Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 93

All American Red Heads

89

bodies. Flaming red hair, blue eye shadow, and bright red lipstick
added to the allure of feminine glamour.
Even their arrival in town was carefully orchestrated. On
arrival, these striking redheads paraded through the downtown
area, in their red, white and blue All American Red Heads warm up
uniforms. Glamour, patriotism, athleticism, all rolled into one.
What could be more American?
Feminine redheads weren't going to be perceived as a threat
to the status quo in basketball or to gender relations. Unfortunately,
the emphasis on femininity served the function of camouflaging the
women’s superb athletic skills. It meant, in the long run, that sports
history would ignore their accomplishments.
In actuality, these women were highly skilled players.
Many were Amateur Athletic Association (AAU) basketball All
Americans. These women were in peak athletic form. During the
seven month season, all they did was travel and play basketball. To
stay in shape they often did road work by running alongside the car
on their way to their next engagement. They constantly worked on
their quick maneuvers, fancy ball handling, and trick shots in order to
dazzle the crowds during the game and at the half-time show.
For the Red Heads owners, the financial bottom line, not
women’s liberation, was their major concern. The owners exploited
the image of traditional femininity to appeal to the crowds and to
make professional women’s basketball a commercial successful.
However, the women never felt exploited, demeaned or co-opted. As
one player proudly stated at the Red Heads’ Reunion in 1996, "I
remember some of the members of one of the men’s teams we were
playing saying that we looked like cheerleaders not basketball
players." She repeated the comment, because she thought the
statement was a great compliment to the attractiveness of the Red
Heads. She seemed to accept the stereotype of women athletes as
unfeminine and unattractive. To her images of the Red Heads as
attractive and feminine were positive attributes.
For Red Heads players, femininity and professionalism were
intricately entwined. To them being attractive and athletic were
both desirable characteristics. To be paid to play basketball was a
dream come true. Most of the recruits were young women just out of
high school who had never traveled outside of their small town or
rural community. For them, traveling across the country, playing