Nike Is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports

by Lissa Smith (Editor), Mariah Burton-Nelson

Overview

With the launching of women's professional leagues, the success of Olympic gold medal women's teams, and the focus on female athletes in new magazines, on TV, in print ads, and in best-selling books, women's sports have exploded in popularity. Nike is a Goddess tells the dramatic story of the rise in women's sports during the last century. In a series of twelve original narratives, each focusing on a particular sport and the top female athletes who were the pioneering figures in their arena, the book captures the profound changes women's sports have undergone and pays tribute to the remarkable athletes who have led the way.

Nike is a Goddess spans from the turn-of-the-century college leagues to present-day Olympic squads and professional teams. It highlights athletes like Babe Didridson Zaharias and Althea Gibson, who challenged the image of the pristine feminine athlete in the early years, and profiles superstars like Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Rebecca Lobo, and Tara Lipinsky, who have become heroes and role models to millions today.

The stories in Nike is a Goddess also give historical perspectives and show cultural nuances: Gertrude Ederle swimming the English Channel in 1926, a time in America when women who removed their stockings and shoes could be arrested for "nude" swimming; Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes in 1973 and getting women's tennis endorsements and prize money; and the WNBA and ABL making strides to compete in a traditionally male arena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780871137265
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/28/1998
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.37(w) x 9.32(h) x 1.21(d)
Lexile:	1220L (what's this?)

Editorial Reviews

The pithy title promises a more powerful punch than is actually delivered in this collection of longwinded essays by women sportswriters on women's successes and struggles in 13 different sports. With the current wave of interest in female athletes this book is intended to provide comprehensive coverage of the topic: "Compared to the relentless daily barrage of information about male athletes, news about women's accomplishments is still strangely sketchy and distorted," writes Nelson. But most of the essays, in giving detailed historical overviews of the key figures and events in each sport, lack focus and read like chapters of a textbook, only not as well organized. The exceptions are Grace Lichtenstein's examination of great tennis rivalries, and Michelle Kaufman's eloquent analysis of figure skating. Beyond these, the interesting stories -- such as Anita DeFrantz, the rower who led would-be Olympians in the fight against Jimmy Carter's 1980 boycott -- are lost among endless anecdotes and dry statistics. If it's the facts you're after, skip to the back of the book, where a timeline from 776 B.C. to the present tells more about women in sports. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

YA-Despite a jocular title, this is an excellent reference source and a good read. Soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, tennis, golf, figure skating, gymnastics, and track-and-field as well as canoeing, kayaking, rowing and sailing, equestrian sports, and ice hockey are all included. Jane Leary's chapter on gymnastics offers interviews with such familiar personalities as Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, and Kerri Strug. It is enlightening to read their maturing analysis of what the sport has done for and to them. The quality of writing in the different sections varies but each writer is well connected with her field and all give a good background history as well as an assessment of current developments in the sport. Controversial issues are not ignored, and lesbianism is addressed. Throughout, the book celebrates the achievements of "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias and her glorious careers in a variety of sports. Her ebullient personality is highlighted as is her message "If I can do it, so can you."-Frances Reiher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

Female sportswriters present 13 narratives--each on a particular sport and focusing on top female athletes such as Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Billie Jean King, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Sheryl Swoopes. Sports covered include kayaking, equestrian sports, soccer, and ice hockey, as well as tennis, golf, swimming and the like. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Calling on female sportswriters from Sports Illustrated, the Miami Herald, the New York Times, and other publications, Smith has assembled a motley collection of 13 essays, each sketching the development of a particular women's sport.

Each writer's brief history includes profiles of its early heroines and its present stars. In some, such as Jean Weiss's "Rhapsody in White," on skiing, the writer's familiarity with and love of the sport make for a genuinely interesting piece. Others, such as "The History of Women in Track and Field," by Kathleen McElroy, are as prosaic as their titles, with all the excitement of an encyclopedia article. Even the remarkable Babe Didricksen Zaharias , who turns up in other essays on baseball and golf, seems less than three-dimensional in McElroy's account. What does come across in many of the essays is how WWII opened a window of opportunity, albeit a temporary one, for females to make their mark in traditionally male sports. More important, however, was Title IX, the 1972 federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions, which has given a significant boost to female athletic programs.

Despite its nonspecific title, the history related here is one seen through American eyes. With some exceptions, Sonia Henie in ice skating, Martina Navratilova in tennis, Nadia Comaneci in gymnastics, when other countries' women athletes are mentioned, it is usually in relation to their American competition. As in men's sports, success is measured not just in Olympic medals and Wheaties box fame, but in the dollar value of product endorsements, e.g., sneaker commercials. In that respect, it seems, the story of women in sports is just beginning.

Even with its shortcomings, this collection serves well as a reminder of how brief a time it has been since only "tomboys" developed muscles, sweated, and played to win.

Kirkus Reviews