TITE POLIT-ICS OF SEXUALTTT

fit dominant
and to stigmatize ose whose interests or appearance did not
culrural standards.
,.Menarche and the (Hetero)sexualization of the Fe'
]anet ke,s arricle,
narratives regarding eir early experienccs wi
women's
male Body,' uses
a.nrt*uon to show how ese experienccs socialize women to ink of
eir bodies and sexuality in ways demanded by American culture. Through
contaminating
these cxpericncesr women lcarri to tlrink of their bodies as
to
and emba..arsing. They become alienated tiom their bodies-learning
rather
thern
to
happening
someing
as
.itinf afr. chariges in their bodies
"f
tey are doing, and learning to think of their appearance and
an something
things
sexuality as thiigs designed foi men's viewing and plcasure rather an
at
menarche
women
young
Sinrilarly.'
in.
.y *r-t"frcs*can t;ke pleasurc
ey will
leain to fear both at ey will not be attractive to men and at
etrct unwanted malc attention. ke ends her article wi a discussion ofhow
to
women resist ese cultural pressure, by, for example, using their stories.
menstruating
on
restrictions
cultural
the
using
experien..,
eir
reframe
"rr
womcn to their advantage.
..Daring to Desire: culrure and c
L. Tolman,
DebJrah
Thc article by
how teenage
Bodies ofdolescent Girls," offers a groundbreaking analysis of

sxual desires. This research challenges

girls engage in sexual actity because
teenage
that
idea
h. commonly held
than. because ey feel sexual desire.
raer
relationships
intimate
.y
In .ddition, rough .o.rt .rting e experiences and voiccs of urban and
,oUo.U* girls, Toiman shows hw teens' feelings about sexual activity are
U"it Uy the promisc of sexual pleasure and the threat ofsexual dangers.
st .p.a
-'fin1fy,
..Selling Hot pussy: Representations of Black
belt nokr,s article,
I\larktplace," looks at cultural ideas about
Cultural
in
e
Female Sexuality
African-American women,s bodies and seiuality. She shows how, conitently,
.r,.r. culture has depicted African-American women as both expcndat'le
hypersexual. she then demonstrates how cse ideas conand animalistically-coniemporary
representations of African'American female
tinue to pervade
Richard Wrightis novels to Tina Turner's performance to e
,"*Aiay,
African-American fashion models'
of
present;don

gid,

.-r.tu.s ink about eir

**.

f."-

Fut-fr:7
b

From

e "Muscle Moll" to the

"Butch" BallPiaYer

M nnnishn e ss, Le s b i a n'is rn,

an

d I o rn op h o b i a in

(J.S' Woruen's SPorrs

Susex K.

C,c'HN

women's sports' "Will the

Diget $tbtrtled an article on
The author' Fred wittner'
Plavinc Fields onc D"y il-il[Jb)'Amazonsl"
co nconctude cl th.at as an " i nevitable
education
physical
in
trained
effcct'

In 1934, Liternry

;l;.:";;

*;il;;f#;;.ty
sport's -";li"i;i

;d

"gitlt

equence'of
tn"tt t most worthy faers for ei:
todav may find it more diffi*ilt
*o"" athletes as mannish'. fail:Lchildren' ( I 9 34, 43 )' Th;'il;;; ;i
in sport' At umes'
]fr;.'r.;-.;n." a thinly veed reference to aslesbianism
a iournalist's description
in
*Sapphic' Broddingc homosexual allusion i;Jb;;d6{1!li:
as a
(Murray n.d.) of the S*" ''ttie. Sabe Didtikton
atscnio Hall's more recent (1988)
nagian woman" o. i,, ttr*iJ' titt
*If *'e can put man on e moon' why can't we Put onc on
witticism,
popular commentar)' on
iild";'i.tiloval' More frequently,
Lrowcvel
surfacing through
references,
indirect
form of
resbians in sport has takcithe
'vVhcn in 1955 an
acknowledsment'
*offtrack'
dcnials and refutationt rad;J;;pen

track stirs insisted at

on]c;n"-l'q';trit"n
-;;
boys' dances' club affairs'" the
"ttittt
fike
of tntt
eirls are entirely f.,i";'
at ailetes' especialll'
. ;;iltt il;

Ebony magazrn

f#;; ;;lJ

Bfack womcn in a

""p"tt"
"manly; sport' were masculirrc

.charee

*httttt'

or lesbians'

has acted as a powcrfrrl but

The figure of ,ht Janit'h L'ui"i "rtrttt
*uog"y*oil'i; i'pott'.fo"tting a silcnt foil br morc positive '
unarticulated
and
in"Uittte thi imasc of women athletes
corrective imag., ,t"t t*t'ipt to
p*'"' and femininiry' As
resolve

e cultural

t"";;;;;;;;;;tl'l';'

1993): 343-8'
Feirr'rclicr'vol 19' No' 2lSrrmmcr
Originallypublishcd asSrrsan K Crhn'
collcgc Park' t\tD 20742'
Rcprintcd by pcr-i*'ion ortr')p"ti'th*J;;;hMarvland'

68

From thc

THE POLITICS OF SEXLTALTTT

stereoryped figure in u.s. sociery, the lesbian athlete forms part of everyday
cultural lnowlcage. yet historians have paid scant attention to e connec'
tion between female sexualiry and sport.r This essay explores the historical
relationship berween lesbianism and sport by tracing e delelopmcnt of e
,t.r.otyp" "mannish lesbian athlete' and examining its relation to e lived
experiencc of mid-rwentie-century lesbian aletes.
I argue at fears of mannish female sexuality in sport initially centered ol1
e profcct of unbridled heterosexual desire . By e 1930s, howcver, female
alctic mannishness began to connote heterosexual failure, usually couched
in terms of unattractiven.s to rn.n, but also suggcsting e possible absence
of hetcrosexual interest. In the years following world war II, the stereotypc
of e lesbian athlete emerged full-blown. The extreme homophobia and the
gender conservatism of e posrwar era created context in which longstandIng finkages among mannisness, female homosexualiry and athletes cohercd

around thc figure of the mannish lesbian thlcte. . .

(tm)mortality
Thc aletic woman sparkcd interest and controversy in e early decades of
e twentie century. In e United states and oerwestern ocietic, sport
functioned as a mal preserve, an all-male domain in which mcn not only
playcd games togethei but also demonstrated and afirmed eir manhood
198;kmmel1987;Mangan and Park 1987; Mrozek 1983)' The
i"nng
-"l.nei, ofsport derived from a gender ideology which labeled aggression,
physicaliry, competitive spirit, and athlctic skill as masculine attributes necestrue manliness. This notion found unquestioned support in
,ary fo,
"ihiering
the dualistic, porized concepts of gender u,hich prevailed in Victorian Amcrica, However, by the turn of the century, womcn had bcgun to challenge vicbrcaking lown barricrs to fcmalc PrticiPation
torian gcndcr
".rong"n1"rrtr,
in prcviously malc aienas of public work, politics, and urban nighdifc. Somc
of esc "New Women" sought entry into the world of aletics as wcll. on
collcge campuscs students cnjoyed a wide range of intramural sports trough
nc*l| formid Women's Athletic Associations. Off-campus women took up
gams fike golf, tennis, baske tball, swimming, and occasionally even wresding,

o.ing,

.. boxing. As challengers to one

ofthe defining

arenas

ofmaood,

I skilled female athleies became symbols of e broader march of womanhood

I out of e Victorian domestic sphere into once prohibited male realms.
The woman alete represcnted both the appealing nd {hrctc!i4g'
Iasoects ofmodern womanhood. In a positive light, she captured e exuberant
l."i.i. ;nVSitA eor. and tir'"isi of the New Woman. The Univcrsity of
'inrr..o, .,rdeit n.*spaper proclaime d in 1904 that e aletic girl was e
*truest qfe ofll-Americah coed" ( 1904-5 Scrapbooks ofAnne Maude Butner, Bumi. papers, Universiry of Minnesota Archives, Minneapolis). Sevcral
years later, Harper\ Bazaor labeled e unsportive girl as 'not trictly up to

Mall'to

the "Bttch" Ballplayer

"tontbor"' i
Hotrck.eepin7. notcd thrt thc
date' (Mange 1910,24)' and Good
.nl'
trot
ncw
Phr sicrllv'
)
had comc to symbolize
ru
I
)'
Iv I lt
but rnentally and morally' (de Koven
Critics
praisc'
condemnation as oftcn as
Yet, women athletes i;;;
athletic
educators to sportsrvriters' male
*Jpftittl
rnsed from physician'
enpursuits
aletic
streuuous
In their view,

"J;#;;;i111li';'!|'t'

;ffi,jrjilrJr.*.*.
*"t'ittJiit
danseredwom.n

sociew' Thev maintaincd that

and
adopting msculint dress' talk'

tt'uiriryof

"na

athlctes *ot'ra utl*t ttnril"t'

*'ould elamrgc
contended, too rnuch exercise
mannerisms, In additron, they
the excitement of sport 'ottltl
female reprodu.u"
rf ttcnzied, tlistriruprht
'l'hcsc
cusc women ro rose .;#;i;.;,,ring',,p.in.rug"r

*ori"n

ttp"tlii'J;.;;;ytt'
pnvricaj

co-ed on e vcrge
fcars collapscd into an

"r.r"j,
A]-tntp"ting

'tc'tff:coftiil'j:;:::':;y;

the merits.
-

an.1

etion,rl trrcrktlor',tr'

concept ol "mannishrrcss"'

or wornen,s

ath

I tcrnl

retic prrticiprtir>.

and 1920s' Implicit in the disPuteovcr

remained lively rough-tf't Ot

ot rvomen s
disagreement-over c effect
'mannishness'w a fongtndi"g
issucs'
controversy centcrcd around r*'o
arletic activities on eir-sexualiq:.
heterosexual
of
ttp't"it t;p;ity and e.unleashing

'

Amazons, Muscle Molls, and the Question of Sexual

, ar

ql[rtscle

damage to fcmale

themsel'es

.*p.*r:"i.i...ir. ri..i"fi.ts

disagreed l*".ng
icprocluctivc tl't]tt tnl
wome:l's
on
abo.rt e effects of athletic activiry
I

oassion. Medical

i:l#::1ilffi

[li::li{;z'
nl't'

:rur:;n:l**'t*:g*:m:l?,:fif
;";:;;;i'"i'-""'ra
endowed;ffi; ffi;
';';G;

''

Ychcnrctttlr'
rcuing children' Sl;tit*'"h1' cxpcrts
them more fit for bearing and
dcsircs irlcri- /
n"noro.r.r,ir;,Irlii.
unleas-hed
dcbated whcther .orp",ion
*o,.,tn' or' convcrscly' whither /
tificd with male sexualiflnJ t'n"'pttt'Urc
scxttirl

ous exercise

cila'nr rncl
'rppcrrl' \
t"ntl]'t'J;;;;*ininc
\
activiry'
*r'"ltt"te
channcling r.*utt 'nt'f i'i"
of a
lincs
thc
along
closclv
followecl
conflicting opt,r#:;';,;;i "*..,

invigorating ,po*

nrut*lnri':l*:titriit'i'",,l*
rm**ir{itjffttgh;;;"*;t;omen's
(Gerber

1975; Himes

attriccs

cmpetition and the

comPetrns
a complicated one' inv,lvins

was
i;i;fi;'irtt):ih;;;fl"
pi'yta out in orgmzational

as

ivell

as

philosophical

g.nd.' i"ttt"'tJ
womcn's sports for more than
It was cxucmcly important in shaping
parame te rs of
of sport havc examined e troad

class and

battlcs.
fifir,vears.

Alth"' hi;;;;s
have ;ffiit;t;il;;
sidc'
each
by
advanced

e onflict, ey

to e compeung scxual perspectives

sexuality,
aPProac h o' all mafters of
Phvsical educators took a cautious
athletes and to secure eir own

';'Jt;i;;;";d"J"*';
'"'ilg
"'.
profr ssionar:tatu:siiIru::$;*;::ilTtr'j,,"T:1x:
a
dire rvarrung;s
cademia and sport' Hecding
curtai-l
educators created policies to
inferior
and
sterility,

"ffd

Yi-l';r""t

70

From tbc Mttscb rtoll" to thc

THE POI ITICS OF SEXUALITT

competition and prohibit play during menstruadon. They worried equally

about e impact ofsport on sexual morality. AllegiJrg that competition would
inducc "porverful impulses" leading girls into a "temptation to excess' and
the "pitfall ofoverindulgencc," cducators and their allies pressured popular
sport promoters to reduce the competitive stimultion, publiciry, and physical
strain thought to endanger the sexuality of their female charges (Inglis 1910;
Paret 1900, ).57; Sargent 19l3).
Populrr sport orgirnizirtions likc thc Amateur Athlctic Union agrccd
at unregulated fcmale competition posed psychological and moral dangers. But AAU officials countered protcctionist physical education policics
with a nationalist, eugenic stance which argued that strenuous activity under
proper guidance would actually strengthen reproductive organs, creating a
gorous cadre of mothers to produce a generation of stalwart Amcrican sons
(e.g., MacFadden I929; Steers 1932). Although making some concessions to
dcmands for modesry and female supersion, in the long run AAU leaders
and commercial sport promoters also rejccted educators'emphasis on sexual
control. Sponsors of popular sport found that qexual .tryp-g, much more an
caution, helped to ttract customers and mute charges of mannishness. In
working-class settings and in more elite sports like swimming, an ideal of the
'alete as beauty queen" emerged. Efforts to prcsent the fcmale alete as
sexually attractive and available mirrored e playful, crotic sensibility present
in e broader commercial leisure culture of the early twentie century
(Erenberg L98l; Freedman and D'Emilio 1988; Peiss 1986).
The class and gender lines in this dispute were complicated by overlapping constiruencies. Female educators adhered closely to middle-class, even
Victorian, notions of respectability and modesty. But their inluence spread
beyond elite private and middle-class schools into working-class public schools
and industrial rccreation programs. And male promoters, often emselvcs
of e middle-class, continued to control some school sport and, outside
the schools, influenced both working-class and elite sports. Moreover, Black
physical educators advanced a tirird point of view. Athough w in number,
farly-wentie th-ccntury African-American physical education instructors gcn/erally aligned themselves with popular promoters in favor of compedtion and
/ interscholastic sports. Yet their strong concern with maintaining respectability
I crcated some svnlpithy for thc positions acivanced bywhite leaders ofwomen's
physical education (Arnett 1921; Dunham 1924; Ellis 1939; Roberts 1927).
On all sides of the debate, however, the controversy about sport and
female sexuality presumed heterosexr.raliry. Neither critics nor supporters suggested that "masctrlinc" athlcticisrr nright indicatc or induce same-sex love.
When experts warned of the amazonian athlete 's possible sexual transgressions, ey linked the physical release of sport with a loss of heteroscxual
control,not inclination.The most fre que ntll'used derogatory te rm forwomen
laletes was "Muscle Moll." In its only other usages, the word "moll'rclferred to eithcr the fcmale love rs of rnale gangstcrs or to prosdtutes. Both
lreprcsented disreputable, hetcrosexually deviant womanhood.

"Bttch'

Bollplavt

71

from the late nineteenth

By contrast, meaical studies ofsexual "deviance"

andearlytwentiecr:nturiesquiteclcarlylinked..nrannishtrcss''ttrlcs[rilnisnr,
homosexualiry rvith
and in at least two .rr., .*pli.itly connected fbmde
(Chauncey tlSl, 90-91; Ellis 1915' 250; lVise I883'

yirf,
."i"us thn at
.li f,"f.ri.ism

in'ansrvering charges against the n'rannish lvuscle

of this period did not reer to or deny
promoters
and sport
M[,
"do..,ors
made little sense in the heterolesbian'
'imannish
However,-tie
i*Ui.-.
mixed audicnces fbr
texuJ iii.u of popular sports. Promoters encouraicd
gamcs' postgame
men's
with
them
rilomen's athletiJevents, often combining
The imirgc of the
contcsts'
beauty
.r*
or
cntertainment,
danCCS and musical
charactcrized
that
atfilete as beauty queen and e commercial atmosptrere
the
surrounding
debatc
sexual
the
that
,rch of *orking-il"r, sport ensured
daring, or
charm,
heterosexual
her
on
fbcus
would
modcrn tcmalc thletc
educarion lcft
;ilp",.. Th. homoro.ial environment of womcn's physical rvas
populated
profession
eir
at
n1ore vulncrablc to insinuations
r' the fminine
Howeve
"ao.'"aoo
ofwomen'
e
prefcrred
who
yi-.""ittt" types
.love
provided an initial
iJspcaaUifity .n a..or.rrn cultivated by thc profcssion
her more nriliar
or
lesbian
mannish
the
shicld f,o,n associations wi either

countcrPrt'

heterosexual Muscle Moll'

The Musclc Moll as I{eterosexual Failure:

Emerging I"esbian StereotYPes
of e mannish "amaIn e I930s, howcvcr, e heteroscxual understanding
educators and prowhich
interpretation
new
,oi" b"g* io gir. wy to a
femalt-:,t|.r11:'
that
familiar.charge
e
To
ignorc'
long
not
could

moters

rcsembledmen'criticsaddedthene.reraccusationthatsPort.lnduceoman.
;;h";ditq"fi"d,t". as candidates for hetcrosexual romance' In 1930'
artAmericonMercarymedicalrePorteroccriededeclineofromanticlove'
politics'
blame on women *ho entered sPort' business' and
like
ink
and
men'
like
talk
men,
like
Hc claimed that such women "act
and closer to
closer
comc
have
that
"''vomen
explined
;;".; Th" author
mcn'slcvel,'and,conscquently,'thepurpleallureofdistancehasvamoosed"
printed a *Manual
Nathan 1930)' F-ourv.J., t.t.t, tye iad;* ttome Jounral
1** slU. att of Gettiog a Man" which listed vitaliry gaietv'
;il&;;;;l
associated with women
Juacity, and good sportsmanship-qualities-typically
rppeal-as
heterosexual
flappcr's
t.,i.
.,t
*a io.-"riy linkcd to it.
"afrfirJr
;.t u"ry qrditics at are likely to make him cnsider anything but marriage"
on athlctes' they
"
is+1. Although the carges didn't exclusivclv focus
rn"
a;rpc;r[, r'hich
hcteroscxtrir[
to
i"..on,.r.y
it..i.it,,,
il;ilJ.
men'
to
deference
from
difference
women's
on
to rest

pi*ing e

appcared

'rnd

sexual ransforThe concern with heterosexual appeal r:eflected broader

the multiple
examined
have
oticxualiry
mation in u.s. socicty. Historia[s
first fe*' decades of
th:
in
relations
sex'lal
and
g.n;tr
,.rfr.p.d
i.f,
ir.o *t
under prcssure trom
the twentie centtlry. iii.tori"" sexual codes crumblcd

72

From the oMttscb

THE POLITTCS OF SEXUALITT

boldly scxrr:rl w0rki[rg-cl:rss y()uth culturc, a womcn's movement

which defied prohibitions against public fcnralc ctivism, nd the growth of
a new pleasure-oriented consumer economy. In the wake ofthese chnges,
modern ideals of wonranl-rood errrbraced n ovcrtly erotic heterosexual sensibility. At e samc time, medical fascination with sexual "devince' created a
growing awarcncss of lesbinnism, now ttndcrstood as a form of congenital or
psychological paology. The mcdicalization of homosexuality in combination
with an antifeminist backlash in the 1920s against female autonomy and
power contributed to a more fully articulated taboo against lesbianism. The
modern hcterosexual womn stood in stark opposition to her reatening
sexul counterpart, the "mannish" lesbian (Freedman and D'Emilio 1988;
Simmons 1989).
By e late 1920s and early 1930s, with a modern lesbian taboo and an
eroticizcd definidon of hete rosexual fmininiq' in place, the assertive, muscular female compctitor r()usccl incrcasing suspicion. It was at this moment tht
bo subtle and direct referenecs to the lcsbian athlete emcrged in physical
education and popular sport. Unce nsored discussions of intimate femalc companionship and harmless athletic "crushcs" disappear from the record' pushed
an ssertivc,

underpgouncl bv the irrcreasingly hostilc tone ofpublic discourse about female

scxuality arrtl irthlcticisrrr. !trclctl lrv tltc uctttlcr iultrlgotlisnl and arrxietics of
the Depression, the public began scrutinizing women athletes-known for
eir appropriation of masculine games and styles-for signs of deviance.
Where earlier references to "amzons" had signaled heterosexual ardor,
journalists now used thc term to mean unattractive, failed heterosexuals.
Occasionally, the media made clirect mention of athletes' presumed lesbian
tendencies. A i933 Redbooh article, for example, casually mentioned at
track and golf star Babe Didrikson liked men just to horse around with her
and not 'make love," adding that Babe's fondness for her best girlfriends far
surpassed her affcction for any man (Mrrstorr 193.3,60). The direct reference
was unusual; the lesbirn connotatioll of tnlnnishness was forged primarily
rough indirect links of association. Thc preponderance of evidence ppear
in public exchanges between opponents and advocates ofwomen's sport.
After wo decades of celebrating the female collegiate athlete, yearbooks
at co-ed colleges began to ridicule physical education majors and Women's
letic Association (WA) members, portraying them as hefty, disheveled,
and ugly. A 1937 Minnesota Gopher vearbook srcastically titled its prescntation on thc WAA "Ovcr in No Mrtr's [,irnd." Firrding thcmselve cst
s unattractive prudes or manrrish n-risfits, physical educators struggled to
rcse eir iprrge . T[cy dcclarcd thc r:rttsclc-bt>ttnd, rnanhating athlete a relic
of the past, supplantcd by "lovcly, ttnrilrirrc charming girls" whosc fitness,
supplcncss, and gracc merely madc thcm "more bcautiful on the dance floor
that evening" (Moonev 1937; Scfton 1937).
Similar cxchanges appcared irr gr<4rtrlar nragazirtcs. After Litcrary l)igcst
published Fred Wittner's asscrtion (1934,42) that "worthy fathers" would
not find uained women athletes attractive mates, AAU official Ada Taylor

Moll'

to the "Butch'

Bdllplnyer

73

that bccruse athletic tYt:ltX

Sackctt issued e rebuttal which reassured readers
*thosc of women who darrce all nigl,t'" women in sport
r.r"iut.a
:"'11
maltgncd athletrc
Joubt'still attract a worthy mate ( 1934, 43)' When critics
literallv un-becoming womcn:
iarnininiry, ey suggestcdat athletes were

l:l

'

and fell under sexual

unattractivc females *t o iJt"tta their womanhood
thrt women
asserdons
ardent
wi
responded
.*oon. Vl/hen dcfenders
it
motherhood'
and
;;J.*tiui, intirest in men, marriage,
ilfi]i
mean
to
"not-heterosexual'"
;;;;".; they understood "mannish"

Thc But Ballplayer: Midcentury Stereotypes

of e ksbian Arlete
Tcntativclyvoicedinthelg30s,tlrcseaccusationsbccltrtclrlrslrcrltlclnt<rrc

H,i,i;
"*pri.iro,,a.,q"r'"0*:,:rx#1T..;lllrdf,"Hb?:li.Jll#i*fi
subsequent panic over the "homoscxul menacc'

nlt**x"'ar:r:y.:":#il'f,';ff#:;lllf
'tariets of homop obic rtd&ft
t'
h

world v/ar
qv

lt op.n.

,f

::ll:'#l'::LxlJ

iin

significant ccononric ant'l sociirl possibilitics t'rr

prewar homosexual sttbcultures bl.sstlmcd

m.n and women. fmbry"n-li

ffiin;'il;;;';d

;;..i

acroi, th" midcentury urban landsca.pc. Ilars,

social nc.vorks frcilitated thc

,righirUr, public cruiiing spots, and irrformal
the
;i";i.";, of gay and itt' nti'nes' But pcrmissi'e atmosphcrc did

;;;;,J;t"

,h. n"r,

"'ing e

banner of Cold War polidcal and social

",,a'
federal' state' and local levcls
conservatism, gor.rr'rm.ntltades acttd at the
posts' to initiate
;;;;g;;;y;La teruian, from governmtlt
Tf militarv
institutions, ahd
and
gay
individuals
of
prl**uJ*
L'g'.1-t"ff.tions and
The perceived
life'
sueet
."." ro.rt poti..'..".tao*"' o" ['y bars.and social order
in the wake
ieestablish
t
need to safcguard n.tionJ s.c,*iw and
prontotcd 111
s'hich
parlic"
a
"homosexual
sparkecl
of wartimc disruption
p.rr..Ltion of honrosexuals (Brub t990; D'Enrilio 1983;

fear,loaing,.,td

Freedman and D'Emio 1988)'

Irsbianssufferedcondemnadonforeirviolatiorrofgerrderasrvcllas
t'tradi -

ous crnphasis on--iifrIy,-i-rnresriciw;-and

,ffi
posrwar anxieties
lffif.rrrloinity in the late 194s and 1950s reflected
ofdepresdecades
nvo
by
shaken
order
gender
.* *r" r..onr[dadon ofa
to corrforrn' lesbians endured

sion nd war' As ry*Uot' f Jon]tn" refusal

on cir subjccrs' prcsumcet
intedsc scrutiny Uy.*p. *no regularly t'ocuserl
masculine tendencies and
to
lesbianisrn
;;;;i y. sexoiogists attribute
a gcneral collapsing of gender
frccdoms encouragerl byih. *"., linking it to
marital arrd tirmily rclirtiorrs
distirtctions which, in eir view, destilizcd
198l Penn t99l)'
Brcines
,"^"il.itr"r"rlr.j".
,rr."wy figurcs ro mosr Amcricans, but ,omen ath-

letes_notedforreirmasculinebodies,interests,ancl:rttributcs-\\'crcvisiblc
often associarcd with homosexualiry.
ffir"rrtrtiu.s of e g"nJ.r inversion

74

THE POLITICS OF SEXUALITT

P\,sical education majors, fornrerly accused of being unappealing to men,

were increasingly charged with being uninterested in em as well. The
1952 University of Minncsota Gopher yearbook snidcly reportedr 'Believe
it or not, members of e Women's Athletic fusociation are normal" and
found conclusive eviclence in the fct at "at least one , . . of WrlA's 300
members is engaged" {p.257). And on May 10, 195, a nv/spper account
Texas Sports fusociation (UTSA)
women's sports banquet led off with the headline, "UTS Givcs Awards,"
followcd by a subheading "Gayness Necessary." The second headlinc referred
to gucst speaker's talk on positive ttitudes, entided n'The Importance of
Bcing Debonair," but the lesbian allusion was unmistakable and I believe fully
intentional.2
Thc lesbian stigma began to plague popular athletes too, especilly working-class sports noted for eir masculine toughness. The pall of suspicion
did not completely overnide older associations with heterosexual dcviance.
Whcn a Colliels 1947 arttcle (Lagemann) on the Red feads, a barnstorming
women's basketball team, exclaimed "It's basketball-not a striptease !' e
author alluded to both e heterosexual appeal and the hint of disrepute
long associated with working-class women athletes. But e dominant postwr
voice intimatcd a different type of disreputc. |ournalists contirlued to attack
the mannish athlete as ugly antl sexualll,unappealing, implying that is imagc
could only bc altcrcd through pro<>f<l hctcroscxual "stlcccss.t'
Thc carcer of Babe Didrikson, rvhich spanned thc I920s to the 1950s,
illustrates the shift. In the early 1930s tlre press had ridiculed the tomboyish

in the Texan regarding e University of

track star ftrr lrcr "lrirtchct fitcc," "tl<xrr-stop j:tq" irlrtl "trtttton-brcastcd"
chcst. After quitting track, I)idrikson dropped out of thc national limelight,
married professional wrestler Gcorge Zaharias in 1938, and then staged
a spcctacular athletic comeback as a golfer in the late I940s and 1950s.
Fascinated by her personal transformation and then, in e I950s, movcd
by her battle wi cancer, journalists gave Didrikson's comeback extensivc
coverage and hclpcd make her a mrrch-loved popular figure, In reflccting on
her success, however, sportswriters spent at least as much time on Didrikson's
love life as her golf stroke. Headlines blarcd, "Babe is a lady now: The world's
most amazing thlete has learned to wcr nylons and cook for her huge
husband,' and reporters gleeftrlty clescribed how *along cme a gret big
hc-man wrcstler and the Babe forgot all her man-hating chatter" (Andersen
1945; Gallico l90; Farmer 1947; Marttn 1947).
Postwar sport discourse consistently focused on women's sexual as well as
aletic achievements. As late as 1960, a Nrn Torh Tirnes Magozize headline
asked, "Do men make psse s at thletic lassesf " Columnist William B. Furlong
answercd no for most activitics, concluding that exccpt fnr a few "ycs' sports
likc swimming, women athletes "surrcndered" eir sex. The challenge for
womcn athletes was not to conquer ncw athletic feats, which would only
further reduce their sexual appeal, but to regain their womanhood through
sexual surrendcr

to men.

Frun the oMutcle loll to the oB*tchn Ballplayr

Media coverage in national nragazines and metropolitan newspapers tyPically focuscd on e sexual accomplishmens of white female athletes, but
postwar observers and promoters of African-.{.meriL:an }vomen's sport also
confronted thc issue ofsexual normalcy. In eariier decades, neither Black nor
white commcntary on frican-American athleres exp:essed a conccrn u'ith
*mannish" lcsbianism. The white media generally ignored Black aletes.
Implicitly, however, stereotlpes of Black bmales as highly sexual, promis-)
cuous, and unrestrined in eir heterosexual passions discouraged e link- \
ege betwcen mannishness and lcsbianism. Racist gender ideologies frrrther
complicated e meaning of mannishness. Historically, Eu,:opean-American
racial thought characterized African-American u'ontcn as aggrcssivc, coarsc'
passionate, and physical--c same qualities assigned to nranliness in sport
(Carby 1987; Colns 1990; Giddings 1984). Exciuded from dominant ideals
ofwomanhood, Black women's succcss in sport could bc intcrpre te d not as n
unntural deviation but, rather, as e natural result oftheir reputed closeness
to nture, animals, and masculinity.3
Wiin Black communities, strong local support for women's sPort may
also have wcakened c association between sport and lcsbianism. Aletes
from luskegee Institute's national championship track terrns of the late 193L.
and 1940s described an atmosphere of campus'wide enusiastic suPPort.
They noted at although a male student might accuse an athlete of being
"funnyt'if she turncd him clou'n for ir d,rtc, in gctlcrirl lcstri:ttrislrl \\'ils ll()t il
1

subject of concern in Black sport circles (personal intcrviervs, Alice Coachman

Davis, Lula Hymes Glenn, and kila Perry Clover, 1992). SimilarlS Gloria
Wilson (pscudotryrlr, Pcrsottrtl itrtcrlicrr', l98S) lirrrr:tl tlr.tt sltc crrcotttttcrctl
far less uneasiness about lesbianism on her Black semipro softball tcam iri the
late 1950s and 190s than she did in the predominantly white college phvsical
cducation departments she joined later. She cxplainecl that the cxpectation of
hetcrosexuality was ingrained in Black women to e point that "anything
outside of at realm is just out of the question." While recalling that her
tcammetes ohad no time or ptience for 'firnrries."' Wilson noted that the
issue rarely came up, in large part because most team membcrs were marricd
and crefore 'didn't havc to prove it because then, too, their men werc
alwala at ose games. They were very supportivc."
Alough Black athletes may havc encounterecl fet' lesbia'n stereo?es
t e local level, circumstances in the broadcr society eventually prcsscd
African American sport promoters and journalists to address e issue of
mannish sexuality, The suong association of sports atrd lesbianisnr clevelopccl
et the same time as Black athletes became a dominant Presence in American sport culture. Midccntury images of sport. Blackness, masculiniry and
lcsbianism circulated in the sanrc orbit in vlrious conrtrirrltions. Thcrc s'as /

no particular corelation beween -Blaqk-yg-g! and lesbiSnism; horvcver,

c association of cach with mannishness and sexual aggression potentially
linked the two. In the late 1950s, Black sPort Pomoters and journa.lists
joincd others in taking up the question of sexual "normalcy.' Onc Black

THE POLTNCS OF SEXUALTTT

76

newspper (Baltimorc Af,o-American) in l9S7 clcscribed tennis star Althea

Gibson as a childhood "tomboy" who "late r in life . . . finds herselfctimized
by complexes." The article did not elaborate on rhe nature of Gibson's
*complex,' but lesbianism is inferred in the linkage berween *tomboys,,
and psychological illness. This connotation becomes clearer by looking at e
defense of Black womcn's sport. Echoing Ebony's avowal (1955, 28,32) that
"entirely feminine" Black female track stars *like boys, dances, club affairs,"
in 1962 Tennessee State Univcrsity track coach Ed Temple asserted in the
Dctroit Ncws, *None of my girls have any trouble getting boyfriends. . . . \4rc

don't wantamazons."
Constant ttempts to shore up thc heterosexual reputation of athletes
can be red as evidencc that thc longsranding repurrion offemale thletes s
mannish women had beconre cove rt refrcncc to lcsbianism. By midcentury,
a frtndamental reoricntrttion of sexull nrcrrnings fi.rsed notions of femininiq;
female eroticism, nd heterosexual attractiveness into a single ideal. Mannishness, once primarily a sign of gender crossing, assumed a spccifically lcsbianscxual connotation. In the wakc oftlris change, the strongcultural association

between sport and masculinity made women's athletics ripe for emerging
lesbian stereotypes. This meaning of athletic niannishness raises [e] further
question: What impact did the srereorype have on women's sportl . . .

Sport and e lleterosexual Imperative

Thc imagc of the marrnish lesbian athlctc had a dircct eflbct on women competitorc, on srategies of athletic organizations, and on e overall popularity
of wome['s sport. The lesbian stereotype exerted pressure on athletes to
demonstratc eir femininity and heterosexualiry viewed as one and e same.
Many women adopted an apologctic stancc roward their aletic skill. Even as
thcy competed to win, they made sure to display outward signs offemininity in
dress and demeanor. They took special care in contact with the media to reveal
"feminine" hobbies likc cooking and scwing, to menrion current boyfriends,
and to discuss ftlture marriage plans (Del Rey 1978).
lraders of rvonren's sport took tlrc sanrc tpproach at the institutional
lcvcl. In nswer to p<>rtrayals of physicll ctlucrtirn majors and tcachcrs as
social rejects and prudes, physical educarors revised their philosophy to placc
hetcroscxuality rt tltc centcr of profi.ssirnirl ol'rjcctivcs. In thc late 1930s,
they invited psychologists tr spcak at rrirrional prossional meetings about
problems of scxual adjustment. Such expcrts describcd the "types of people who are unadjusted to heterosexual cooperative activity' and warned
women in physical education to "dcvelop a prejudice against segregation
of e sexes" (National Amateur Athletic Federation-Women's Dision
f938). Told that exclusively female environmenrs caused failed heterosexual development, physical educators who had long advocated female sepa- ratism in sport rvere presscd to promote mixed-sex groups and heterosexual
"adjustmcnt."

From the Musele

Mol!'to

the "Butch"

Ilallpluvr

Curricular changes implemented betr,r'cen thc mid- 1930s and mid- 1950s
institutionalized the new philosophy. In a paper on Dosnlxr obicctivcs, Mildred A. Schaeffer (1945) explained that physical eclucation chsscs shottlcl
help women *develop an interest in school dances and mixers and a desire t<.r
voluntarily attend em." To is end, administrators revised courservork to
emphsize beauty and social charm over rigorous evercisc and health. Thev
exchanged old rationales of fitness and fun for promises of trimmer u'aistlines,
slimmer hips, and prettier compiexions. At RadcliTe, fbr examplc, tculw
redcsigned health classes to include "advice ort dress, carriage, hair, skin,
voicc, and any firctor that wrulcl tcncl to impvlvl's Pcrs()nil tPPcilrilllcc ittltl
us contribute to social and economic success" (Physical Education Dircctor,
no date). Intramural programs replaced inte rclass baskctball tournamcnts nd
weckcnd campouts for u'omcrr with rrrixct'l-scx "co-lccrc:ttir:r.tl" xctiritic likc
bowling, volleyball, and 'fun nights" of ping-p<lng and slrufTleboard. Sonlc
dcpartments also added co-educational classcs to fostcr "broadcr, kecncr,
morc sympathetic understanding ofthe opposite sex" (Dcprrtr.ue nt of Phl'sical
Education 1955).1 Department heads crackcd down on "mannish" students

and faculty, issuing warnings against "casual stylcs' which might "lead us
back into somc dangerous channels" (Ashton 1957). Thcv implcnrcntctl
lress codes which forbadc slacks and men's shirts or socks, adc'ling as s'cll
a ban on "boyish hair cuts" and unshaven legs. For exrmplc, thc 1949-50
'lexas st.rtcd (P. I),
Physical Training StaffHandbook at the Universiry of
'[rgs should be kept shavcd," while restrictions on hair and drcss irrc spcllctl
out in e stffminutes and physicll educirtiou hlndtrgoks ftrr trtiriors.rt tltc
universities of Wisconsin, Texas, and Minnesota. . . .
Popular sport promoters adopted similar tactics. Marshalling sexual data
like cy were aletic sttistics, a 1954 AAU poll sought t() s\r'ay a skcptical
pubc wi numerical proof of hetcrosexuality-the lct that 9l Pcrccnt
of former female athletes surveyed had maried (Andersen 1954). Publiciry
for c midwestern All-Amcrican Girls Basebail Leaguc (AAGBL) included
sttistics on d1e numberof married players in the leagrre. In the samc vein,
e women's golf tour announccd that one-third of thc pros rvere mlrriecl,
and c rest werc keeping an eye pecled for prospects rvho might "lurc thcm
om the circuit to tlrc altlr' (All-Amcricrn Girls Brschlll I.c:tgtrc Rccords,
Pcnnrylvania State University Libraries; Satarday Eeniry l'ort 1934).
Thc fear oflesbianism was greatest where a sport had a particularly masculine image and where promotcrs nccdcd to ittrict I pavirrg rrtrtlicrrcc. Profi'ssional and semipro basketball and softball fit the bill oir both accounts. Athle tic
*proving" the attractive femininir,v
Ieaders tried to resolve the problem by
of athletes. Softball and basketball tournaments contintred to fcature berttn'
pagcnt. Although in earlie r times such eve nts celebrate d e "sexincss" of e
emancipted modern woman, in later decades ey seemed to serve more
defcnsive function, The AAU's magazine, the Am,ateur Athlett, made sure
at at least one photograph of the nationl basketball tournament's beautv
"quccn and her court" ccompanicd rhc photo ofeach vear's championship

oBtteh' Ballplaycr
From thc "M*sele Mollo to thc

THE POT,TTTCS OF SEXUALITT

78

and,conduct codes' For examteam. Behind the scenes, teams passed dress
cirt-nor.ail League,s 195 I Constitution prohibited

il;h;il-Aln.rl..n

haircuts' That is
players from wearing ,rr.J'otning or'getting "severe'
i"gt of athletes was madc even
was n attempt to secure the heterexutl
AAGBL po grgtriUjted c
tht
clearer when t..gu. ofR.iit' announced
n'd'; Feminine Sluggers
(Markey
and
"Amazons'
,..r,ri,*.n, of 'Ifreaks"

r9s2).

suppression

and
In e end, the strategic emphasis on heterosexualiry
I ot *mannishness' did titt to aticr thc image of women in sport' Thc stereo-

common-sense
mannish lesbian athlete grew our of the persistent
women's sport reinrorced
or
pponents
\
"iry'
orn.n,, athletic efforts and ridiculed skilled
\
*mrnish," or ..unnarural." Leaders of women's
\;rhlet
began
contributed to the samc set of ideas when they
rp..i
ideal' As
heterosexual
feminine
new
the
to orient eir programs "tound
to uppres lesbjannhvsical education policies and media campaigns worked
standards of
dominant
to
i.,iorm
<tittn't
*rr"
lreterosexism into the institutional and

;. ;ia.

;;"'ii
.'#;;i;;;;;;;J
;'; #;;5.";;;;.;,cr".a
s;s'..;;;,
rt*"il$y
illHil;l';.";,r,",

f;;iti"t,y, ,iort, .,rn.i.it embeddcd

il;;i;:i f..-e*ork oi,po*' The

eftbct.extended beyond sport

to c

ti,. gtlre of the mannish lesbian athlete announced at

widcr culture ,
aggression' and phpical intimacy
competitiveness, strength,"indepenclence'
fu a symbol of female
among women f.lt ontr. irtt do'nat of ivJanhood'

*t.r.

to all women to toe e line

deance, shc served a,-" po*ttful reminder
into a despised category of
falling
risk
or
f.-i"i"
and
ofheterosexuality
mannish (not-women) women' ' ' '
Notes
Honish' Kath Weston'.Gcorge ChaunI rvould like to thank Birgitte Solancl' Mattrcen
and editorial advicc on
cncourgement'
..V, i.., *a Nan Enstadfor their criticisnrs'
essaY'
of
tl.ris
earlicr versions

l.
2.

homoscxuality are Irnsj (1986),

Among the rvorks thrt do considcr the isstre of
beween male homosexrelationship
thc
on
(1982)'
Bennett
and
2ip.ti f sAsl,
uaiity and sport' see Pronger ( 1990)'
occurred only sporadically
the term "gay" as r refbrence. to homose xuals

Although

in tn"

.r,

homosexual

I940s.

3.

4,

meclia

-.n

bilore tlrc l90s, it

"n-'bi"ns

as ear\'

in usc s a slang term mong.ome

the 1920s and quite commonly by the

rvas

as

of medicel
pattern in
Etizabeth Lunbeck (1987) notcs a similar
psychiatrists.ass":1,:1"'
Because
femrle'
whitc
of thc "h1'pcrsextral"
her discussion

theorics
whcn defining the mcdicl conoluon
Black u'omen u'ere n.lturalh' "ot'crscxccl"'
working-class women whosc
young.white
only
of hypersexualiry ,n.f i"tf'ata
excessive'
sc*ui r..1.rr strtick pvsicians antl social workers as unnaturally
at
thc universiues
rccords
For curricular changes, I examined physical education
Tennessee
collcgc'
smith
college
Radcliffe
,
Mi,rnesota,
of wisconsin. Te*"r,'.,rd
Statc Univcrsiw, ind H:rmpt()n Univcrsity'

Rcferences
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Arnett,Ru.lg2l.Girlsnccdphysicaleducation'ChicagoDefender'I0December'

Phvsicsl Edrcnshton, Dudlcy. 1957. Recruiting ftlture teachers. Journal of Health,

(October);49.
28
Rcereotion
and
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Bnbimon Afto"Amcricon. L957 . 29 func, Magazine Section, l '
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dc Kovcn, Anna.

l9l2.The

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Good'

Houvkeeping, Atgtsst'

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;:iRt

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Institutc'
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Eric. 198. sport

Dunning,
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Fastest womcn in

e world' Iune:28'

status of health lnd phrnical educrticn fbr s'omen in ncgro

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Bllis, A.

w. Ig3g. Thc

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nu
ood
Gree
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Froa thc aMascic Moll' to thc "Batch" Ballplaycr

THE POLTilCS OF SEXUALITT

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and

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81

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