Golf for Women

Inscriptions

lower center: M. W. Portor

Label

At first glance, this illustration appears to enforce gender stereotypes within sports. The woman wistfully looks into the distance, holding a handkerchief in the wind. Interestingly, it is the cover design for the book Golf for Women, by Genevieve Hecker, thought to be the first book on golf written solely for women. It addresses golf technique and strategy, equipment, and access to the sport itself for women. In her discussion, Hecker highlights the barriers women golfers must endure, including both limited course access and general misogyny. 

Hecker was a two-time women’s US Amateur champion in 1901 and 1902. She was considered both formidable within the women’s category and competitive within the men’s game. She used her platform to write this book—with support from her husband’s publishing company—and was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame and the Metropolitan Golf Hall of Fame in 2020.

From the 2025 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 123, Elegantly Violent: Exploring Masculinity and Gender Expectations within Women’s Sports, curated by Josephine (Josie) Harrison ’25, Mellon Special Project Intern

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 123, Elegantly Violent: Exploring Masculinity and Gender Expectations within Women’s Sports, Josephine (Josie) Harrison ’25, Mellon Special Project Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 5 - May 25, 2025

A Space for Dialogue 61, A Man-Made Icon: The Gibson Girl, Sarah Peterson, Class of 2010, The Levinson Intern, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 4-April 2011

Constructing Gender: Works from the Hood Museum of Art's Collection, 1500 to the Present, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, ARTH 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 28-April 22, 2012.

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Subjects