like psychology, biology, religion, and literature. 79he Institute was tuition-free, and women had only one obligation after graduation: to give four years of public service as primary school teachers anywhere in the national territory. 80lsey and Nadel have argued that the development of 'physical education regimes' in Latin America was based on 'national goals and local adaptations.' 81 Physical education became part of Colombia's school curricula in the first decade of the twentieth century after the proclamation of Decree 491 of 1904, which incorporated it as an element of 'general education.' 82 However, A significant gap existed between the legal text and reality.A lack of political determination and resources held back the decree's effectiveness at the national level.During the 1920s, some members of civil society, eager to solve what they considered a 'problem' , advocated for the implementation of physical education programs on a national scale.In 1925, the Conservative government presided over by Pedro Nel Ospina enacted Law No. 80, 'On physical education, sports venues, and national scholarships.' 83 Inspired by Uruguayan, Argentinean, and European ideas on physical education and sports, the Law created the National Commission of Physical Education (NCPE), a bureaucratic institution tasked with the organization of 'physical activity' under the guidance of the Ministry of Education. 84he presumption was that the NCPE would organize the nation's sports system in a modern and scientific way. 85aw No. 80 was received with optimism by educators and enthusiasts.For example, on 17 July 1926, Hermann Ermet, a gymnastics professor, wrote an article published by El Gráfico magazine entitled El Problema de la Educación Física en Colombia.The article discussed how Colombia was 'ready to enter' a new era of competition and physical culture: ' Anyone who understands the mood of this historical moment knows that this country cannot prosper if it lacks physical education.' 86 Ermet contended that the era of overlooking physical activity was in the past, as medicine, pedagogy, and politics had finally reached a consensus: 'Complete education is made of physical culture, science, and spirituality.' 87 In the late 1920s, different pedagogical missions, mainly from Europe, visited Colombia regularly.Under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, individuals such as the German educator Hans Huber helped develop physical education curricula for both men and women.Drawing inspiration from European physical educators like Johann Basedow and Johann GutsMuths, these initiatives represented significant efforts but often lacked continuity and sustained support. 88n October 1933, Liberal President Enrique Olaya Herrera signed Decree 1734.It reorganized the National Commission of Physical Education and created local commissions tasked with implementing the NCPE policies at the local level.The commission's goals were to promote health and recreation, build schools for physical educators, register Colombia with the International Olympic Committee, and oversee the organization of official competitions and events. 89To achieve these goals, Decree 1734 included provisions for conducting a nationwide assessment of physical education based on a survey asking schoolteachers about the state of the field.The data collected would then be used to analyse practices and develop strategies for enhancing and updating the physical education system on a national scale. 90As mentioned by Muñoz when discussing the 1942 National Folkloric Survey, official questionnaires were a standard method used by Liberal Reformism to get insights into people's practices and everyday life; the surveys were then used as information to develop public policies. 91n 30 May 1934, the Ministry of Education issued Circular 11 sobre educación física, an official communication mandating schoolteachers nationwide to answer a survey on the status of physical education and detail their strategies for promoting physical culture.The survey consisted of seven questions covering various aspects related to the teaching of physical education: the school's organization, enrolment figures, copies of the physical education programs (most schools did not include theirs), teaching methods, names of physical education teachers, descriptions of the facilities, and a question about the importance of physical education for men and women.Many female educators agreed to answer the questionnaire.The responses came from different types of schools, including public, private, confessional, laic, urban, and rural.They provided insight into how teachers at the grassroots level were thinking about physical education and its implementation within the framework of Liberal Reformism.
In general, educators contended that physical culture-physical education, sports, calisthenics, and gymnastics-was essential to women's integral formation and necessary to preserve their physical constitution and morals.This consensus mirrored the Colombian Liberal's model of modern femininity, which unironically honoured traditional household roles and embraced modern physical and mental attitudes. 92For these women, scientifically organized physical exercise was an unequivocal element of modernization. 93Most responses reinforced the idea that physical education was an indispensable and essential element that should be applied in all pedagogical systems.They also argued in favour of the technical design of physical education programs usable in cities and the countryside.Their idea was that those programs could help develop modern education and that, as such, they needed to be elaborated in a contemporary and efficient way. 94Physical education was pivotal for the 'integral development of human capacity' , and schools for girls needed to offer the subject if they wanted to be 'real cultural centres.' 95 The responses to the national survey also underscored the considerable impact of the aphorism 'Mens Sana in Corpore Sano' on female educators.The link between contemporary practices and concepts rooted in the classical era, particularly Rome and Greece, was evident.Patricia Anderson's research has demonstrated how proponents of nation-building in Argentina employed this same principle to advance their idealized notion of the nation and 'constructing a physically strong and mentally healthy society.' 96 Colombian female educators proposed a similar formula.They believed that the cultivation of body and mind was pivotal for developing a healthy society with 'experience and wisdom.' 97 Physical education was indispensable and beneficial for women's morality and good manners, which was why it 'needed to be harmonious.' 98 The 'healthy mind in a healthy body' argument was constantly used by the people who participated in the survey.Sometimes with a spiritual tone, as in 'without this harmony of the two educations, the work would be incomplete' , and sometimes with a more pragmatical one: 'exercise is a need for thinking clearly' , physical culture was perceived as indispensable for the development of intellectual capacity, discipline, and the construction of the character. 99ne main concern of the participants in the 1934 survey centred on the disparity between male and female physical education.This contrast emerged as an evident consequence of the biological difference between the sexes.Many argued that female physical education had to be different from men's.Sister Fortunata from the Colegio Sagrada Familia de Cali said, 'There is a special physical education for women.Man and woman are two different beings.Under the organic aspect, the man is stronger, the woman weaker; from there, it follows that gymnastics, games, and sports cannot be the same for both sexes.' 100 Sofía Quijan de Ayram, from the Instituto Montessoriano, said, 'I dare to affirm that an educational system that excludes physical education cannot be considered complete, and I consider that for women there should be a special physical education system.' 101 Ana Isabel Arenas, director of the Colegio Americano para Señoritas, was more pessimistic.She claimed women lacked strength, vigour, and health.She categorically stated: 'Of course, there is a special physical education for women which, to summarize, consists of certain gymnastic exercises and certain sports.They can be the same men enjoy but adapted to the feminine condition.' 102 Making women participate in physical activities with the same intensity as men challenged the status quo and catholic morality.Sister Rafaela de la Cruz, from the Colegio La Presentación de Tunja, proposed physical co-education for children up to 11 years of age.After puberty, she claimed that women's physical education had to be directed towards 'moderation.' 103 Modesty and moderation were the adjectives that educators and school administrators used most when describing the type of 'special' physical education that women should practice.That modesty was so important and so easy to transgress that, in the words of Ana Silvia Eslava, director of the Departmental Women's College of Tunja: 'no man should be the teacher of women's physical culture.' 104

The Liberal's Praise of Female Physical Culture
The period between 1930 and 1946 is pivotal to understanding the relationship between female physical culture and the state-making policies of Liberal Reformism in Colombia. 105Physical Culture became an essential element of how women used leisure time, associated, and performed publicly with their bodies.The changes the country experienced during the Liberal Republic, despite being slow and less revolutionary than commonly accepted, contributed to the consolidation of a femininity model that privileged traditional moral values and promoted embodied modernization.
Examining the historical significance of physical culture and its influence on education and daily life is crucial for understanding the experiences of Colombian women during the Liberal Republic.The widespread acknowledgment of physical culture's 'benefits' highlights how the cultivation of body discipline was a fundamental aspect of state initiatives that prioritized self-control and morality as the foundations of productivity and progress.
The analysis of how women perceive physical culture also reveals their reaction to the social and political meanings the Liberals wanted to promote.The female body became a metaphor for Colombian society, which was trapped in the tension between modernization and tradition that characterized Liberal reformism. 106In times of important political definitions for the country, physical culture was a space the government privileged when implementing gendered policies and transformations.The symbolic spaces and social interactions developed around female physical culture functioned as sites where women negotiated their place in society.Combining the traditional roles of housewives and caregivers with those of active and modern athletes, women were effective in using physical culture to highlight their independence and agency.