Browse Items (32 total)

This sketch of a shooting match between female archers conveys the competitive impulse that women could express through athletic prowess. The four women in the foreground appear determined and in command as they take aim, poised to demonstrate their…

Sporting cartoon (periodical)

This advertisement is for an ointment to soothe stiffness, aches, sprains and bruises incurred while cycling. That it features a female cyclist attired in bloomers is indicative of the social accommodations that were being made for women's athletics.…

Sporting illustration

Sporting illustration (periodical)

"The Fair Toxophilites" depicts female archers in a non-competitive setting. The title derives from the word, toxophilus, meaning "lover of archery." These sportswomen are "fair," an indication that archery can be an occasion for conspicous display…

Sporting illustration (periodical)

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, heated public debates were being waged about the proper place and function of women. Known as the Woman Question, this contest circulated around women's desire for a widening of their sphere. "The…