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All American Girls Professional Baseball League in Womens history During the history the position of women in the society has always been unsteady. The Western civilization has always tended for discrimination and discrimination of the females is the most continuous example of discrimination. Women recurrently were the subjects of social inequity, sexual harassment's and domestic violence. The twentieth century was significant with major breakthrough of feminism political movement the idea of which was the social and sexual liberation of women. One of the major events that influenced the social outlook of the United States population on the subject of female liberation was the All- American Girls Professional Baseball League of 1943 - 1954.
The World War II was the most extensive war in history and in involved the majority of nations. The participation of the United States in the World War II drew into the service the majority of young men. The minor leagues were disbanding and the major league was approaching the collapse because the team stars left the diamond field for the War front. In fear that baseball league would not survive the World War II the owner of the league Philip K. Wrigley called a committee for coming up with saving ideas and they decided to draw members from the girls softball league. During the World War II woman had to take over work after their men, they worked at farms, offices and factories that were transferred for producing arms.
This was viewed as their share in fighting against enemies. When the baseball league owners offered to from girls league, they found out that the number of willing candidates tremendously exceeded the request. This allowed setting try-outs and finding the most talented women. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed in 1943 and lasted until 1954. The owners of the league were not champions of feminism. The baseball was considered a male sport and the league owner wanted to draw attention to the female teams.
Team names such as: the Milwaukee Chicks, the Grand Rapid Chicks, the Muskegon Lassies, the Fort Wayne Daisies, the Rockford Peaches, the Springfield Sallies, the Racine Belles prompted that their intention was to highlight the femininity of the players. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League made their games not merely a competition but also a spectacle. Players were required to embody "the highest ideals of womanhood. " On the field, these ideals translated to the wearing of lipstick and short skirt uniforms that were designed after figure skating dresses and were not comfortable for sliding into bases. All players of All-American Girls Professional Baseball League were required to attend evening classes with representatives of beauty salons. They learned how to walk, how to sit and talk, manners and etiquette. Every girl received a beauty kit and instructions how to use it.
The girls were required to wear lipstick all the time, preferably had to have long hair and even outside baseball activities they were forbidden to drink and to wear jeans or trousers. The woman baseball players symbolized the girl next door image, they were giving hope to soldiers that their woman were waiting for them back home. This image reminded the soldiers about their own beloved whom they left home and they felt compelled to win the war and come back home with victory. The manners by which the idea if a girl next door was delivered to the public assured that the female teams would be welcomed by the public. During the war people were lacking entertainment and they had no possibility to watch their favorite baseball. The All American Girls league appeared like a breath of fresh air and it brought such strong patriotic idea that very soon they became All - American favorites.
The idea of girl next door which female baseball players symbolized seems to be a genius application of commercial thinking. And it was such to the certain degree. Philip K. Wrigley required big attention towards girls baseball and he played with patriotic feelings. All the components of the players image: the uniform, the long hair, the lipstick and mannerism instilled the image of traditional female who wanted to be admired by man. The World War II was unique in its severity and extension.
The people all over ago saw their familiar life values shatter in dust. The soldiers at war and the people back home required some familiar idea to hold on to. They had to know that at home everything is the same and their women are still theirs. The idea of female baseball was new in essence and its novelty had to be tamed. Men had to view it as womens cooperation with them, as their support; otherwise it could look as if their women used their weakness for their own goals. The idea to make the players look feminine and beautiful was a very clever step.
This image trampled the long and hard years of feminism liberation movement. But at the same time the image of the girl next door was the key which opened the door for the girls into the masculine world. They had to obey the rules but they gained the chance which was impossible in another times. After the league was disbanded many of women baseball players made spectacular careers and they stress that their experience in the league gave them strength and confidence. As one of the players of All American Girls Professional Baseball league Wilma Briggs said in the interview about her playing years I met a lot of people from all over the United States, Canada, and Cuba, which I never would have done. I traveled, lived in the best hotels, ate in restaurants, lived in private homes-that's an experience.
I think it gave me the courage years later to say: "I think I'll go to college. " And this freedom is the most important achievement of AAGPBL. The compromise of commerce, masculine views and female aspirations resulted in such phenomenon as the All American Girls Professional Baseball League which showed us that it is possible for women to be equal to men and to gain success and take over mens work. All woman base ball players were excellent athletes and in their game relied on their skills not on their gender. The league lasted until 1954 when the World War II was longs since over and this fact proved that the Girls league drew huge interest which could not last so long only because of good feminine looks. But at the last years of All American Girls Professional Baseball League its own popularization of feminine image was used against it. In 1952 Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick said that women would not play in the professional league and his purpose was to prevent teams from using women players as a publicity stunt.
The contemporary success of female liberation in large amount is the result of All American Girls Professional Baseball League existence. Sometime the value of equality is exaggerated and the players of the Girls baseball league are compelled to notice that the family values are always the most valuable and people women should not reject their families for professional career: I think our whole country changed after the war nobody's home The kids know their baby-sitter better than they know their parents. They know their teacher better than they know their parents. Everybody seems to be going in a different direction. Bud despite such frequent cases of carelessness women value the freedom they gained now that they have a greater choice for searching themselves in this world. It let the plain farm girls who otherwise would have spent the whole life in the farm to find better opportunity in lives.
When the World War II ended and men came back home they took over their game after the women and the latter could not find their place. After the arrival of television to every home people preferred watching baseball at home and in 1954 the All American Girls Professional Baseball League ceased its existence. But the woman players remained in history as the example female solidarity with their men and this solidarity brought both sexes together. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League was induced into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1992 the story of the league was told in the movie A League of their Own. The Girls Baseball League changed the view on women in sports; it commemorated the end to many years of womens discrimination.
From the very beginning of the league it was intended as the beautiful attraction for spectators but it grew into high class professional sport. It changed the social views on the role of women in society. The woman baseball players proved the females can be professionals in male occupation and it opened the doors for women into other traditionally male careers. In conclusion it is suitable to mention what Patricia I.
Brown who played in baseball league in 1950 and 1951 as a pitcher said in her interview: I do not think women's sports should be about men and women competing. I believe that the issue of women's sports is that women should be allowed to have teams and play all sports, especially those which were previously denied to them, like baseball, ice hockey, etc. (Brown) The girls of the league set the example which has to be followed by all women. Every woman should find in herself the strength to change her life, to grasp the presented opportunity and defend her dignity. But at the same time women should not forget the moral norms and values and remain their femininity in every satiation. Harmony is the key to the success and every person should be well developed in every aspect: physically, socially and morally.
The woman from All American Girls Professional Baseball League set for us the example to follow. Bibliography Berlage, Gai Ingham. Women In Baseball: The Forgotten History. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994.
Brown, Patricia I. A League of My Own: Memoir of a Pitcher for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Mcfarland & Co. , 2003 Briggs, Wilma. A Farm Girl Plays Professional Baseball. What Did You Do in the War, Grandma? 1995. 10 Dec. 2004. < web > Brown, Lois. The Girls of Summer.
New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992. Bryan, Mike. Baseball Lives: Men and Women of the Game Talk About Their Jobs, Their Lives, and the National Pastime. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1990. Name, Elinor. Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend: Women Writers on Baseball.
Boston: Faber and Faber, 1993. Macy, Sue. A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Henry Holt, 1995
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