This study examines how gender was constructed and maintained within theSwedish Sports Confederation’s Women’s Committee during the 1950s. UsingYvonne Hirdman’s gender theory as a theoretical framework, the study analysesarchival material consisting of protocols, reports and administrative documentsproduced by the committee. The aim is to investigate how we can see gender inhow women’s sports were organized, justified and valued. The analysis showsthat women’s and men’s sports were consistently treated as separate forms ofactivity, both organizationally and ideologically. Women’s sports were oftenframed as requiring adaptation, moderation and simplified rules, and werefrequently legitimized through references to health and physical well-being ratherthan competition and performance.The study further demonstrates that the Women’s Committee operated within agender order that both enabled and restricted women’s participation in sports.While the committee contributed to creating organizational space for women’ssports, this space was shaped by prevailing ideas about femininity, the femalebody and appropriate forms of physical activity. The findings highlight the dualrole of women’s sports during the period: as both a site of inclusion and amechanism for maintaining gender hierarchy