Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women In Sports [Hardcover]

Sue Macy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1996

"Run, walk, swim, or cycle to get this book. The highly readable, fascinating history of women’s sports in America ... Winning Ways will be an inspiration to today’s athletes, both male and female." --Booklist, starred review

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10?Dramatic, kinetic black-and-white photographs and reproductions and an engaging text document the changes in the women's sports world over the past 150 years. Macy relates how women in the 19th century were not only warned that exercise could lead to a number of undesirable conditions, but also how they were required to dress in a manner that made physical activity virtually impossible. She shows how, despite the restrictions, the popularity of women's sports began to increase, slowly at first, then exponentially, giving rise to some curious pastimes as well as some titanic contests along the way. The author describes how dedicated athletes worked for recognition of today's popular sports and illuminates the interconnectedness of athletics, the media, fashion, and social mores. Athletes who changed their sports and the nations' perception of female competitors are highlighted. This well-documented, readable photohistory is excellent for reports or for leisure reading.?Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-10. Run, walk, swim, or cycle to get this book into your library. A highly readable, fascinating history of women's sports in America, by the author of A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1993), Winning Ways will be an inspiration to today's athletes, both male and female. Macy's engaging approach combines meticulous research with some truly amazing anecdotes of sports heroines, who have often been regarded as unseemly renegades. Beginning with the 1880s bicycle craze (a vehicle that Susan B. Anthony said did "more to emancipate woman than anything else in the world" ) and moving on through the rise of basketball, baseball, track and field, and many other sports, Macy deftly draws parallels between the emergence and acceptability of female athletes and the larger role of women in society, using a wealth of statistics, photographs, and even advertisements of the day. The focus here is broad, going beyond early society sportswomen and white college teams from the first half of the century--minority athletes, such as Ora Mae Washington, an African American who won the American Tennis Association singles crown every year from 1929 to 1935, are also covered. Yet Macy's most important argument may be that far as women athletes have come, there is still a long road to haul: it is sobering to realize that Little League was a boys-only affair until the middle 1970s; that in 1992, colleges and universities spent only 20 percent of their athletic budgets on women's sports; and that a female competitor is still too often judged by her appearance and perceived level of femininity rather than by her athletic achievements. Chronology; list of resources. Laura Tillotson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 217 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (May 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805041478
• ISBN-13: 978-0805041477
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,171,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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