Challenging Gender Boundaries

Aswith the activities of other subordinate groups，women's increasing involvement in sporting culture over the last two decades of the nineteenth century forged new roles，challenged stereotypes，and frequently exasperated whitemen.Somewomen's groups began to bring their feminist perspective to bearmore forcefully in arguing formore than suffrage or temperance.Suffrage，first proposed at the Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention in New York in 1848，remained an arduous battle for women demanding ameasure of citizenship equal to that ofmen.

Women sought greater freedom in their leisure lives aswell，and，as theymoved from passive to more active leisure practices，sport proved to be a highly visible symbol of cultural change.By 1901，wealthy women were forming their own clubs and uniting in the Federation of Women’s Athletic Clubs4.The ChicagoWomen's Athletic Club featured a gymnasium，a bowling alley，a billiard room，a swimming pool，and facilities for basketball and gymnastics.