A League of Their Own

In A League of Their Own, the social issues that effected women were mainly gender based. The women were treated as if they were only supposed to be housewives and also as if the men were more superior than women. They were basically ridiculed and made fun of for their participation for playing baseball. In relation to the social issues in light of the time of participation, a lot of the male baseball players were being drafted to the armed forces. The first All American Girls Professional Baseball League had been formed by the owners of the men’s baseball league in an effort to make a profit during the World War II era. In my opinion, this movie is full of stereotypical ideas of what a female should be, but that is not to say that the movie promotes these ideas. Some examples could be shown through the uniforms that the women are forced to wear which consisted of skirts. As stated in the movie, the women are to act “ladylike” and are even sent to a beauty school where they are taught “ladylike” manners and are given makeovers.

In regards to the roles of the women and coach with one another, for example, the coach barely cares at first about the team and states “girls can’t play baseball”, and how he doesn’t have a team of ballplayers, but a “team of girls”. We however later see a transformation in him that shows his true love of the game, looking past what gender roles were considered back then. Another example is where is Marla, who is a better hitter than most men, yet is almost not allowed in the league because she is considered “ugly”. In conclusion, the movie expressed how hard it was for women to be taken seriously outside of “housewife” labels that were bestowed upon them. This film also adds the twist of women struggling to prove themselves as athletes in the 1940s before the Women’s rights movement and Title IX were established, and I believe this movie contributed some insight that way for women in sports today.