Maddie Voth
Brian Diaz
English 1301. LTD
3, November 2008
A League of Their Own
When softball originated in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887, men played the game. People did not know the sport as softball at the time, but “Inside Baseball” and it involved a tied up boxing glove, and a pole. Women did not possess the game of softball until the first women’s team formed in 1895 at Chicago's West Division High School. Women play the first women’s softball world championships in 1965 Melbourne, Australia. Women’s softball reached its high point in 1996 when it became an Olympic Medal event.
Since the invention of softball, it has branched out in many different variations. These variations include, little league softball, high school softball, select softball teams, club softball teams, college softball, co-ed softball, company softball tournaments, charitable softball teams, and professional. Even with all these different types of softball players, there is still the underlying message that women who play softball are lesbians.
Jennie Finch is a member of the World Championship Team in 2002, 2004 Olympic Gold Medal Softball Team and the 2008 Silver Medal Softball Team. When people think of softball, they think of Jennie Finch. She is a pitcher, and can throw the ball over 71 miles per hour. She is one of the most accomplished and famous softball players that have ever been. Even though Jennie is a dedicated softball player, she is also a wife, and a mother. This is one example that proves that not all softball players are homosexual.
In movies, such as What Happens in Vegas, one of the characters, Hater, stereotypes all softball players as lesbians. The character, Tipper, is a headstrong woman who played softball in college. She clashes with her best friend’s husband’s best friend because she is secretly falling for him. At one point in the movie Hater, who is the husband’s best friend, introduces Tipper as his lesbian sister. He asks Tipper to...