Yvonne de Rette and girls’ physical education (1925–1985). A slight shadow in the face of sport?

This article provides an account of some of the gaps in the gender order, based on a case study and using interviews. It attempts to understand Yvonne de Rette’s path in teaching physical education (PE), as well as the ways in which she embodied, conceived, and practiced her profession in the second half of the twentieth century. After having marked out her path toward becoming a PE teacher, I question her adherence to and resistance to what she was taught during her teacher training, to the gender order of the education system, and to the increasing influence of sport within school PE. I also consider the life course of this woman from a political angle, by looking at the bodily expression that she believed was a means of liberation and a tool for contesting male domination, through the defense of equality in difference. While the case of Yvonne de Rette allows us to hypothesize about women’s orientation toward PE teaching, it also questions the skill system of the teaching profession and the diffusion of feminist ideas.