League of Their Own

Baseball has always been seen as a man's sport. Its early origins were strictly male players with no mention over of females being involved. But what happens when there are men that are away at war and baseball must continue forward? The movie A League of Their Own depicts the time during WWII when men were off defending the country and baseball continued forward with the AAGPBL. The league did a number of things for women, but raising the bar on equality seemed to be the most prominent.

The Second World War is beginning, and female baseball players are being drafted for the All American girls Baseball League, in an attempt to save the sport. This seemed like a great chance for the farm girls to escape from their unpleasant reality of lower class street life. To some, baseball seems the only easy option, especially for the two main character Dottie and Kit. Two sisters that plaid

for the dairy farm team they worked for. Dottie was happy being at the dairy farm awaiting the return of her husband and living out her life there. However, like most women of the time, Kit wanted to escape the daily life she had and wanted to get out and make something of their lives, baseball was their calling. The scout decides to bring the girls back to Chicago for tryouts and they eventually make the league.

Although the league was made to keep the baseball business going, they wanted to make sure that they did not turn their women into men by asking them to play baseball. Their biggest rule was that the women must behave like women. The Rules of Conduct are full of tedious tasks that the women must engage in to make sure they keep their feminine status. Everything from hygiene to making sure that the girls have a curfew that is enforced by a team chaperone. Everything was laid

out for them. Teeth, mouth, body, hands, face, clothes, hair..... It was all included in their rule book. They must maintain their feminine status in order to keep playing for this league. It was easy to tell the first priority for those that were asked to form this league.