Abstract

GALAN TAMES, Genevieve. Exercising the Body: Female Gymnastics at Colegio de la Paz (Vizcaínas), 1875-1915. Secuencia [online]. 2021, n.109, e1763.  Epub Mar 05, 2021. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i109.1763.

The article analyzes the introduction of gymnastics into Colegio de la Paz and certain aspects related to its implementation from 1875 to 1915. Through the study of this space, the text delves into certain conditions of historical possibility that allow thinking about physical exercise and the introduction of physical education within Mexican schools. Colegio Vizcaínas can be used as an illustration of the project showing how a professional and political elite -committed to the education of women and the consolidation of physical, hygienic, and modern education- sought to implement it as a general guideline in the country’s schools. The text points out that the introduction of gymnastics into the school environment entailed the gradual consolidation of a system for interpreting and evaluating the body’s movement. It also provides evidence of the training of gymnastics teachers in a period when physical education was becoming more professional.

Keywords : body; physical education; gymnastics; hygiene; Vizcaínas.