On June 8, 1975, boxer Jackie Tonawanda was the first woman to fight in New York's Madison Square Garden. She went up against Larry Rodania—and knocked him out in the second round. After that, she was dubbed "the female Muhammad Ali."
In 1973, pros Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs faced off in a tennis game that became known as "The Battle of the Sexes." Fifty million people in the U.S. and 90 million worldwide watched 29-year-old King play against 55-year-old Riggs at the Houston Astrodome. At stake? A winner's prize of $100,000. King made a stunning comeback after falling behind during the first set. She won all three sets, winning 6 to 3 in the third set. Female tennis plays are now more accepted, but similar "Battles of the Sexes" have taken place since King bested Riggs, including in 2013 when Chinese tennis pro Li Na beat Novak Djokovic 3-2.
Danica Patrick is not only considered the most successful woman in the history of American car racing, but she is one of the few female race car drivers to ever turn a wheel. Patrick, who has been stock car racing since her youth, won the Indy Japan 300 in 2008, becoming the first and only woman to win an IndyCar Series race. In 2009, Patrick placed third in the Indianapolis 500 and marked the highest finish by a female driver in that race. She's continued to set records: In 2013, she became the first female NASCAR driver to take a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole in the 2013 Daytona 500; her eighth place finish is the highest finish for a woman in that race to date.
Wrestler Jeff Jarrett was notorious for degrading women both in and out of the ring. But he got his just desserts in 1999 when he battled female wrestler Chyna in a World Wrestling Federation match titled "No Mercy." The participants were allowed to use household objects hit each other, and Chyna eventually pinned Jarrett for the victory. She became the first woman to hold the WWF Intercontinental Champion title and, more importantly, put Jarrett in his place.
Jackie Mitchell was only 17 years old when her baseball team, the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees on April 2, 1931. Mitchell, her team's pitcher, struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession with only seven pitches. In the days before the game, Ruth had told the Chattanooga newspaper, "I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day."
Babe Zaharias was the first woman allowed to a compete in the Los Angeles Open in 1945, a PGA event. No other woman competed against men in this same tournament until nearly 50 years later. Zaharias later become the first female celebrity golfer in the U.S. and was well known in the '40s and '50s.
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by
A sports reporter investigates the training of girls as professional gymnasts and figure skaters, arguing that the pressure to succeed and to look beautiful results in mental and physical harm, from eating disorders to psychological trauma.
Susan Butcher and the Iditarod Trail by
Describes the dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome and the life of the first woman to win it for three consecutive years.
Built to Win by
The sculpted speed of Marion Jones. The grit and agility of Mia Hamm. The slam-dunk style of Lisa Leslie. The skill and finesse of these sports figures are widely admired, no longer causing the puzzlement and discomfort directed toward earlier generations of athletic women. Built to Win explores this relatively recent phenomenon--the confident, empowered female athletes found everywhere in American popular culture. Leslie Heywood and Shari L., Dworkin examine the role of female athletes through interviews with elementary- and high school-age girls and boys; careful readings of ad campaigns by Nike, Reebok, and others; discussions of movies like Fight Club and Girlfight; and explorations of their own sports experiences. They ask: what, if any, dissonance is there between popular images and the actual experiences of these athletes? Do these images really "redefine femininity" and contribute to a greater inclusion of all women in sport? Are sexualized images of these women damaging their quest to be taken seriously? Do they inspire young boys to respect and admire female athletes, and will this ultimately make a difference in the ways gender and power are constructed and perceived? Proposing a paradigm shift from second- to third-wave feminism, Heywood and Dworkin argue that, in the years since the passage of Title IX, gender stereotypes have been destabilized in profound ways, and they assert that female athletes and their imagery are doing important cultural work to that end. Important, refreshing, and engrossing, Built to Win examines sport in all its complexity.
Women's Sports by
-- A. Bartlett Giamatti, late Commissioner of Baseball
Art Units for Hs-Urban Commun by
In the past, when sport simply excluded girls, the equation of males with active athletic power and of females with weakness and passivity seemed to come easily, almost naturally. Now, however, with girlsOCO and womenOCOs dramatic movement into sport, the process of exclusion has become a bit subtler, a bit more complicated-and yet, as Michael Messner shows us in this provocative book, no less effective. In "Taking the Field," Messner argues that despite profound changes, the world of sport largely retains and continues its longtime conservative role in gender relations.To explore the current paradoxes of gender in sport, Messner identifies and investigates three levels at which the center of sport is constructed: the day-to-day practices of sport participants, the structured rules and hierarchies of sport institutions, and the dominant symbols and belief systems transmitted by the major sports media. Using these insights, he analyzes a moment of gender construction in the lives of four- and five-year-old children at a soccer opening ceremony, the way menOCOs violence is expressed through sport, the interplay of financial interests and dominant menOCOs investment in maintaining the status quo in the face of recent challenges, and the cultural imagery at the core of sport, particularly televised sports. Through these examinations Messner lays bare the practices and ideas that buttress-as well as those that seek to disrupt-the masculine center of sport.a"Taking the Field" exposes the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which men and women collectively construct gender through their interactions-interactions contextualized in the institutions and symbols of sport."
Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science by
This new International Olympic Committee (IOC) handbook covers the science, medicine and psycho-social aspects of females in sports at all levels of competition. Each chapter focuses on the specific issues that female athletes confront both on and off the field, such as bone health, nutritional recommendations, exercise/competition during menstruation and pregnancy, and much more. Fully endorsed by the IOC and drawing upon the experience of an international team of expert contributors, no other publication deals with the topic in such a concise and complete manner. The Female Athlete is recommended for all health care providers for women and girl athletes internationally for all sports and all levels of competition. It is a valuable resource for medical doctors, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists, and sports scientists as well as coaches, personal trainers and athletes.
Women and Sports in the United States by
A spectacular transformation in women's sports has occurred over the past century in colleges, high schools, and recreational leagues across the nation. Gradual changes during the late 1950s and 1960s within the fields of women's physical education and amateur sport provided the initial energy for this transformation. But it took the rebirth of a grassroots feminist movement in the late 1960s and 1970s to catalyze the radical changes in women's athletic opportunities and attitudes toward female athletes. The assimilation of feminist principles into the broader popular culture solidified the belief that sport plays a positive role in the lives of girls and women. Political activists for women's rights codified this attitude with the passage of Title IX of the 1972 Federal Education Amendments, a law banning gender discrimination in educational settings, thus guaranteeing women's legal right to an equitable share of athletic opportunities and resources. Though the sea change in American women's sports is evident in schools, the media, and local playing fields, scholars are still in the early stages of fully examining the causes and impacts of this historic change. Women and Sports in the United States brings together scholarly articles, journalism, political and legal documents, and first-person accounts that collectively explore women's sports in America, with emphasis on the post-Title IX era.This book was published with the generous support of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University.
You can use your RCBC Library barcode to either request the book to be sent to RCBC's library for you to pick up OR you can bring your RCBC Library barcode to the county branch and pick up the book there.
Sidelined by
"Sidelinedis the feminist sports book we've all been waiting for." -Jessica Valenti ShrillmeetsBrotopiain this personal and researched look at women's rights and issues through the lens of sports, from an award-winning sports journalist and women's advocate In a society that is digging deep into the misogyny underlying our traditions and media, the world of sports is especially fertile ground. From casual sexism, like condescending coverage of women's pro sports, to more serious issues, like athletes who abuse their partners and face only minimal consequences, this area of our culture is home to a vast swath of gender issues that apply to all of us-whether or not our work and leisure time revolve around what happens on the field. No one is better equipped to examine sports through this feminist lens than sports journalist Julie DiCaro. Throughout her experiences covering professional sports for more than a decade, DiCaro has been outspoken about the exploitation of the female body, the covert and overt sexism women face in the workplace, and the male-driven toxicity in sports fandom. Now through candid interviews, personal anecdotes, and deep research, she's tackling these thorny issues and exploring what America can do to give women a fair and competitive playing field in sports and beyond. Covering everything from the abusive online environment atBarstool Sportsto the sexist treatment of Serena Williams and professional women's teams fighting for equal pay and treatment, and looking back at pioneering women who first took on the patriarchy in sports media,Sidelinedwill illuminate the ways sports present a microcosm of life as a woman in America-and the power in fighting back.
Breaking Through by
Award-winning author Sue Macy offers a fresh and timely account of women in sports in the 1920s, and how their determination, talent, and defiance in the face of criticism promoted women's rights, redefined femininity, and changed the course of history. Join the team as Macy offers a rare and fascinating glimpse into the journey of women's rights through the lens of women in sports during the pivotal decade of the 1920s. With elegant prose, poignant wit, and fascinating primary sources, Macy explores the many hurdles presented to female athletes as they stormed the field, stepped up to bat, and won the right to compete in sports. Featuring bold and talented heroines, this book documents how the social issues and morals of the decade-from politics to segregation to the media-helped shape the changing narratives around women and alter the course of history entirely. It is a fascinating window into a rich and seldom explored history, and also a topical reminder of the many discussions surrounding femininity and the role of women that continue today.