International Women's Day

Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell Gilbert was the first know women to pitch baseball in the MLB (Major League Baseball).

Jackie was more than just the first women to pitch baseball in the MLB. Since she was a relieving pitcher that means when the starting pitcher gets tired, she as to take his place. On  April 2, 1931 Jackie’s team Chattanooga Lookouts were planning on playing the New York Yankees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the late first inning of the baseball game the starting pitcher was doing terrible and got pulled by the coach, so 17 year old Jackie went in. Jackie’s first pitch was to the baseball great Babe Ruth. The amazing thing was that she struck him out. After Babe got struck out he yelled and complained to the umpire, which got him no where. Next up to bat was another baseball great Lou Gehrig which Jackie also struck out. The stadium roared and the baseball world was shocked to see a women to first, pitch a ball game but to also strike out two baseball greats in a row. The next day Babe went to the paper saying "I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day." Women were so happy about this great accomplishment, some men were outraged like Babe. Kenesaw Mountain Landis who was the baseball commissioner at that time, voided her contract to the NY Yankees. He also “declared women unfit to play baseball as the game was too strenuous.” Jackie had to step down from baseball in the MLB but continued to play with many other teams.

Jackie’s amazing act of pitching in a MLB game inspired so many females that they could too play baseball and maybe even strike out baseball greats like Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig. Ladies were frowned upon when playing most sports but when Jackie pitched the game she put confidence it so many other ladies in the world!

Sources:

Picture:

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Writing:

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The Friday Everything Changed Word Meanings

Can 4 simple words can have so much meaning to a story and in real life. The Friday Everything Changed by Anne Hart.

Identity: To identify how to be the same and equal is very important. This story puts a fine line between how young boys and girls should act and feel. Everyone should be able to feel like that can be unique in there own way. The story shows how young women could not (really) express their own feeling and opinions. Not verbally or physically, it just seemed out of the question to change how each sex acted.

Resilience: The students in the story showed resilience. They showed great strength to put up with all the stereotyping. You may think that the girls showed much greater resilience because of putting up with not being allowed to carry the water bucket. The students and their peers are very strong for putting up the unwritten rules about how they should live.

Balance: Everyone needs some sort of balance in life. This can be like having balance of fun/work or like in the story a balance of equality. The kids in the story are following some kind of unwritten rule, saying that girls have to stay inside and cook with their mothers, while the boys are in the field working with there fathers. Our society and changed a lot by making it normal for people to do whatever they want, in any field of work.

Movement: The movement of people to make each other equal. The young students in Miss. Ralston’s class seem like they are two groups of children when they are all really the same. What says that boys have to sit together at the back of the class while the girls sit at the front. Cant they collaborate and play baseball together?

 

The Friday That Everything Changed

A story with school children really can show how we still are stereotyping sexes.

The teacher Miss.Ralston in The Friday Everything Changed story seems to be like to people in one.I can tell this story is about a small school many years ago. It was more traditional for teacher like Miss.Ralston to be a one sided teacher but she breaks the barrier because yes, she is a fine lady with beautiful nylon stockings. She is a tough teacher, although willing to bend the “unwritten” rules. The girls adore her because she is lady like and the boys do also for trying and strapping hard. Miss.Ralston respects everyone by these rules people sent for her like a perfect lady teacher by also a real person!