Female Gladiators: Gender, Law, and Contact Sports in America

Female Gladiators examines the legal and social history of the right of women to participate with men in contact sports. The impetus to begin legal proceedings was the 1972 enactment of Title IX, which prohibited discrimination in educational settings, but it was the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the equal rights amendments of state constitutions that ultimately opened doors. Despite court rulings, however, many in American society resisted--and continue to resist--allowing girls in dugouts and other spaces traditionally defined as male territories. When the leagues continued to bar girls simply because they were not boys, the girls went to court. Sarah K. Fields examines the legal and cultural conflicts over gender and contact sports that continue to rage today. "Female Gladiators is the first book to examine legal and social battles over the right of women to participate with men in contact sport." "The impetus to begin legal proceedings was the 1972 enactment of Title IX, which prohibited discrimination in educational settings, but it was the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the equal rights amendments of state constitutions that ultimately opened doors. Despite court rulings, however, many in American society resisted - and continue to resist - allowing girls in dugouts and other spaces traditionally defined as male territories." "Inspired, women and girls began to demand access to the contact sports which society had previously deemed too strenuous or violent for them to play. When the leagues continued to bar girls simply because they were not boys, the girls went to court. Sarah K. Fields's Female Gladiators is the only book to examine the legal and social battles over gender and contact sport that continue to rage today."--BOOK JACKET Female Gladiators is the first book to examine legal and social battles over the right of women to participate with men in contact sports. The impetus to begin legal proceedings was the 1972 enactment of Title IX, which prohibited discrimination in educational settings, but it was the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the equal rights amendments of state constitutions that ultimately opened doors. Despite court rulings, however, many in American society resisted—and continue to resist—allowing girls in dugouts and other spaces traditionally defined as male territories. Inspired, women and girls began to demand access to the contact sports which society had previously deemed too strenuous or violent for them to play. When the leagues continued to bar girls simply because they were not boys, the girls went to court. Sarah K. Fields's Female Gladiators is the only book to examine the legal and social battles over gender and contact sport that continue to rage today. Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 1. The History of American Women in Sport, Society, and Law......Page 18 2. Baseball......Page 34 3. Football......Page 51 4. Basketball......Page 72 5. Soccer......Page 100 6. Wrestling......Page 119 7. Boxing......Page 138 8. Boys on Girls' Field Hockey Teams......Page 149 9. Wrapping Up Contact Sports......Page 171 Appendix: Timeline of Laws and Major Cases......Page 186 Notes......Page 190 Index......Page 220 'Female Gladiators' examines the legal and social history of the right of women to participate with men in contact sports. Despite several court rulings since the 1970s, many in American society resisted (and continue to resist) allowing girls in dugouts, forcing a group of school-age girls to go through legal proceedings.

How school-aged girls used the legal system to gain access to contact sports