Material Detail

I used this site in conjuction with the viewing of "A League of Their Own," in
PE 334, Behavioral and Social Science Readings in Physical Education. The
specific project description was as follows:

"Project Description:
In class, we will watch ?A League of Their Own,? a fictional film that is based
on facts surrounding the women who formed a professional baseball team during
World War II to boost morale while the men where away fighting. While watching
the film, you should take notes on any social/historical issues that are
present, particularly as they relate to topics we have covered in this class.
The most obvious issue will be gender in sport, and how the female sport
experience is influenced by norms and values in the film (remember, World War II
takes place in the 1940?s). To help you with this, you must visit the following
website
http://www.AAGPBL.org/index.html. This site contains historical information
about the AAGPBL (All American Girls Professional Baseball League). While
visiting this site, you must analyze how ?A League of Their Own? compares with
the real AAGPBL (as represented by the above internet site), with particularly
emphasis on historical aspects of sport participation and femininity, as well as
hegemonic masculinity in sport at that time.

In addition, also search the site for other information related to PE 334 course
topics, such as socialization into physical activity, media representations of
athletes/sports, modifications in games, etc."

Overall, the project worked out very well, as students enjoyed the opportunity
to make comparisons between the film (which many had already seen) and real life
representations of the AAGPBL, as represented by this website. Many students
were able to find similarities between the website material and film, and many
found differences, as well. Discussion about that which drives these
similarities/differences in terms of a 1990's reproduction proved to be
beneficial to the student learning of historical and gendered aspects of sport.

Technical Remarks:

Very well-organized and full of interesting and useful information for this
topic. Should be a great resource for instructors and students who want to
delve into women's history and popular culture. Given the familiarity of many
students with this topic through the popular movie, A League of Their Own, I
think students will enjoy mining this site for some good research.

This web site has the most complete collection of historical information and
graphic images about the AAGPBL available on the Internet. The articles about
various former players are useful, although the site should encourage more
reader contriubtions about former players. For use as a teaching tool, the
site's information content is excellent. The site is very user-friendly.

Technical Remarks: