No description available.

The term "cowboy" was closely bound to American image long before the 1990s. Rodeo claimed the image of the cowboy from the earliest contests to the latest and pledged itself to patriotism almost as early. This historical study was conducted viewing rodeo as a subculture and relating women's role in the sport in terms of both subculture and over-all American culture. Research substantiated that the cowboy remained linked to the image of America at the time the paper was researched and written. Rodeo attitudes toward cowgirls reflect the ambivalence that cowgirls and American women in general found themselves facing internally and externally. / Graduation date: 1994

Dolores Dyer played from 1952-1953 for the Texas Cowgirls, a barnstorming women's basketball team that provided a form of entertainment popular throughout the United States in that era. The story of Dyer's life demonstrates how a woman could attempt to achieve the American dream—a major theme in American history—through success in athletic competition. Dyer's participation with the Texas Cowgirls also provides a look into the circumstances that limited women's participation in professional sport during the mid-twentieth century. Women's sports studies, although some are very thorough, have gaps in the research, and women's barnstorming basketball is one of the areas often overlooked. In light of this gap, this thesis relies on a variety of sources, including primary documents from unpublished collections, archived materials, and original oral histories from several members of the Texas Cowgirls team. This thesis contains analysis of the socioeconomic factors that influenced Dolores Dyer's maturation into a professional basketball player, examines what the American dream meant to her, and evaluates the extent to which she achieved it. Overall, it constructs a social history that can serve as a foundational source for further study of women in sports during the twentieth century.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 6, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-183).