The Creation of the American Playground Movement by Reform Women, 1885–1930: A Feminist Analysis of Materialized Ideological Transformations in Gender Identities and Power Dynamics

Abstract

Feminist research rediscovers the full scope of leadership by reform women and their organizations in initiating the American playground movement by creating playgrounds across the country. The multiple meanings of play and playground landscapes developed from interrelated ideological conceptions of motherhood and childhood that evolved over 200 years. Traditional domestic feminine identity was masculinized to authorize women to create public-sphere playgrounds. Team games merged feminine and masculine values to create new intersectional identities by teaching boys a feminized masculinity and girls a masculinized femininity. Reconnaissance surveys of historic playgrounds in Boston and Detroit found that playgrounds declined after 1950.

Keywords: Playgrounds Childhood Public cooperative mothering Gender ideology