Trained Bodies: From Gymnasts to “Jujutsu Suffragettes”

Each time upon entering Anstey's gymnasium, for instance, all women read these words: "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Physical Education 14). Between 1898 and 1899, Symonds, author of The Career of Candida, contributed to it seven articles concerning women...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Victorian review 2016-04, Vol.42 (1), p.37-43
Main Author: ROTUNNO, LAURA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
British & Irish literature
English literature
Exercise
Girls
Gymnastics
Hardy, Thomas (1840-1928)
Physical education
Secondary education
Society
Sports
Students
Teaching
Women
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Summary:Each time upon entering Anstey's gymnasium, for instance, all women read these words: "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Physical Education 14). Between 1898 and 1899, Symonds, author of The Career of Candida, contributed to it seven articles concerning women's physical education, including discussions of mountaineering, fencing, and gymnastics, complete with detailed instructions on how to best undertake training in such sports. The glimpse of her facial expression also suggests calm control. [...]she is attired modestly: her skirt appears to be pinned up at the front specifically for the illustration, and she wears the gymnastic costume common to Bergman Österberg's students from 1885 to 1892, a "long-sleeved, knee-length, blue merino [dress] over knickers and stockings" (McCrone 223). Rounded shoulders, slouching gait, and also haply crooked spines, By gymnastic exercises shall grow straight as mountain pines; Let the girls then learn athletics who in Town are apt to droop, Careful drill will make them upright and eradicate the stoop.
ISSN:0848-1512
1923-3280
1923-3280
DOI:10.1353/vcr.2016.0038