During the nineteenth century, Americans repeatedly used sport, recreation and play to signal their prowess and status to others. However, the ways they did so changed over the course of the century. This paper will use primary sources from this time period to demonstrate and prove this theme, in sports such as prizefighting and horse racing, base-ball clubs and basket-ball.
To demonstrate how the classes used sport, recreation and play to signal their prowess and status to others, the classes must first be defined and established. The article New York City Tavern Violence and The Creation of a Male Working-class Male Identity written by Michael Kaplan provided useful insight, the article goes into detail about the importance of taverns …show more content…
In the book Basket Ball for Women Dr Luther Gulick wrote a chapter on The Psychological Effects of Basket Ball for Women, in which he wrote a passage that highlighted the prowess men had over women not only in basketball but in society during this time stating “I desire to call attention to the bearings of the psychology of team-play upon some of the more fundamental matters concerning the nature of woman and her place in our civilization.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg 13) Another quote made by Dr Luther Gulick that further shows this point is while stating his observation “more difficult to get women to do team-work” (Basket Ball For Women Pg. 15) An additional quote that puts that wraps this perspective together is “Man’s life appears to be related more to loyalty to groups, while the woman’s life seems to be more related to loyalty to the home and it’s interests.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg 17) Dr Luther Gulick does highlight how shifts in some of the “traditional class roles” of men are shifting when he states “We are in a time of great unrest in regard to the status of woman. She is entering many lines of work that hitherto have been carried on entirely by men.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg …show more content…
This was accomplished by identifying the roles and how the upper-middle class was defined in comparison to the lower class with the assistance of Michael Kaplan’s Book. Using this knowledge when then looked into how the upper-middle class signaled their prowess and contempt for prize fighting, with using the New York City Times newspaper as a primary tool. After talking a major class prowess upper-middle class against lower class, then explored alternative types of “classes” with the introduction of athletic clubs, in particular the New York City Athletic Club, which introduced the prowess that the upper class had and then flaunted in-front of both the middle-lower class. Following the same lines also showed class prowess in the introduction of the bicycle, as well as the African American Base-ball league. These are some examples of how certain “classes” signified their prowess compared to others throughout the nineteenth
To demonstrate how the classes used sport, recreation and play to signal their prowess and status to others, the classes must first be defined and established. The article New York City Tavern Violence and The Creation of a Male Working-class Male Identity written by Michael Kaplan provided useful insight, the article goes into detail about the importance of taverns …show more content…
In the book Basket Ball for Women Dr Luther Gulick wrote a chapter on The Psychological Effects of Basket Ball for Women, in which he wrote a passage that highlighted the prowess men had over women not only in basketball but in society during this time stating “I desire to call attention to the bearings of the psychology of team-play upon some of the more fundamental matters concerning the nature of woman and her place in our civilization.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg 13) Another quote made by Dr Luther Gulick that further shows this point is while stating his observation “more difficult to get women to do team-work” (Basket Ball For Women Pg. 15) An additional quote that puts that wraps this perspective together is “Man’s life appears to be related more to loyalty to groups, while the woman’s life seems to be more related to loyalty to the home and it’s interests.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg 17) Dr Luther Gulick does highlight how shifts in some of the “traditional class roles” of men are shifting when he states “We are in a time of great unrest in regard to the status of woman. She is entering many lines of work that hitherto have been carried on entirely by men.” (Basket Ball For Women Pg …show more content…
This was accomplished by identifying the roles and how the upper-middle class was defined in comparison to the lower class with the assistance of Michael Kaplan’s Book. Using this knowledge when then looked into how the upper-middle class signaled their prowess and contempt for prize fighting, with using the New York City Times newspaper as a primary tool. After talking a major class prowess upper-middle class against lower class, then explored alternative types of “classes” with the introduction of athletic clubs, in particular the New York City Athletic Club, which introduced the prowess that the upper class had and then flaunted in-front of both the middle-lower class. Following the same lines also showed class prowess in the introduction of the bicycle, as well as the African American Base-ball league. These are some examples of how certain “classes” signified their prowess compared to others throughout the nineteenth