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The aim of this article is to focus on the sportification process of handball in Germany and Norway, and to present the first feminist critique of the term sportification. When handball became a national sport in Norway in 1937, the sportification process had already taken place for many years in other European countries. In 1920, handball was organized on a national level in Germany. All bodily contact seemed to be forbidden in Germany before 1920 to get more female players. In 1920, men, in contrast to women, were allowed some degree of bodily contact in order to to change the activity into a "Kampfspiel"a combat game. According to the only weekly sportspaper in Norway, SportsManden, handball was at first regarded as a sport for males. The first Norwegian rules from 1937 did not contain one word about female players, whereas the German rules did, concerning e.g. shorter playing time. A supplement to the Norwegian rules of 1937 was sent out to the potential handball clubs to point out that the playing arenas could be smaller, if necessary. The following year female players dominated the federation in numbers. The first Norwegian championship and the first national team consisted of females.The term sportification as presented by Bernett and Goksoyr seems to have a patriarchal base, which seems to put the male interpretation of rationalism in an absolutist way: as the only alternative. While males seemed to dominate handball in Germany along with the Bernett-Goksoyr patriarchal interpretation of the term sportification, more females than males were attracted to this sport in Norway. The AimThis article is part of the project &dquo;Handball, Gender and Sportification of bodycultures : 1900-90&dquo;. The main question here is why handball developed into a women's sport in Norway (more than 50% of the total members), while the same

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