A Brief History of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics: From "Play Days" to "Primetime"
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A Brief History of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics: From "Play Days" to "Primetime"
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About this listen
Long before the landmark passage of Title IX in 1972, the landscape of women’s athletics was defined by a quiet but fierce rebellion against the restrictive dogmas of the 19th century. In an era where "experts" claimed women had a limited, fixed amount of energy that could be dangerously depleted by "brain labor" and physical exertion, female pioneers were already carving out space for sport on the American campus.
But what if I told you that the early history of women’s sports wasn't just a quest for inclusion, but a battle to protect the "educational soul" of the university from the commercial "warrior model" that defined men’s athletics? What if the organization built by women, for women was so successful that it sparked a calculated, hostile takeover by the NCAA to secure political and financial control?
In today’s podcast, we tackle the evolution of women’s college athletics: from the early years of "Play Days" to the legislative earthquake of Title IX and finally the explosion of modern-day primetime female athletes.