This thesis is a study of the history of women’s cricket from the 1880s until 1939. Although the primary focus of this thesis is the interwar years, it explores the earliest forms of women’s cricket to provide context for the motivation of individuals to promote the game as acceptable for women, and of those who denounced its suitability. By exploring societal concerns over correct masculine and feminine behaviour and ideals, this thesis provides insight into the methods that contemporaries adopted to contrast these restrictions. Through a detailed examination of local newspapers and archival sources, this thesis investigates the reactions by society to the concept of women playing what was hitherto seen as a masculine sport. In particular it examines the relationship not only between the women and men who organised cricket on a national scale, but between middle- and working- class women and how class played an equally important role as gender as a restricting influence on opportunities for working-class women to participate in leisure. As a consequence, this thesis will demonstrate the willingness of working-class women to participate in physical activities when given the opportunity, either through their male counterparts, or the workplace. Although academic work on the history of women’s sport is an expanding field, little attention has been paid to specific team games, with the exception of football. Similarly, research on women’s sport has primarily focused on women of the upper- and middle-classes, with the activities of working-class women being largely overlooked. This thesis aims to expand our knowledge of women’s cricket by not only providing a detailed examination of the national sporting organisations, but also to redress the knowledge gaps surrounding the participation in sport by working-class women.

Two thousand and twelve marked the fortieth anniversary of Title IX and the first Summer Olympic Games in which all attending nations sent female competitors. Too often, scholars of sport history conservatively frame the experiences of girls and women within a narrative of progress. College women's sport participation in particular is framed as a linear narrative beginning with the "new woman's" foray in college physical training, the non-competitive interwar coed, and the post Title IX female athlete. It is within this narrative that the college play day, a sport practice emerging in California and Washington in 1926 began to gain momentum as an additional form of extramural competition for college women. In this dissertation I interrogate which historical and societal forces contributed to the invention, diffusion, and evolution of the college play day. Though the play day is briefly included in descriptive narratives about women's physical activity and sport during the interwar era, deeper explorations are absent. This study aims to further elucidate the extent and variety of forms that the play day took. I aim to explore its general value within the college setting and its reception among women physical educators, colleagues, and play day participants. An additional research question I pose is what are the roles and contributions of certain individuals, alliances, and organizations involved in the invention, adoption, and evolutions of the college play day? Last, I question whether or not the play day is a site in which gender relations or other intersecting relations of power were reproduced, constructed, or transformed?

No description available.

Research to date on women in the sports-media has predominantly concentrated on comparisons of the type and amount of media coverage afforded to sportsmen and women. This substantial body of literature has consistently revealed that sports-media continues to be viewed as an exclusively masculine domain, where women remain under- and misrepresented. While content analyses are important in revealing the sexist portrayal of sportswomen in the media, they do little to provide guidance to sociologists on why this continues to occur. Looking behind the scenes into how sports-media content is produced has rarely been explored internationally, and not at all in France, yet is integral to understanding the process through which gendered coverage is sustained. The aim of this exploratory case study was to redress the deficit of sports-media research in France by undertaking a study of those responsible for the production of sports media content. It was guided by the central question: what role do sports-media producers play in perpetuating dominant ideologies in sport? The nine participants were drawn from experienced male and female sports content decision makers (editors and higher) from the major, national television and print media in France. Data was collected through individual semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews and open coded using NVivo 8. The analysis, based around five themes (ideal profile, feedback, sport selection, women’s sport, blame), revealed that the patterns of sport media decision-making in France show many similarities and some differences to those observed in other countries, but that the end result is the same: sports media content remains dominated by men’s sport. Findings indicate that women’s sport is subject to much harsher editorial selection criteria. Conclusions were drawn on what role the makers of sports media content in France have in reproducing this hegemonic masculinity so inherent in sports coverage. The findings will enable stakeholders such as sociologists, journalism academics, sport media management and sports organisations to consider ways through which hierarchical values and accepted patriarchal practices in the sports-media industry can be transformed.

Background That men are prioritised over women has been called the “gender regime in sport”, and has in part been explained by the gender difference in performance. However, gender differences in physical performance between women and men can be debated to depend on how comparisons are made and on the fact that there are many different confounders that may influence the results. Even if attempts are made to overcome this and the groups of women and men are stated to be matched, there are still often differences in training experience in years, or differences in training load. Women tend to have less experience in ice hockey in relation to age and differences in training conditions have also been reported. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how female and male ice hockey players position themselves in their sport and to visualise the interactions between society and biology that may affect performance. Theoretical approach and methods Harding’s three perspectives (Symbolic, Structural and Individual) were applied on information from team administration as well as on results from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and tests of puck velocity, anthropometrics, body composition, isokinetic muscle strength, ergospirometry and on-ice tests from female and male ice hockey players. Results Vast differences in structural conditions were found, for example in hockey history and in the financial situation within the teams and both women and men were aware of the gender differences in structural conditions. However these differences were not even considered when comparisons of the ice hockey performance of women and men were made. Nine out of ten female players increased puck velocity when a more flexible stick and a lighter puck were used thus indicating that poorly adjusted equipment may affect performance. Male ice hockey players were taller, heavier and stronger, had more lean body mass and a higher aerobic capacity compared to the women in absolute values as well as in relation to body weight. However, the differences diminished or disappeared when the values were expressed in relation to lean body mass. Men had higher expectations on their situation as athletes and the interviewed women described men’s ice hockey as superior to theirs and consequently male ice hockey players deserved better conditions. Conclusions The views of women and men may affect structural conditions in sport which in turn may affect possibilities in sport for the individual. Gender differences in conditions thus risk confirming the traditional views of femininity and masculinity. However, by moving outside the normal gender boundaries individuals may change the traditional views of femininity and masculinity.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2010. / Härtill 4 uppsatser. Pp. 62-73: Bibliography.

"The problem of this study is to determine the growth of sports activities for women in the North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Texas from 1908 to 1938"--1.