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the clever jokes that are bound to be made about all the changes that follow in the
physical training and education of women, and above all about them being trained
to carry arms and ride. "Bk V, 452a, b
Introduction
In the following presentation I will attempt to briefly review the role of women
in the Olympic Movement in this Centennial year and try to answer the question
"What role do we envision for women in the Olympic Movement ?" What is the
ideal? I will take as my model Plato's proposal for the role of women in the Republic.
If this turns out to be a radical proposal to many, I will turn to Plato for support,
for he argued that the good is never absurd:
It is "idle to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong. Indeed, anyone
who tries to raise a laugh a the sight of anything but what is foolish and wrong will
never, when serious again, make goodness the object of his admiration ". Bk V,
452d,e
The different elements I wish to discuss in this paper are: 1) women as athletes;
2) women as administrators or guardians; 3) how far have we come? and 4) where
do we go from here?
A major theme underlying this critical reflection will be that the Olympic Movement
is about human development and human excellence, which means, of
course, the flourishing of both men and women.
Some might object to using Plato as support for promoting the advancement of
women in the Olympic Movement, after all his early and later dialogues do not
speak highly of women, if they are even mentioned at all. I will not attempt to do
a thorough analysis of the works of Plato here, in order to determine whether or
not he is a feminist. There is much literature on this topic and it deserves a great
deal of attention. I will, however, focus on the Republic from his middle dialogues
and will conclude by claiming that Plato was revolutionary in respect to the role
he advanced for women and that the ancient Greeks, Coubertin and the moderns
have not reached anywhere near the goals set by his radical message for change.
Thus, his ancient message is very valuable today as we reflect on the role of women
in the Olympic Movement over the past 100 years and look to a model for
the future. Needless to say, one can accept Plato's argument for the equality of women
without accepting all of his proposals. However, in each case, abolition of the
traditional family and marriage, universal child care, common living arrangements,
avoidance of exclusive relationships and so on, Plato's challenge is to show why
the things he proposes are not good or to show better means of achieving the
agreed-upon goal of equality for women.
Part One: Plato's Utopia and Argument for Equal Status for Women
Let me begin by first describing Plato's Utopia in its broad outlines, and then
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