Bobbie Rosenfeld: Female Athletes In The Twentieth Century

At the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of sport encountered the growing trend of the active participation of female athletes. Prior to the twentieth century, sport culture in society was understood to be strictly reserved for male athletes and unlike today’s society; the role of women was confined to being a spectator rather than a contestant. However, after the success of various female athletes such as Bobbie Rosenfeld, a Canadian Olympic track gold and silver medalist, the gender roles in not just sports but society itself started to shift.

Culturally, sport functioned as a tool in society to serve the creation of identity among classes, reinforcing existing differences between pockets of people while

Bobbie who was naturally talented, when it came to sports, excelled with ease in various sports as a teen, even those where she had no prior experience. Rosenfeld in 1923 first gained notice by winning a 100-yard sprint in a friendly meet, beating the Canadian record at that time. This later resulted in her being approached by the Canadian National Exhibition’s (CNE) sport director Elwood Hughes. At the CNE Sports Day Bobbie Rosenfeld defeated Rosa Grosse and won the 100-yard final and later defeated Chicago’s relay team. This unprecedented victory shed light on women in sports where the “CNE sports day was significant for raising the visibility of women’s track and field in Canada, where previously women had competed in races at local

Rosenfeld continued to participate in major track meets until arthritis forced her to withdraw, however, her passion for sports carried with her leading her to become a columnist for the Daily Globe and Mail in the sports department and then later was granted her own column. As a professional sports journalist Bobby Rosenfeld continued her staunch advocacy for the rights of females as athletic competitors, using her column to celebrate her female peers’ achievements while also expressing their feminine qualities to avoid criticism from her previous male colleagues. Through Bobby’s articles, the “new woman” in sports attempted to break society’s mold and oppose the view that a female’s purpose was mainly for maternal nurturing and child bearing. Bobbie’s journalism reinforced values that promoted female equality on the playing