Des activités physiques et sportives pratiquées par les femmes au Québec : Témoignages et collections (1880-1974)

Ce mémoire porte sur la pratique du sport et de l‟activité physique par les femmes au Québec entre 1880 et 1974, par l‟étude de la collection d‟objets sportifs du Musée de la civilisation, le dépouillement de catalogues commerciaux et d‟autres documents d‟archives, ainsi que l‟analyse de contenu de témoignages oraux recueillis par la chercheure et tenus dans le cadre du projet « Vivre sa ville : Québec au XXe siècle » du Laboratoire d‟ethnologie urbaine. L‟utilisation de ces trois sources de données permet de faire ressortir les modalités d‟insertion des femmes dans la pratique sportive. Les normes et les pratiques du sport féminin seront abordées notamment en ce qui a trait à l‟hygiène, à la morale chrétienne, aux installations et aux organisations sportives.

Among the studies that have been conducted in the field of sport, few are interested in women participation. Indeed, several questions arise when we think of sports invested by women. Which are the features of sports that have enabled women practice? What values conveyed through sport are compatible with Christian and social images of femininity? What are distinctive characteristics of sport equipment made for women and how has it evolved? The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the way in which women started playing sports that were originally reserved for men, from 1880 to 1974 in the province of Quebec and how women athletes had an impact on the material culture related to their sport, including the adaptation of equipment to the body and to female performance. The main sources are the formal analysis of sport equipment from the collection of the Civilization Museum in Quebec City, and the use of both commercial catalogues and oral testimonies.