A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PROFESSIONAL RECREATION LITERATURE ABOUT GIRLS WOMEN FROM 1907-1990

The growing body of contemporary professional recreation literature ab out gender/women and recreation/leisure raises questions about how gir ls/women and their involvement in recreation were viewed historically. The purpose of this feminist analysis was to describe the ways that w omen were portrayed in selected recreation literature from 1907-1990. A content analysis was applied with the resulting emergence of themes that described girls and women's social roles in relation to recreatio n activities, programs, and services during particular historical peri ods. The conclusion was that authors of the literature have reflected the social roles of females. The social roles were depicted in seven e ras that described the roles of women in relation to recreation activi ties, programs and services: Females Become Visible Era, Play for All Era, Social Control Era, Supportive Female Era, Silence Era, Women as Professionals Era, and Feminist Era.