University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2020 "I was a trailblazer": A phenomenological study of the baseball playing experience of girls AJ Richard University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2020 AJ Richardson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Sports Studies Commons Recommended Citation Richard, AJ, ""I was a trailblazer": A phenomenological study of the baseball playing experience of girls" (2020). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1070. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1070 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Copyright by AJ RICHARD 2020 All Rights Reserved “I WAS A TRAILBLAZER”: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE BASEBALL PLAYING EXPERIENCE OF GIRLS An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts AJ Richard University of Northern Iowa December 2020 ABSTRACT Baseball is a reflection of America (Briley, 1992). The game is immersed in traditions. Many of these traditions are gendered. Baseball is built on myth, and these myths have served the purpose of keeping baseball white, heterosexual, and male. Baseball is also characteristic of enduring inequalities and discrimination. Sixty years after Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, owners, managers, coaches, CEOs, and fans are still overwhelmingly white and male (Chang, 2017; Lapchick, 2019).