History of women in sports
Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. By Susan E. Cayleff. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
The life of a sports personality always creates controversy wherever they go. This is partly due to their role in the society and the high expectations that the rest of the society assert on them. When the story dwells upon a woman who has exceeded all expectations, then the story is bound to become more interesting. This can be said about the story of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Babe was one of the greatest athletes of all times among women and probably is still the greatest. In this book, the author analyzes the story of this remarkable woman who defied all odds and went on to win man awards in her prime propelling her to the limelight. Her greatness can boast of two Olympic gold medals; later she went on to have a chance at golf. From her professional life to her personal life including her sexuality, Cayleff describes an unrivalled biography of Babe in a compelling but also an asserting mode.
The first stages of the book describe the early childhood of Babe as a young girl. It was evident from the early stages that the girl had something special that differentiated her from the rest of her peers. Mainly, this was because of her tomboy nature that was always the stark difference between her and the rest of the girls. One of the areas in which the author has put a lot of emphasis is the perception of gender in that period and the impact that this could have brought into her life (Cayleff 8). It is through the cultural impact that her silence on some issues can be understood perfectly. When the time came for her to join the track, all these cultural constraints had already affected her which led to certain prolonged periods of silence on some issues and some instances where she would voice her opinion. According to the author, this might have been the reason for her silence when it came to her sexuality although this did not weigh down on her professional career. However, the conditions favored her professionally at that time, as the approval for women to participate in athletics was passed in 1930 (Cayleff, 9).
In the book, the author describes Babe from three major perspectives. The first one is the actual life that Babe lived. Growing up at the time when the role of women in sports was not accepted in the society, it took great confidence and belief for her to turn out as she did later. The fact that women were not allowed to compete in most athletic competitions did not stop her. However, it is also evident that the athlete was a scared personality. She lived in fear that if some of her secrets came out, then she would put her whole career in jeopardy. This might have been true considering the constraints that were already there. Behind the compelling personality that bossed around the media, there was a scared person (Cayleff 218). However, it seems as if this turned out to be one of her strengths since she was constantly striving hard to succeed as an athlete. In a funny but true way, her personality can be described as egocentric if most of her actions are anything to go by.
The last perspective in which the author looks at Babe is through her sexuality. In her later stages of life, it came out to be that she was dating another person, Betty Dodd (Cayleff 265). However, the author takes particular attention not to call the relationship between the two as lesbianism. Since the two loved each other, the conditions at that time could not allow for any of their activities to happen. This was because it was socially unacceptable for homosexual relationships to occur. These conditions made her commit another lie in the society to fit in it. This was the reason that propelled her to marrying George Zaharias. George was also a professional wrestler, and marriage to such a person would water down any suspicion that the society could have about her sexuality (Cayleff 247). Her desire to hide in the veil of marriage is constantly under discussion by the author throughout the text who pens down that the cultural fabric of the time was the main reason for this. Conclusively, the author tries to express the story of a woman who had to go through a lot of experience to become one of the legends in all the fields that she participated. Her life revolves around from competing with men for a place in the golf course, which is viewed as man’s sport, to becoming one of the first women to excel and leave a mark in the track. The author also takes the readers in true depth of the real personality of this woman who had to battle against cancer in her latter stages of life. From her having to concealing her identity sexually to the manipulation of the media, the author takes the whole story into perceptive, and it can only be defined as the best book to describe the legendary woman that was Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
The account that the author gives can be considered as accurate considering the sources that she used. Cayleff makes use of primary sources, namely of Betty Dodd. If there is anyone who could have the most accurate information about the details of the personal life of Babe, then it would be her lover. Through a one-on-one discussion with Betty, Cayleff finds out about the personal life of Babe, especially in her last years. The interviews with the family members and friends of the great athlete are also important in her research. However, Cayleff does not shy away from using some secondary sources in the forms of newspaper articles and past journals. These sources may be helpful but could also offer some bias considering that Babe was notorious for manipulating the media blatantly. Finally, the source that could have the greatest influence in the accuracy of her work is Babe’s autobiography. In her last days, Babe was able to account for her life in a detailed autobiography. Through these sources, the author gives almost an accurate account of the life of the great athlete although she does not escape some level of bias in her work.
Works cited
Cayleff, Susan E. Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996. Print.
