American Women and Sport

Jane Curry and Marjorie Bingham

Reprinted from the OAH Magazine of History
7 (Summer 1992). ISSN 0882-228X
Copyright (c) 1992, Organization of American Historians
 

The topic of women and sport is important not only within the context of American sport history but also as it intersects and echoes themes prevalent in other areas of investigation in women's history. Just as there have been cycles of activism for political, social, and economic rights for women, the movement for physical education and sport has experienced years of expanded opportunity and frustrating retrenchment.

1. Physical capacities

The physiological differences between males and females have often been cited to curtail women's activities or confine them to a separate sphere. The scientific theory of limited energy--that the body is a closed system with a finite amount of energy--so important to the popular nineteenth century argument against coeducation in the colleges was applied to women and exercise as well. Energy expended in exercise depleted the energy necessary for reproductive organs. Moderate exercise was encouraged, but overexertion violated the "laws of nature" and endangered women's ability to become mothers. The question of the physical capacity of females to pursue sporting activities exists as a critical issue from ancient times to the present.

2. Propriety

Social issues relating to women and sport address the concerns of whether it is proper and appropriate for women to engage in competition, whether they will act in an "unwomanly manner," whether they should play before mixed audiences, etc. In discussing the theme of propriety, the instructor could talk about the evolution of sporting fashions and dress reform, the Victorian ideal of womanhood, the separate sphere ideology, and the way ideals regarding participation in sports mirrored or challenged prevailing gender norms during various time periods in American history.

3. Femininity

One of the stereotypes of athletic women is that they are masculinized. By and large, sport has been defined as a male arena. Women's participation in sport has therefore led some to fear either the feminization of sport or the masculinization of women. Efforts by the media over time to assure at least indirectly the femininity and heterosexuality of women athletes and the type of sports promoted for women, as well as the sex tests administered at the Olympics, confirm the persistence of this stereotype.

For the purpose of this lesson plan, we will concentrate on late nineteenth century through late twentieth century American sport. A discussion of something as simple and familiar to all students as the bicycle can illustrate several of the themes and issues. For example, during the "bicycle craze" of the 1880s and later, some critics argued that it was physically dangerous and unwise for women to ride bicycles: it would result in enlarged lower leg muscles, bow-legs, spinal curvatures, deformed hands and feet and "bicycle face." Additionally, it was liable to "ruin the organs of matrimonial necessity." Others argued that women on the bicycle experienced a healthy pursuit of exercise and promoted reform. Women could not ride bicycles safely in corseted dresses whose skirts dragged the ground. On the issues of propriety and femininity, some asserted that the unfettered liberty of riding about without a chaperone would increase the ranks of masculine, indecent, home-wrecking women.

For the bulk of the lesson, we suggest a focus on girls' basketball. Basketball for girls and women started almost at the same time (1892) as it did for men after James Naismith invented the game in 1891. It quickly became one of the most popular sports for women in colleges and then high schools across the country. Participants wore bloomer uniforms for freer movement. Physical educators, male and female, instituted modified rules to limit contact, overexertion, and rowdiness, thus preserving "womanly behavior" from the beginning. Over the years it has been played on a divided court of two, three, or as many as nine sections, with from five to nine players who could dribble the ball from one to an unlimited number of times. It has been played in many settings other than educational institutions including industrial leagues, park and recreation centers, YWCAs, settlement houses, and by diverse socio-economic and ethnic populations. A focus on the evolution of basketball from 1892 to the present provides an opportunity to engage all the major themes suggested above.

Individual sports like skating, tennis, and gymnastics were generally favored over team sports like basketball. Advocates of women's sports viewed these sports as graceful and aesthetic and therefore in keeping with the ideal of womanhood. Early women physical educators acted to govern and regulate physical education and sport for girls by advocating the philosophy of participation and cooperation over competition in "Play Days." They promoted the motto "a sport for every girl" and "every girl in a sport."

For a good reference work specifically on women's basketball, we suggest A Century of Women's Basketball: From Frailty to Final Four, edited by Joan S. Hult and Mariana Trekell (1991). If not in your library, it is available through the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 22091.

We have included separate exercises for bicycling and basketball for classroom use following this article.

Interested colleagues in other disciplines could be encouraged to do related study. For example:

1. English/Communications/Journalism

Students could read biographies of fore-mothers in sport, including Gertrude Ederle, Mildred "Babe" Didrik-son Zaharias, Amelia Earhart, Helen Wills Moody, Althea Gibson and others. In a unit on mythology, they could look at the legends of Atlanta, Diana and other immortal "tomboys." They could analyze and collect examples of media portrayals of athletic girls and women in magazine articles, advertisements, newspaper and yearbook sports pages, etc. A bulletin board display could be a class project.

2. Science

Discuss the evolution of medical theories about gender difference and how those theories have been used in relation to girls and women in sport over time. In what areas are men and women physiologically different (strength, speed, endurance, percentage of body fat, etc.)? Do these differences predispose them to particular kinds of sport? Discuss the familiar nature/nurture issues. The gap in athletic performance between men and women is narrowing in nearly all sports. Chart the times for various men's and women's events to see this development. (Example: Florence Griffith Joy-ner's winning 100 meter time in the 1988 Olympics was 10.49 seconds. What was the winning men's time for the same event? The legendary Jesse Owens won that event in 1936 with a time of 10.3)

3. Physical Education

Research old rule-books for women's basketball (or choose another sport of interest). Discuss differences between those rules and men's rules and what the modified rules illustrate about social norms for women. Recreate a game based on those rules and discuss how the girls felt about playing that version of the game. This simulation could also include the wearing of the appropriate fashion for the time.

Individual Projects/Exercises

Student projects/exercise need not be limited to basketball. Suggested topics:

1. Title IX of the Educational Amendment Act of 1972.

2. The professional All-American Girls' Baseball League and the All-American Red Heads Basketball team. What opportunities are available for women after intercollegiate athletics? See the film A League of Their Own and compare it with other baseball movies like The Natural or Bull Durham or Major League.

3. African-American athletes who broke the color line in women's sports and their foremothers who paved the way, including Ora Washington and Althea Gibson in tennis, Tuskeegee Institute's women's track team, and Tennessee State University track athletes.

4. The place of sport and competition in Native American cultures, with emphasis on girls and women.

5. Sport costumes worn by women and how they reflected and shaped gender norms of the historical time period in which they were worn. (The first woman to win a Wimbledon singles title [1884] did so wearing a dress with a corset, a hat, and high-heeled shoes. Imagine playing tennis in similar garb.)

6. A study of the decades when sport for women gained more acceptability, making connections to women's rights and place in the general society at the time.

7. Do oral history with family members or others to learn what they remember about their feelings about exercise and sports. What kinds of messages did they receive about women and athletics? If they were active in sports, what rules did they play by? Do they have any pictures? If female, were they cautioned to be sure the male won in any sporting event? What are/were the social consequences of being too good at sports?

8. Think about language. What does the word "tomboy" suggest? Is there an equivalent word for boys? If so, what does it suggest? Are girls who participate in sports at your school called "tomboys" today? What other word or words would describe girls who play sports?

9. Choose a sport that interests you (other than basketball) and investigate it over time. If it is a sport played by both sexes, do differences exist in the rules for each sex? If so, what are they and what do you think are the reasons for the differences?

10. Sports like field hockey and synchronized swimming are played primarily or only by girls and women. Can you think of other sports for which this holds true? Think about these sports in relation to the cultural themes discussed.

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Marjorie Bingham is a teacher at St. Louis Park High School (Minnesota) and co-author of a series of books, Women in World Cultures. Jane Curry is a recovering academic from Minneapolis who tours nationally with her solo performances, Samantha "Rastles" the Woman Question and Just Say Know: Educating Females for the 21st Century. Her newest show, Nice Girl's Don't Sweat, is on women and sports.