Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 96

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Popular Culture Review

Basketball Shows
The All American Red Heads' games were advertised as
exciting basketball shows in which beautiful ladies displayed their
brand of basketball wizardry against men's teams. By calling these
games basketball shows the major emphasis became entertainment
rather than a serious athletic contest. The dominant ideology that
sports were a male domain and that men were physically superior to
women went unchallenged. Images of beautiful, young ladies
epitomized traditional femininity and heightened the suspense of
the weaker sex competing against the dominant one.
Although the women defeated the men the majority of the
time, the power structure was not threatened. This was because the
women employed trick shots and comedy routines that would have
been disallowed in a regulation men's game. Public acceptance and
the financial success of the Red Heads can be attributed to their
marginal adaptation to the hegemonic male world of sports.
Male Egos and Athletic Superiority
Still, these basketball exhibitions threatened some male
egos. Even if these games were entertainment, some men found it
demoralizing to be beaten by women. Sam Toperoff, who was
stationed with the Army at Fort Devens in Massachusetts, recalls
playing against the Red Heads in the 1950s. He remembers the
commander telling them that "he wanted us to put on a good show,
but he also didn't want his team to be humiliated by a bunch of
glandular redheads."®
There is no doubt that the men who played against the Red
Heads wanted to win. If they lost, their male friends would tease
them unmercifully. The men also often found themselves in a "Catch
22" situation. If they played aggressive, physical basketball against
the women and won, they would be accused of unsportsmanlike
conduct. If they didn't go along with the antics of the women on the
court, they would be seen as not having a sense of humor. If they lost,
they really couldn't say anthing. Excuses or negative comments would
have been construed as poor sportsmanship by men with wounded
egos. There were definite social constraints on their playing.
The men, however, could use back handed compliments to
undermine the significance of the women's skills. For example, they