{"id":666,"date":"2022-03-10T11:44:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T11:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/further\/?p=666"},"modified":"2022-03-10T11:44:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T11:44:18","slug":"in-their-own-words-top-autobiographies-by-inspiring-sportswomen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/further\/2022\/03\/10\/in-their-own-words-top-autobiographies-by-inspiring-sportswomen\/","title":{"rendered":"In their own words: top autobiographies by inspiring sportswomen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three successful sportswomen write about breaking barriers, gaining recognition and major victories in the arena of sports<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past half-century, women have broken through barriers and overcome hurdles in most sports disciplines. There\u2019s no shortage of inspirational stories in the history of women\u2019s sports. Check out these reads if you\u2019re looking for empowering and encouraging books about glass-ceiling-smashing female athletes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>&nbsp;All In: The Autobiography of Billie Jean King<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The story of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillieJeanKing?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Billie Jean King<\/a> may be familiar to anyone with an interest in women\u2019s tennis, but her crossover appeal within the cultural mainstream is striking. Billie Jean has spoken out on several of the most vital social issues faced by women in the last 50 years. In the 1970s, she was a crusader for equal pay and took part in the infamous \u201cbattle of the sexes\u201d with fellow pro Bobby Riggs (who now comes across as an unreconstructed chauvinist by modern standards). More recently, she blazed a trail by coming out as a lesbian at the age of 51. It\u2019s covered here, in a wryly humorous, occasionally electrifying account by one of the most significant sportswomen of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amazonbooks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@amazonbooks<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSMornings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSMornings<\/a> for including All In among other terrific books for readers to celebrate <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WomensHistoryMonth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WomensHistoryMonth<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WHM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WHM<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1GWOE81TVl\">https:\/\/t.co\/1GWOE81TVl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillieJeanKing\/status\/1500850782001893376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Taking on the World by Ellen Macarthur<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Ellen Macarthur was described as \u2018The first true heroine of the 21st Century,\u2019 in <em>the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/observer\/renaultellencompetition\/0,16101,1511272,00.html\"><em>Observer<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp; <\/em>Her exploits as a single-handed sailor included famously breaking the<strong> <\/strong>world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe. She was also placed second in the round-the-world<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vendeeglobe.org\/en\"> Vendee Globe<\/a> race at the young age of 24. The levels of mental and physical stamina involved in competitive sailing at this level are astonishing. Macarthur conveys the isolation, exhilaration, and moments of elemental terror involved in the sport in her own poignant and often profound words. The book is notable for including diary extracts which captures what it means to be adrift in both literal and figurative sense during some of the crises that Macarthur has experienced in her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>My Fight Your Fight: The Official Ronda Rousey autobiography<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RondaRousey\">Rousey<\/a> was a pioneer in women\u2019s combat sports; as the first female fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2012 &#8211; then still much maligned by the boxing mainstream for its levels of violence and employment of mixed styles. She proved that it was possible for women to excel in the most brutal of environments, gaining recognition and success in a typically male-dominated arena. What really comes across in this funny, pacey, autobiography though is how much of a badass she is outside the octagon. Over 400 pages, she comprehensively covers how she came to prominence. From her upbringing by her indefatigable mother, through Olympic medal winning and UFC dominance, to the mainstream entertainment of professional wrestling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More awesome book news! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/myfightyourfight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#myfightyourfight<\/a> selected by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iBooks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ibooks<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/whatwerereading?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#whatwerereading<\/a> \ud83d\udcd6 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lx70ZWdodI\">https:\/\/t.co\/lx70ZWdodI<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RondaRousey\/status\/628655433071374336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2015<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three successful sportswomen write in their own words about breaking barriers, gaining recognition and major victories in the arena of sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":767,"featured_media":677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[134,135,131,130,136,21,138,137,129],"coauthors":[94],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-autobiography","tag-billi-jean-king","tag-books","tag-culture","tag-ellen-macarthur","tag-inspiring-women","tag-memoirs","tag-ronda-rousey","tag-sportswomen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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