You're Invited!

You Are Cordially Invited to

A Conversation with Professor Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano about their newly published book

Playing with the Boys:
Why Separate is not Equal in Sports
(Oxford University Press, November 2007)

Even before the media outcry over Don Imus's infamously sexist and racist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, the subject of women in sports has always been a heated topic. PLAYING WITH THE BOYS is the first full-scale study of the most sex-segregated institution in the country. Join us for a brief presentation of their revolutionary thesis followed by an opportunity for questions.

When:	Wednesday, December 12, 2007, 5:00 p.m.
Where:	National Organization for Women 1100 H Street, 2nd floor Washington, DC 20005

"McDonagh and Pappano hit a home run! This book shows that coerced sex segregation in sports does not benefit women and, in fact, holds back women who are fully capable of competing with men. Readers will never think of Title IX the same way again."

Kim Gandy, President, National Organization for Women

Refreshments and a book signing will follow the conversation. Reservations are not mandatory, but space is limited and we would appreciate knowing if you plan to attend. Drop us a line at dirmail@now.org or call 202-628-8669.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lindsay Kaplan, Associate Publicist, (212) 726-6258 | lindsay.kaplan@oup.com

"Days after Imus's remarks, the Rutgers players found themselves giving a press conference in which their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, painted them as accomplished students and aspiring musicians, doctors, veterinarians. The quest to reveal their nonathletic interests was an apology of sorts, a means for 'proving' they were anything but 'ho's.' Many male college athletes at top Division I basketball schools are not there for an education but for a boost into the NBA. Ironically, no one refers to them as 'ho's.'"
-from the preface of Playing with the Boys

PLAYING WITH THE BOYS
WHY SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL IN SPORTS

(Oxford | $28.00 | November 5th, 2007 | ISBN: 978-01-9-516756-6)

Even before the media outcry spurred by Don Imus's infamously sexist and racist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, the subject of women in sports has always been a heated topic. This significant issue has not been thoroughly documented in scholarly literature until now. PLAYING WITH THE BOYS: Why Separate is Not Equal in Sports, by Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano, is the first full-scale study of the most sex-segregated institution in the country.

PLAYING WITH THE BOYS presents a compelling argument for re-thinking the way sports at all levels are organized, from the structure of youth play to adult recreational, Olympic, and professional sports. While athletics, historically, have reflected the status quo in gender norms, McDonagh and Pappano propose that it can be a tool for social and cultural change. PLAYING WITH THE BOYS draws together evidence from biology and physiology, law, business, history, and feminist theory to make the case for a revolution in thinking about gender and sports in America.

Women have made tremendous strides since the passage of Title IX in 1972, but the law never demanded-and never accomplished-true gender equality. The larger fight for women's equal rights in higher education, politics, and the workplace is now reaching a new battleground: the playing field. PLAYING WITH THE BOYS delivers a powerful, authoritative exposé on the profusion of antiquated gender stereotypes in sports, and offers possibilities for policy reform and social change.

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LAURA PAPPANO is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Good Housekeeping, and The Washington Post. She is the author of The Connection Gap and is currently a writer-in- residence at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College.

EILEEN MCDONAGH is Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University. She is the author of Breaking the Abortion Deadlock.

PLAYING WITH THE BOYS: Why Separate is not Equal in Sports will be published by Oxford University Press on November 5th, 2007 ($28.00 | 349 pages | ISBN: 978-01-9-516756-6).

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