Posted on February 2nd, 2022
By Olivia Baker
In this day and
age, it can be easy to take for granted the opportunities that women have to exercise
and the greater social acceptance of women doing so for their own physical and
mental health. However, this was not always the case even in modern history. Exercise
used to be considered "unladylike" and thought to run the risk of causing women
to grow mustaches and have their uteruses fall out in the 1950s. Did you know
that women weren't allowed to run marathons as recently as 1970 over fears for
their safety and that the Olympics didn't sanction a women's marathon until
1984? The sports bra wasn't even invented until 1977. As we read Let's Get
Physical by Danielle Friedman, we'll explore the evolution of fitness for
women from those early 1950s views to present day through
the lens of pioneering women in the exercise industry. Through each chapter and
each woman's story, we will learn about the historical twists and turns that created
the fitness culture we live in today and further discuss how we can continue to
make fitness more accessible to women as not just a privilege, but a right
going forward.
Aside from my personal interest in the contemporary
history of fitness for women, I chose this book for Runners Who Read because I think
you all will really like it, learn a lot (just like I did), and enjoy this opportunity
to discuss with an author who is actually part of our book club! I got to meet
Danielle and get a sneak preview of this book last year. Back in November when
this book club was first formally announced, Danielle reached out to me as a
fellow Atlanta Track Club member and runner with deep ties to the Atlanta
community about reading this book in our new book club. In December, I had the
opportunity to read this book to preview it for book club and was drawn in
immediately by the writing style that captures the historical facts of the
movements that changed the trajectory of fitness culture while telling the
story through the lens' of the women who led them. Each chapter reads like a
mini memoir which makes for uniquely thrilling storytelling. I won't give
anything away, but I'm really excited for you all to read this book and encourage
you to lean into this month's discussion.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
are you looking forward to about reading Let's Get Physical?
2. What
are some women's fitness fun facts that you'd like to share as we prepare to
read?