GYMNASTICS FOR WOMEN AT INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL CULTURE (1928-1937): EXCELLING BY GRACE AND BEAUTY

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how it came to spread gymnastics in Porto Alegre, with the main scenario at the Institute of Physical Culture (IPC). Considering that the IPC was an institution that offered activities to the women public, we seek to outline the femininity concepts underlying the gymnastic methods taught in the IPC. Bolstered in theoretical and methodological horizons of Cultural History, the study proposes a version of the history of IPC drawn from the social memory fragments recorded in the papers and documents of the time. In the period 1928-1937, based on eugenics and hygienists speeches, IPC led to the development of a physical and artistic culture that served the ideals of bourgeois modern woman: healthy, graceful, feminine.