Women In A League Of Their Own Directed By Penny Marshall

“A League of Their Own” is a very impacting movie that depicts the impact of women in sports throughout the 1940s. During this era, men were away in World War II, leaving the women to take their spots in many of their duties. Baseball had been a very well known sport throughout the country. Women playing baseball was unordinary, however it quickly grew to be very popular which led to the inauguration of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This was a way for the women to get out, have fun, and relax with other females. The film presents several traditional gender stereotypes and female limitations in sports, some which still exist today.

She is shown as a classy and level headed woman who appears to not have much desire to play in the league. She goes along with it to placate her sister. She is reluctant to get involved personally with many of the other sisters. This plays a large role in her to leave when her husband returns from the war, but in the end, her love of baseball brings her back to finish the season. The other central character is Dottie’s kid sister, Kit. Kit is a feisty and fierce character who wants to play ball mostly to get away from home and away from her parents. She has a short temper and is quick to anger, especially when things are not going her way. She has to be forcibly taken off the field after a particularly poor performance and is shortly then traded to another

Ever since 1887 when softball first became a sport, individuals compared the two. In the past, baseball was the most watched sport in the United States, which earned baseball the nickname of America's’ Pastime. During that time, individuals did not take women’s athletic abilities seriously, for which no females

The product that was being sold to the players were the importance of their beauty and femininity. The image of a quiet, innocent housewife was the stereotyped image of what a women must be, but the AAGPBL create a whole new image for their players that was completely different. Even though the girls were “supposed” to be dressed up and presentable in public, their baseball practices were long, reached high levels of difficulty and were definitely dirty. The press showcased the girls as another type of glamour, but it was all for show. All members of the league had to meet a certain standard that society had set for them. The girls had to be masculine enough to play the game, but still feminine to not only attract the crowd, but also to represent themselves and the

The female apologetic suggests that female athletic involvement is tolerable as long as traditional notions of femininity are present (Pierman, 2005; Roth & Basow,2004). The AAGPBL had to present femininity to the public by wearing feminine uniforms, having charm, and code of conduct. The overall look of the uniform was intended to remind fans that they were not only watching real baseball, but real girls (Draeger, 1997). Players were issued an 11-page “Guide for All-American Girls: How to Look Better, Feel Better, Be More Popular” along with a beauty kit (Charm School). They were given instructions in putting on makeup, how to get in and out of a car gracefully, how to speak correctly, and how to make proper conversations in social settings (Fincher, 1989). Clothing guidelines were issued, as well as a 10-step suggested beauty routine for after the games. Many females were denied from being able to join the AAGPBL if they looked masculine. Back then, being labeled masculine as a female meant they did not meet the expectations of beauty. This raised the question of, whether or not the exclusion of the masculine looking athletes compromised the power statistics of the league. The answer to this question still remains unknown because it is controversial.

Before we told our daughters that they could be anyone, or anything they wanted to be, we told them that they could only be what was acceptable for women to be, and that they could only do things that were considered "ladylike." It was at this time, when the nation was frenzied with the business of war, that the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League decided that they could do and be whatever it was that they chose. These women broke free of the limitations that their family and society had set for them, and publicly broke into what had been an exclusively male sport up until that time.

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies; A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarilythat of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. Men were typically employed, successful gentlemen, while the woman’s only job was a housewife. The film industry was mostly dominated by men. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had

Baseball was one of these things that women picked up to keep the game alive. In 1856, baseball became America’s pastime. The league had strict rules for the women. They had to wear lipstick, couldn't have short hair and take classes that teach them to be charming. Pitchers for the league threw underhand. Many people attended the games because they were interested in seeing girls play ball. It could be said that the public opinion of people during this time about women was altered. Seeing them be able to freely play sports and well proved that girls could have different roles. This source was very good and helpful in explaining the roles of women in baseball during World War 2 and the differences they faced compared to men.

Moving onto gender roles and ideas, these characteristics in genders are needed in any sort of story to suit the values and attitudes of the people of that time. Gender stereotypes are a major piece to the puzzle of a film. Women are generally seen as less dominant, pushovers, the cares of everyone and that they have no independence. Whist men are seen as the more dominant, masculine, heroes, brave and courageous. This is across all genres of movies, the girl is the damsel in distress and the boy ends up saving her at the end of it.

According to an article called, “How Horror Films Are Bringing More Gender Equality to Hollywood” it states that, “University of Southern California communications professor Stacy Smith, who researches depictions of gender and race in film and TV, found that of the 5,839 characters in the 129 top-grossing films released between 2006 and 2011, fewer than 30 percent were girls or women.” This explains that males still have a dominating place in movie character roles in this generation. In general male figures in the movie industry could be seen as the more ruling characters as they are more

Hunger Games seemed to do just fine with a female lead. Kill Bill was pretty popular too. Salt made good money. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider did well as well (and I’m positive some men went to see this one). Miss. Congeniality (admittedly a film with a smaller budget) pulled in a tidy profit. Charlies Angels pulled in a nice sum as well. I could trot out more examples, but that would get monotonous. And these are just actions films don’t get me started on other genres.......

Although, I do not agree with this. I feel that there are many films today in which women play the biggest roles and are the main character. For example, Julia Roberts plays a huge role in all of her movies, being a very strong, independent women. Many people may agree that all 'chick-flicks' are women film based as well. Not only 'chick-flicks' have women that play important roles though. Angelina Jolie plays in plenty action packed, adrenaline rushing movies. For examples; Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Tomb-Raider, Wanted, and Changeling are all movies Jolie has played major roles in and been successful. She represents a very strong and independent women in each role she plays in all her movies, showing that she doesn't need a man to accompany her in her films to make them better.

Growing up as a child with parents that were both fairly busy with work I often found myself sat in front of a television either waiting for the day to begin or to end. I remember watching shows and seeing how the boys always seemed to be more outspoken, hyper-masculine and the leader in a given situation while the girls were always the passive ones who were depicted as shy followers. Now that I am older I find myself watching even more television, allowing me to see how the media depicts men and women in society. For example, The Big Bang Theory, in its earlier seasons, it only had one female lead, Penny. Her character was very stereotypical in the sense that she was the scattebrained neighbor. The way that men and women are portrayed has

If someone says the word superhero, what comes to mind? Is it Superman, or is it Wonder Woman? The overwhelming majority of superhero films tend to be centered around male superhero characters, and when female characters do take the lead, there’s usually not a male character far behind- and why is that? To this day, society still has an idea ingrained into their head that the only strong characters are male characters, and the only people who watch superhero movies are men. Though the female fan base is consistently growing within action movie and comic book culture, female characters are still being over-sexualized, belittled, and left out of marketing. The new wave of feminism has begun to percolate, using new forms of media to continuously

Male characters easily speak their minds, they outnumber the women characters, and they have a lot more action going on for the audience to see. Therefore, they have a more dramatic impact than women.