Cook 1

Riley Cook
ENGL-110
Professor Bruner
24 Nov 2014
Research Essay
Girls In Sports?
A League Of Their Own sheds a little light on a little known period of time in
American history. The movie is set during World War II when there was a shortage in
men and America turned to the women to fill the void in the greatest American past time,
baseball. A simple collage of women from a small town formed a talented team in a
league of womens baseball, called the Rockford Peaches (A League Of Their Own).
This is only one event out of many that women have been trying to compete in sports.
Feminists have fought since the 19th and 20th century to gain equal rights for women in
society, women leading to more rights now, but in the 20th century woman had to fight
the rights to compete in sports (Rostkowska, 170).
The film presents us with many opportunities to show how imagery affects the
athletes. Equality is a key role through out the film and we can see how athletes grow
together and fall apart together within their own pressures and under the pressure to prove
women are worthy of a mans world (A League Of Their Own). Feminism became huge in
the United Sates in the 1960s and the 1970s, old attitudes about how a woman she be
presented have eroded and changed peoples minds. In the early 80s womens sports were
radically transformed, however sports were not a primary concern to some women, more
women just wanted equality at home and at their job (Guttmann, 251). Someone could

Cook 2
wonder in our present day what is the big deal of a woman competing in sports but
actually there is still controversy in our present day. In the past woman did not compete
in the Olympics or even town athletic events. One can often hear opinions that women
should not practice particular sports for a variety of health and aesthetic reasons. One of
the most frequent arguments against womens participation in sport training is care about
womens health, in particular, about their future successful maternity (Rostkowska, 173).
Title IX, passed by Congress on June 23, 1972, was one of a number of civil rights laws
enacted over the last half of the twentieth century designed to prevent sex discrimination
of all kinds. This law that was passed was directed for equal rights between genders but it
was not really directed towards sports, although because of this law it made it very
eligible to woman to compete in sports (Ryan). Even though a lot have attitudes have
changed towards woman competing in sports, many believe women should be, taking
care of the kids and in the kitchen.
A quote that stands out in the movie about inequality in the movie was Careers
and higher education are leading to the masculinization of women, with enormously
dangerous consequences to the home, the children, and our country. When our boys come
home from war, what kind of girls will they be coming home to? Maida subjected the
women she spoke of to the image of being the good housewife and saying that women
are not meant to play ball (A league of their own). The affect of her statement was subtle
but many women realized the men would not want manly women, that they would
become undesirable. The societal image to be women drives them to make decisions
against being baseball players even though thats what really gets some of them excited.
The women are always talked down to through out the movie until they learn to stand up

Cook 3
and be strong even when the rest of the world is criticized them for the choice they made
to play ball. The team was started because there was a shortage of men and it was decided
that the woman would step up and play ball. The committee recommended a girls'
softball league be established to be prepared to go into Major League parks should
attendance fall due to franchises losing too many quality players to attract crowds. So
there was two problems the committee was facing they had to change the game of
baseball to transform it into baseball and the needed to recruit woman players who had
experience with softball or baseball. Making the team was not a piece of cake for
example starting from the first time the girls went to try outs there was a lot of difference
girls and personalities which lead to a lot of differences. The team had a rough start
where they didnt like listening to one another or how captains were picked (AllAmerican Girls).
The team followed along hesitantly trying to prove they could make it in this
sports world just as men do. The strive for equality happened when one of the best
players (Dottie) tried to express authority and because she was the best in the league.
The girls were also very timid and didnt understand that to win you had to grow as not
only a team but in the eyes of the public you also had to prove yourself. The punch line of
the whole film is THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! this is the turning point for
many of the players, they understand that they have to dig deep and play off of each
others strength and prove what the rest of the world sees in men they can do just as well.
Next, when they hit it off and every one is at peak performance they start to change how
the public views them and they make a league of their own in society. In the seemingly
no hitter game Mae hits the ball out to center and you hear the team scream Dirt in the

Cook 4
skirt, Mae! Dirt in the skirt! the announcer is hollering, Boy, did she smack that one on
the kisser. No wonder they call her "All the Way" Mae. The team pulled together to
give support to their teammates, pushing them to grow and tune out the pressure of
everyone outside of the team. The next few games after that the team slowly drifted apart
just before the play offs. Starting with the sisters, and kit and her feelings of inferiority to
Dottie. She says You ever hear Dad introduce us to people? "This is our daughter
Dottie, and this is our other daughter, Dottie's sister." Should've just had you and bought
a dog! Kit changed teams to the rival for play offs and the Peaches didnt work the
same. In the play offs Dottie drops the final out at home when Kit slides home on
purpose. The team succumbed to their own demons and pressures in the end after play
offs and never spoke again until a reunion of the hall of fame. The first time the sister had
spoken in over 30 years was at the end of the film (A League Of Their Own).
This is a classic example of inequality in sports. The filmmaker was a brilliant
man who picked apart a team of extraordinary talent and heart, putting the emotions on
screen for the rest of the world to get a glimpse at what it is and what it really takes to be
the underdogs of the nation not only as a team but also as a woman in a mans world. The
film certainly shows all the effects woman in sports has on society but also on a woman
as well.

Cook 5
Works Cited

"All-American Girls Professional Baseball League." League History. All American Girls
Professional Baseball League Players Association, Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
A League Of Their Own. Dir. Penny Marshall. Prod. Robert Greenhut. By Lowell Ganz.
Perf. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna. Columbia Pictures, 1992. DVD.
Guttmann, Allen. Women's Sports: A History. New York: Columbia UP, 1991. Print.
Rostkowska, Elbieta. "Women And Sport: A Historical Outline And Contemporary
Social And Physiological Issues." Studies In Physical Culture & Tourism 14.2
(2007): 169-175. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 10 Nov. 2014
Ryan, Molly M. "Title IX And The Drive For Gender Equality In Sports." Minority Trial
Lawyer 11.1 (2012): 2-6. Legal Information Reference Center. Web. 10 Nov.
2014.

Cook 6
Letter of Reflection
This investigative essay was one I enjoyed writing the most. Our assignment was
to pick a movie and watch it and then choose a social issue to write a research paper.
There was so many movies that had social issues in them to pick from but I felt like A
League Of Their Own suited me best and the social issue I used was woman in sports.
Finding all sorts of information on the real team and information on the women was not
difficult for me at all. I think the hardest portion I encountered was having use the library
database. I have never used the library database before, but after I narrowed my phrase in
the search bar because originally my phrase was very broad, the articles I found were
very helpful when conducting my research. In the future, I will definitely use the library
database as a source of information for my research papers. The big changes I made to
improve my paper dealt with grammar, of course. I also talked too much about the movie
inside my rough draft. It was not difficult for me to cut out some parts of my essay but I
had to take time to add more of my research information and adjust my sentences so the
whole paper would have a more cohesive feel. I feel like the movie was a good source to
start when understanding what I would be researching. After I got the hang of using the
library database, the database became the most useful source I had that helped me with
my paper. I used two articles from the library database. I felt like the database helped me
the most because it gave me the most information to help me with writing my paper and
it was super easy to cite because the citations were already made for it on the database. I
believe the best part of my paper is the third paragraph because I incorporate a quote
from the movie and then I tied-in the real information on the real baseball team in the
paragraph. I really enjoyed writing this paper because I felt more motivated and

Cook 7
enthusiastic about doing this paper. If I had more time I would probably research more
sports and events on woman sports issue, such as the tennis player Billie Jean King and
what the issues she faced when competing. I would have also organized my time better
because while writing this paper I had projects and exams in other classes, plus with my
procrastination and watching Netflix did not help with me staying focused on this paper.