ABSTRACT
When I was growing up in rural America, over 50 years ago, I was what most people would call a tomboy. I especially had a passion for baseball and I worked persistently to get good by throwing a rubber ball against my family’s barn and hitting it, at first with a big stick and then eventually with a real bat. I was better than anyone in my primary school. The boys got to sign up for ‘Little League Baseball’, and I wanted to play too. But when I boldly asked the coach if I could try out for the team, he laughed and said maybe I could play girls’ softball when I got into high school. My feminist consciousness was raised that day, although I could not put it into words until much later in my life. Women and their involvement in sports and leisure, at least in the Western world, have come some distance since the 1950s. This story is mine and this chapter reflects my perspective regarding the origins, accomplishments, and prospects for feminist research about leisure, women, and gender. Every feminist leisure scholar has a somewhat different story and would likely interpret scholarship in varying ways. I offer this chapter, however, as one perspective that is open for further expansion, discussion, and discourse.
