Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Sport and Society)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the premier female athlete of her era, beginning with two gold medals in the 1932 Olympics and extending through a professional golf career that ended just before her death in 1956. Cayleff, professor of women's studies at San Diego State, examines this unique life from three perspectives: Babe's life as she lived it; the public persona Babe created in order to cope with the attitudes and mores of the times; and, finally, Babe's lesbianism. Unable to acknowledge her sexuality, Babe was forced to manufacture a palatable lifestyle for public consumption; hence, her marriage to professional wrestler George Zaharias. In researching her subject, Cayleff relies on Didrikson's sanitized autobiography, subsequent biographies, newspaper accounts, and interviews with family and friends, including the woman with whom Babe shared an intimate relationship, fellow golfer Betty Dodd. The result is a groundbreaking portrait of an astute, gifted woman forced to cope with a society that grudgingly approved of her athleticism but wasn't willing to deal with her sexuality.Wes Lukowsky--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.