Sports and sports films mean a great deal to many Americans. Since the historic Title IX legislation passed in 1972, opportunities for female athletes reached unpredictably high numbers. Likewise, there was an increase in the number of female protagonists within American sports films. Of the scholarly work regarding the female athlete in film, the focus is almost exclusively on the post-Title IX film. This makes the scholarly study of the reel female athlete in early American women's sports cinema relevant and necessary. In this work, I argue that the image of this athlete in early American sports films is paradoxical. Her representation is at once traditionally feminine and gender bending. In the long run, the female athlete was always a threat to the patriarchal order because she complicated traditional notions of femininity. This limited, but did not erase, her representation on the silver screen. Female athletes serve as an important site of resistance in 20th century American film, yet they receive little attention by scholars. I discuss the complex gendered nature of representations of women athletes in pre-Title IX American film. I propose that the paradoxical representation of this athlete mirrors the divisiveness of sports feminist agendas. / A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2013. / April 1, 2013. / gender, motion pictures, sports history, twentieth century, United
States / Includes bibliographical references. / William Cloonan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathleen M. Erndl, University Representative; Donna Marie Nudd, Committee Member; B. Cecil Reynaud, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253368 |
| Contributors | Tanner, Stacy Lynn (authoraut), Cloonan, William (professor directing dissertation), Erndl, Kathleen M. (university representative), Nudd, Donna Marie (committee member), Reynaud, B. Cecil (committee member), Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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