Adams, Carly

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Softball and the female community: Pauline Perron, pro ball player, Outsider, 1926-1951
(LA84 Foundation, 2006) Adams, Carly
In twentieth-century Canadian society, sport, leisure, and physical activities have been significant social venues where men and women learn to relate to one another, struggle for authority and power, and celebrate lifestyle and community values. However, the experiences of men and women in sport have been appreciably different, in terms of access to rewards, opportunities to participate, and the cultural norms associated with physical activity.In this sense, sport has reproduced a gender order through which men and women learn, appreciate, celebrate, and denigrate specific masculinities and femininities. The story of Pauline Perron and her personal reminiscences of growing up and playing sport in Quebec and later her recruitment by the London Supremes fastball club in Ontario offer a historically specific case study of one woman’s journeys between sport, work, and social life. When Perron joined the organized women’s softball community in the early 1940s, she found herself amidst an ongoing controversy over amateur values during the era of professional softball opportunities for women.