They Came to Play: Women in Sport
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Lilly Library shines a spotlight on Women in Sport. Books and movies – including e-books and streaming film – which feature women athletes are “teeming” in our collections. The titles featured here give a sense of the breadth of the issues and themes present in the world of women’s athletics.
To discover more about women athletes, browse the Duke Libraries catalogue. A basic subject search of women athletes reveals hundreds of titles available. Your Duke netID is your ticket to read, learn, witness, and celebrate the wide range of women and their athletic challenges and achievements!
Books and e-Books
Game Changers: the Unsung Heroines of Sports History
Based on the Instagram account @TheUnsungHeroines, this book focuses on the pioneering, forgotten female athletes of the twentieth century as featured in Instagram. Rarely seen photos and in-depth interviews feature past and present game changers such as Abby Wambach and Cari Champion.
This online book offers a sweeping look at the experience of Black women athletes. Through the stories of six groundbreaking women– Alice Coachman, Ora Washington, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee– author Jennifer H. Lansbury outlines the careers of these women and their experiences with attitudes of race, class, and gender.
What do we know about the communities of women in sport in Latin America? Futbolera weaves the stories of these women as athletes and fans in the tapestry of social class, national and racial identities, sexuality, and gender roles in countries better known for male athletes of global fame.
Kicking Off: How Women in Sport are Changing the Game
There’s a battle being fought. It’s raging on the sports fields, in the newsrooms and behind the scenes at every major broadcaster. Women in sport fight for equality, but are they breaking down the barriers? Writer Sarah Shephard looks behind headlines to see whether progress is really being made.
Film – Documentary and Feature
Films exploring and illuminating the challenges faced by women athletes the world over are highlighted here:
Offside
Streaming or DVD 14381
During the 2006 Iran-Bahrain match, the Tehran soccer stadium roars with 100,000 cheering men and, officially, no women. According to Islamic custom, women are not permitted to watch or participate in men’s sports. Many ambitious young female fans manage to sneak into the arena but are caught and sent to a holding pen, guarded by male soldiers their own age. Duty makes these young men and women adversaries, but duty can’t overcome shared dreams and an overriding sense of national pride and humanity.
Playing Unfair: the media image of the female athlete
DVD 21482 or Streaming
Examines the post Title IX media environment in terms of the representation of female athletes. It demonstrates that while men’s identities in sports are equated with deeply held values of courage, strength and endurance, the accomplishments of female athletes are framed very differently and in much more stereotypical ways.
Rise of the Wahine: Champions of Title IX
Streaming
Dr. Donnis Thompson, coach, Patsy Mink ,U.S. congresswoman, and Beth McLachlin, team captain of the University of Hawaii volleyball team, battle discrimination from the halls of Washington D.C. to the dusty volleyball courts of the University of Hawaii, fighting for the rights of young women to play sports. The film reveals how change-makers overcome injustice with wisdom, an innovative spirit, and without becoming victims to their circumstances.
Best Films about Women in Sport?
In a less serious vein – do you have a favorite film about women in sports?
Nine of the titles most frequently named in “Best” or “Top” lists are in our collections:
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- Althea – Streaming or DVD 29688
- Love & Basketball DVD 15371
- I, Tonya – DVD 31038
- Blue Crush – DVD 15369
- Stick It – DVD 15506
- Bend it Like Beckham – Streaming or DVD 2265
- A League of Their Own – DVD 12072
- She’s the Man – DVD 10009
- Battle of the Sexes – Streaming or DVD 30860
If you wish to learn more about Women in Sport or other related issues, you may Ask a Librarian.
Danette Pachtner Librarian for Film, Video, & Digital Media and Women’s Studies and Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies
Carol S. Terry Lilly Library
