Women Athletes of the 1920s Essay -- Sports, Upper-Class Women

The 1920s was a time for many new opportunities for women in America, including participating in sports and becoming athletes. precedent to the Roaring Twenties, only upper-class women had participated in sports. These wealthy women had joined sports clubs, social clubs, and country clubs. They engaged in sports at institutions, as well as contend sports while vacationing in Europe (Womens Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011). An example of a muliebrity like this would be Jordan Baker, a character from the sassy The Great Gatsby. Jordan is a competitive golfer in the novel. Baker comes from the wealthy, upper-class, and is old money.Consumerism of the 1920s caused the amount of clubs and sports teams for women to multiply. This materialistic attitude of Americans caused the economy to boom, thus providing more than money for leisure activities. Institutions, churches, and saloons sponsored sports teams for women, and provided facilities. Declining prices of sporting goods and in creasing popularity of sports as entertainment encouraged the formation of leagues. Both amateur and semi-pro leagues were organized, providing opportunities for middle-class athletes (Womens Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011)Industries and companies support sports teams for women. They did this to promote personal health and worker efficiency. These teams brought advertising opportunities for the companies who supported them. This offered competitive opportunities for women and occasional income for the athletes (Womens Sports Foundation, 2/21/2011). To satisfy the competitive urge of their students, bodily educators held Play Days and Sport Days for their female students. In a play day, teams from institutions did not play each other, but were comb... ...se at the end of the accelerate (Smith, 1998, p. 8). Eyewitnesses proclaimed that women were in no more distress than men when they finished the race. The majority of the International Olympic Committee believed that track and field was too vexed for women, and proposed other events, that included activities such as singing and dancing. The 1920s was the just the outgrowth of women in sports. The booming post-war economy and the sports heroines increased the popularity of women athletes. The idea of a woman was changing, from being dainty and delicate to athletic, healthy and strong. There has been a growth in opportunities for women in sports, and the media brought this competition to everyones attention around the world. The accomplishments of the women athletes of the 1920s were the beginning of the journey to becoming equal to men in the world of sports.