Conscious Home Exercise for Women: Cultivating a New Mind/Body Practice in the Late Nineteenth Century Laura Williams Iverson

Home , Bernarr Macfadden, Genevieve Stebbins, Muscular Christianity, Physical culture, William Blaikie

Florida State University Libraries

Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

2007 Conscious Home Exercise for Women: Cultivating a New Mind/Body Practice in the Late Nineteenth Century Laura Williams Iverson

Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]

THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATRE AND DANCE

CONSCIOUS HOME EXERCISE FOR WOMEN: CULTIVATING A NEW MIND/BODY

PRACTICE IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Laura Williams Iverson

A Thesis submitted to the Department of Dance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007

The members of this committee approve the thesis of Laura Iverson defended on February 13, 2007.

______John Perpener Professor Directing Thesis

______Sally Sommer Committee Member

______Tom Welsh Committee Member

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members.

This work is dedicated to my future husband, Kevin Michael Beare. You had confidence in our relationship enough to move to Tallahassee (a commendable sacrifice) and now, almost two years later, we are ready to start our wonderful new lives together. Thank you for all that you do and all that you are.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to a number of people for the completion of this project. I would like to thank Dr. John Perpener, Dr. Sally Sommer and Dr. Thomas Welsh for their very generous editorial and emotional support throughout this process. I would also like to thank Jennifer Atkins for providing such thoughtful and helpful feedback as I approached the final stages of my writing. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, who have dealt with my antics and celebrated my aspirations along the way.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures vi

Abstract viii

Introduction 1

1. Rising Tide of Conscious Fitness and Self-Care in Nineteenth-Century America 9

2. Shifting Notions of Able-Bodied Womanhood 27

3. Calisthenics Manuals Advance a Softer Approach to Physical Fitness 45

4. Delsartean Manuals Advocate Natural, Imaginative Over Mechanical Movement 71

Conclusion 95

Epilogue: Another Turn-of-the-Century Perspective 98

Appendix 103

Bibliography 126

Biographical Sketch 132

v LIST OF FIGURES

1. Normal Pose/Psycho-Physical Pose 103

2. Incorrect Pose 103

3. —Spinning,“ an exercise inspired by household chores 104

4. —Cobweb,“ another exercise inspired by household chores 104

5. Dio Lewis‘ military drills with dumbbells 105

6. Dumbbell exercises for scoliosis 106

7. Typical parlor gymnastic dress for women 107

8. Backward, Forward and Sideways Torso Bends 108

9. Front cover of Home Calisthenics, showing women holding dumbbells and wand 109

10. Advertisement for Gymnasium Apparatus 110

11. Advertisement for Horizontal Bars 111

12. Advertisement for the Chest Expander 112

13. Simple dumbbell exercises 113

14. Simple wand exercises 114

15. Iron (Gymnastic) Crown, as conceived by Dio Lewis 115

16. Exercises with soap cans, tied together with rope 116

17. Push-up exercise using a table 117

18. Broom drill series 118

19. Appropriate dress for exercise on the Pangymnastikon 119

20. Indian club series 120

21. Callisthenic figures performed on the floor 121

22. Partner massage prior to exercise 122

vi 23. Instructions for performing arm swings and circles 123

24. —Rising upon the toes“ 123

25. Delsartean attitudes with the hand 124

26. Delsartean attitudes of the head 125

vii ABSTRACT

This thesis is an investigation of women‘s conscious exercise as it intersected with industrialism, consumerism and early Progressive Era identity politics. It will discuss calisthenics, Delsartism and the beginnings of modern dance as physical expressions of a burgeoning women‘s rights movement. These organic and healthy practices–often performed within the private home–reflected women‘s evolving perceptions of their physical, intellectual, spiritual and political needs. This corporeal awakening eventually manifested itself in gendered social reforms of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

viii INTRODUCTION

In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, women‘s visions of renewed health, self-improvement, and their proper place in society shifted. Middle-to-upper class private homes and salons became sites for transforming bodies. In these private domains, women cultivated a defiantly healthy awareness of their bodies and minds. Physical exercise became a transformative, spiritual act that opened definitions of feminine identity and power, while affirming certain gender and class-based distinctions. Concurrently, in the public sphere, this consciousness manifested itself in various women‘s rights reforms, artistic pursuits, and in a new consumer culture where women had powers of decision. Fitness became a strategy for asserting both individual and communal power. This thesis will examine women‘s conscious exercise–physical regimes that required a fine-tuned intellectual and spiritual awareness–within the context of late nineteenth-century industrialism and consumerism. It will investigate the possible relationships between technological advancements and purposeful physicality–how anxiety over mechanization might have led to a naturalized cultivation of the body. Physical practices (and their accompanying discourse) that endorsed self-improvement, spiritual transcendence, and organic process became popular during this period. Each of these disciplines, however unique, was part of a larger, interrelated network of healthy social reforms sweeping the nation. Although this thesis will concentrate on the industrialist era, specifically 1880-1900, the final chapter will address similar trends in the virtual world of the late twentieth century. Changing economic conditions have continually propelled women to seek a more mobile, conspicuous and physical existence. Creatively working within industrializing conditions, women have repeatedly constructed new notions and iconographies surrounding the female body. We will see this materialize in the philosophies and movement techniques of calisthenics and Delsartism. Physical cultivation as a reaction to a mechanical, industry-driven environment revealed itself as a major theme during my research. Another ongoing theme was the qualifications voiced in regard to women‘s exercise pursuits. Industrialism‘s shifting labor divisions, gender roles and social mores allowed women to participate more fully in physical activities. They began to think about their bodies‘ capacities in profoundly new ways. This was a corporeal revolution indeed, yet physical culture advocates (often male) still felt compelled to qualify

1 certain practices. The message in health manuals was clear: women could partake in exercise, but it had to serve purposes greater than their individual, bodily needs. Drawing too much public attention to the female body was dangerous–a popular prejudice throughout social history. Scholar Janet Wolff has tracked this systematic suppression, explaining women‘s perceived inferiority as inextricably tied to issues of hygiene, health and sexual potential. Female bodies have been constructed as threatening because of their potential for evolving into the —femme fatale,“ or the —monstrous feminine“ (Wolff, 90). The imagined link between women and the natural, spiritual world suggests that the female body is susceptible to primitive or disruptive behavior. Women possess reproductive power and therefore the ability to either mend or disorder society as a whole. Their innate bodily functions and appealing sexuality have the potential to unleash men‘s uncontrollable desires, sullying the environment. The prejudice logic follows that intellectualism rather than corporeality should rule social dynamics. Since Western cultures have consistently privileged the mind over physical body, women suffer the consequences. Philosophers, politicians, and many of the physical culture advocates cited in this study have justified, on these gender essentialist grounds, unequal treatment and regulation of women‘s bodies. Women of the late nineteenth century negotiated this policed corporeality with creativity and persistence. Reading exercise manuals that instructed them to free their bodies, but not without control, they defined an acceptable range of behavior and accompanying movement. Moderation was the key to this corporeal unveiling–neither going up against nor collapsing behind conventional gender roles. The ambiguous relationship between prescriptive literature and actual practice exposed the rigid definitions of gender, private and public sphere during this time. I chose this thesis topic, in part, because of my interest in and knowledge of health and wellness trends. My teaching experience in university, gym and studio environments has heightened my personal interest in conscious fitness. I am fascinated by the motivations and meanings behind individual wellness choices–why people choose to consciously cultivate their bodies and how this self-care affects other aspects of their lives. The meta-narrative behind this intellectual interest is the social history of leisure, labor, public recreation and private ritual. Human beings have always looked to movement as a form of release and empowerment. This is

2 true within historic and modern-day fitness arenas–especially the private exercise regimes Americans perform in their own homes. I also chose this topic for its undeniable connection to early concert dance developments. As women were exploring their bodies through exercise forms such as calisthenics and Delsartism, they were also creating new performative modes. Comparing late nineteenth-century physical culture manuals to the early writings of modern dance pioneers Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis (and later Denishawn), reveals amazing similarities. Shared lessons in breath support, flowing and continuous movement, and disciplined practice, are quite evident. Emerging physical cultural advocates were celebrating liberal principles of conditioning: relaxation, holistic self-care, progressive challenges, and a harmonious balance of strength and elasticity. The importance of breathing as a cornerstone of this new physical education ran deep in the prescriptive literature–evidence that people were concerned with natural methods. Active participants in the burgeoning physical culture world, many women translated this newfound knowledge of the body to choreographic intent. I believe an investigation of conscious fitness regimes can help scholars better understand past lineages and influences on —mindful“ dance technique. Finally, I was compelled to do this study based on the relative lack of research on home- based, purposeful exercise during this era. Obviously, the early Progressive period is a well- documented time in our country‘s history; the quickened pace of urbanization and industrialization triggered cultural revolutions that appeal to scholarly curiosities. Academics have explored how Americans exercised autonomy in this rapidly modernizing society–through political activism, moral reform, creative innovation and consumer expenditure. Physicality was at the very heart of these autonomous expressions–using bodies to assert new social identities. Much of the existing research on the physical cultivation of this period, however, focuses on the development of formal physical education and university-sponsored sports teams. Studies on the YMCA, group play and other physical spectacles have monopolized the field of sports and leisure history. 1 There is also a great deal of research on the impact of European health

1 See, for example, Harvey Green, Fit for America: Health, Fitness, Sport, and American Society (New York: Pantheon Books, 1986); Bruce Haley, The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978); Donald Mrozek, Sport in American Life: From National Health to Personal Fulfillment, 1880-1910 (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983); Gregory Kent Stanley, Rise and Fall of the Sportswoman: Women‘s Health, Fitness, and Athletics, 1860-1940 (New York: Peter Lang, 1996).

3 systems, such as German Ling Gymnastics and the Swedish Movement Cure, on American exercise. These studies are helpful to our understanding of men‘s exercise in public spaces, but they do not delve into women‘s more interior world of personal fitness. Without obvious physical culture institutions of their own, as well as the pervading social stigma that wives and mothers should remain within the home, women had to be more creative about their self- cultivation methods. Herein lies the gap in scholarly research. Some scholars have explored, to great success, late nineteenth-century women‘s fitness, but their work usually focuses on either the sportswoman as emerging public figure, or social constructions of body image and beauty. Kathy Peiss‘ Hope in a Jar: The Making of America‘s Beauty Culture and Lois Banter‘s American Beauty are insightful, historical investigations of —beautiful women“ iconography. They use beauty guides, advice manuals and women‘s letters and diaries to trace the advertising and consumption of different health and body images. These works touch on the intersections of beauty and conscious exercise, yet fail to celebrate the inventive body modalities and fledgling modern dance techniques that women were creating within the home. Dance historians Linda Tomko and Elizabeth Kendall also address physical cultivation as beauty aid. Their studies of the —New Woman“ as a model for rising female confidence have influenced this thesis considerably. Tomko‘s Dancing Class: Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Divides in American Dance, 1890-1920 highlights women‘s increased presence within the interconnected network of physical culture disciplines. Women found freedom in physical education departments, as well as movement alternatives to classical ballet and show dancing, such as folk, gymnastic and aesthetic dance (think Fuller, Duncan and St. Denis again). What Tomko calls —Progressive-era body politics“ serves as the broader physical landscape for my research (Tomko, xvii). Both Tomko and Kendall, however, frame their research around radical public artistry and mass entertainment, not the private revolutions happening within confined, domestic spaces. Few scholars have focused their research on women‘s private fitness practices. Martha Verbrugge is one exception. In Able-Bodied Womanhood: Personal Health and Social Change in Nineteenth Century Boston, she acknowledges the power of exercise to promote female

4 leadership, individualism and sense of community. Using the Boston Normal School of Education as a case study, she investigates how the individual woman perceived health and fitness within the greater social order. Verbrugge asks important questions, encouraging broader scholarship. What does —able-bodied womanhood“ mean? As women negotiated between their private and public selves, what did they discover about their physical abilities? Could they partake in more vigorous activities while still maintaining a becoming and graceful demeanor? Is muscle appropriate for women? This thesis will address these questions outside the institutional or educational framework that Verbrugge utilizes. Jan Todd is the only other scholar, based on my secondary literature review, to take on a weighty investigation of women‘s conscious fitness within the home. Concentrating her work in the early and mid-nineteenth century, Todd demonstrates the growing interest in exercise not just as a community building activity, but as a means of perfecting self. She uses calisthenics as her framework for investigating this profound change from collective to personal body. She shows that women spent time cultivating their voluptuous figures into smoother, more athletic builds. They trained the body in order to heighten their own sense of glamour, happiness, and perhaps freedom. Taking a later historical focus, this thesis will also address fitness within the household as a means of individual empowerment. Exploring what women actually did inside the home to gain assurance and strength in their bodies will add new knowledge to the fields of health, movement and dance studies. There is nothing yet written on the physical choices women were making separate from, or in concordance with, traditional housework. This thesis is an attempt to fill this deficit by investigating the relationship between the prescriptive literature and private corporeal rituals of the day. The detailed language of physical culture manuals allows us to make confident deductions about health advocate intent. It is more difficult to draw conclusions about women‘s actual perceptions, but this could follow from further research. We can, however, make informed speculations, hopefully leading to a better understanding of how women demonstrated autonomy through healthy fitness practices. I chose this particular window of time, 1880-1900, with full understanding that most gender-based studies compartmentalize the Progressive Era as 1880-1920, including of course the more public showcases of women‘s reform efforts. I decided to concentrate on the first two decades of the Progressive Era for two reasons. First, the plethora of exercise guidebooks

5 written between 1880 and 1900 was more than enough source material to serve my purposes. Tapping into resources authored after the turn-of-the-century would have extended this thesis into a dissertation-sized project. Second, I wanted to focus my analysis on the specific time frame where one can first distinguish shifts in women‘s self-cultivation and liberation. These shifts began within the private home. 1880-1900 also holds an unique chronological position: the liminal space between Victorian self-denial and modernist self-care. It was an era of great reform in public perceptions of the laboring human body. Increased concern over unhealthy work conditions and busy lifestyles created a climate ripe for emerging forms of leisure. People were weary and anxious, in scholar Judith Lynn Hanna‘s words, from —industrialism‘s distortion of the natural rhythms of social life“ (Hanna, —Dance, Sex and Gender,“ 138). Businessmen, factory workers and housewives sought rejuvenation and adopted everyday practices that promoted naturalness and nurturing spirituality. The body was something to enjoy and improve; an instrument of pleasure instead of production. People made conscious, determined choices about their health, working for rather than against their bodies. This is what I define as —purposeful“ fitness. I am interested in how this played out within the domestic sphere; how women came to enjoy their bodies and take charge of their physical lives. Because purposeful exercise required leisure time and significant monetary stability, my investigation is limited to those women privileged enough to be able to care for themselves, their families, and their surrounding community. This does not negate the realities of those lower, working-class women who found creative ways to mobilize their bodies. Middle to upper-class women, however, with their easy access to the fitness industry, presented themselves as more suitable research subjects. They could enjoy private lessons and join salon clubs as dance patrons and spectators. Self-improvement and self-promotion was a priority, a way to assert their power within an industrialized, mechanical environment. No longer a demure or disembodied figure, the emerging —New Woman“ began to appreciate and enjoy her body as an emerging medium for social transgression. My primary sources are a collection of physical culture manuals and domestic guidebooks. This popular prescriptive literature offered clear, —expert“ advice for those seeking a —proper“ approach to physical cultivation. They were written by both men and women and run the gamut of social conservatism: gender did not necessarily dictate the degree of their leniency.

6 Given this variance, I have chosen a broad spectrum of guidebooks for my evidence. Fortunately, these sources are also rich with illustrations documenting callisthenic exercises, correct alignment, early fitness props and equipment. These physical images, which I have included in the Appendix, provide a fertile framework for cultural and movement analysis. In all possible cases, I have quoted directly from the original texts; otherwise, the secondary source is noted appropriately. Instructional guidebooks advocated different physical cultivation methods. Given this wide variety, I chose to focus on two types: ones that described light calisthenics and/or Delsartean-inspired exercises for women. These two codified techniques laid the groundwork for creative, personal and highly choreographed workouts within the home. In my research, I was most interested in how these women appropriated advice and exercise literature to suit their own physical needs. How did personal, highly choreographed workouts challenge popular notions of strength, fragility and ultimately empower the female body? Jane Desmond, in her introduction to Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance, provides a list of useful scholarly questions to address when investigating movement. These inquiries, although centered in dance, helped structure my research and guide my analysis of women‘s exercise. Important issues for consideration included the following: How does dance signal, enact, or rework social categories of identity? Since dance takes the body as its primary medium, can it provide a potential utopian site for imagining what a feminist politics of the body might look like? How can dance analysis lead us toward a consideration of the vast range of social practices built on strictures of embodiment which form the tissue of everyday enactment…? (Desmond, 2)

Addressing these questions assumes the inherent connection between movement and identity formation. It also requires a methodology that embraces an expanded definition of dance and movement studies, one that includes cultural studies and identity politics. My investigation of women‘s home-based, conscious exercise, as a subgenre of dance, accepts this assumption and wholeheartedly adopts a complementary, interdisciplinary approach. The home, too often ignored by sociologists, sports and even cultural studies historians, served as a creative site for late nineteenth-century women. Here, they used their bodies (one of their resources) to perform new renditions of womanhood–redefining the doctrine of —separate spheres“ and what a woman should be —fit“ for. The following four chapters will trace this corporeal revolution. Chapter 1 will outline the history of health and personal fitness in

7 America, paying particular attention to the development of justifiable self-care within an industrializing climate. Chapter 2 will highlight women‘s experience within a shifting physical culture landscape–how they could transform their bodies and spirit through consistent, prescribed exercise. Ailing health, environmental concerns and commercial literature all supported this revolution in women‘s corporeality. Chapter 3, focused on calisthenics, and Chapter 4, focused on Delsartism, will look more closely at the conscious fitness regimes performed within the late nineteenth-century home–softer, more graceful approaches to exercise. These last two chapters will not only investigate the values embedded in movement techniques, but also how women‘s increased activity inside the home might translate into a more mobile public existence outside of the home. The epilogue will discuss similar trends during our most recent turn-of-the-century, demonstrating the continued use of conscious exercise as a means of softening the environment, asserting identity, as well as either transgressing or affirming social mores.

8 CHAPTER 1: THE RISING TIDE OF CONSCIOUS FITNESS AND SELF-CARE IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA

The late nineteenth century, especially its last two decades, was a time for re-evaluating corporeality and communal health in America. People became increasingly interested in their bodies as sites for physical, social and creative expression. Nutritious foods, alternative medical remedies and conscious exercise all became part of the turn-of-the-century fixation with health promotion. Physical culture enthusiasts–advocating weight-lifting, gymnastics, calisthenics and Delsartism–became successful authors and local celebrities. This chapter investigates how this heightened attention to personal health transpired. What social forces were at work in the emergence of the physical culture movement? How did Americans justify their self-cultivation and celebration of the active body? What athletic activities and popular conditioning systems paved the way for the emergence of the more conscious, daily exercise regime? How were spiritual and intellectual endeavors folded into physical conditioning programs? After contextualizing this popularization, I will turn to women‘s participation in the movement (Chapter 2), followed by an analysis of the resulting exercise systems as they affected personal, political and aesthetic identities (Chapters 3 and 4). Attentiveness to personal health and fitness from 1880-1900 marks a significant departure from previous historical attitudes. Purposive exercise–meaning activity designed to increase endurance and vigor for the individual–did not become a major priority or conscious choice for Americans until the early nineteenth century, when physical education, competitive team sports, gymnastics and calisthenics leaped onto the national health scene. Puritans and early Americans paid little attention to physical self-cultivation: eating, dressing, and working were just daily routines, not purposeful steps towards a certain ideal or image. Restrictive fashion, proper hygiene, refined dancing skills, and a reserved public decorum were all conservative ways of controlling human physicality. Puritans condemned anything excessive, grotesque or affiliated with bodily functions. The late seventeenth and early eighteenth century colonial body was generally perceived as dirty and devilish; an object to be evaded, rather than honored or celebrated (Mrozek in Grover, 27). Any woman who strayed from this strictly

9 monitored, patriarchal corporeality and asserted her body outside of home-based, reproductive duties was vehemently punished.2 Throughout the eighteenth century, physical expression continued to be severely limited. Social dance was one of the only acceptable means of physical expression, and this was done less for health benefits than social display. An erect carriage and light, graceful steps connoted privilege. This limited corporeality began to shift after the Revolutionary War, allowing for more individualized self-expression through the body.

Healthy Bodies Breeding a Healthy Nation: Patriotic Self-Expression With the creation of the new nation, self-presentation held increasing weight in the success of both individual and country. Newfound optimism–part of rising enlightenment values concerning the perfection of human beings–had seeped into American consciousness, revealing the body as a potential ally, rather then enemy. Keeping fit through proper diet and mild exercise could improve both individual and national health. By the early 1800‘s, health had become a patriotic endeavor: what was good for the body was also good for the nation. Healthy choices were about civic obligation, then, secondarily, personal pride. Secular, utopian communities in New Harmony, Indiana and Owenite communities in upstate New York, were among the first to advocate and practice this optimistic attitude towards the body (Park in Grover, 134). Their healthful recreation, outdoor play, and simple gymnastics exercises fostered a harmonious relationship with the natural world while improving the mind and body. These communal values rose in popularity as philosophers and educators alike wrote of the universal connection between intellectualism and physicality. In an 1818 edition of the North American Review, several reviewers claimed that —the best performers in the gymnasium were almost uniformly the best scholars“ (as quoted in Park, Green, 136).3 Early health manuals, such as Dr. John Bell‘s Health and Beauty: An Explanation of the Law of Growth and Exercise of 1838, campaigned for equal cultivation of mind and body, —the one aiding and giving vigor to the

2 See Carol Karlsen, Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987); Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race and Power in Colonial Virginia (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1996).

3 This is the first example of a quotation from which I could not extract and cite the original source. Many of these prescriptive books and periodicals are so aged and rare that they were not preserved, documented or catalogued appropriately. In all remaining, similar circumstances, I will use —as quoted in“ to reference the secondary source.

10 other“ (as quoted in Park, Green, 137). This link between brain and corporeality surfaced as a repeated theme throughout the promotional literature of the time. A number of early health promoters had a profound influence on America‘s attitudes, activities, and iconographies surrounding the body. These initial crusaders, many of whom trained in the ministry, authored persuasive pieces on the necessity of exercise and other healthy practices. William Alcott (prolific writer), Sylvester Graham (progressive zealot of dietary habits), Russell Trall and Joel Shew (developers of hydropathy and water cure centers) and Catharine Beecher (advocate for women and children), amongst others, used staggering statistics, descriptive vocabulary, and comparative commentary to paint a dismal picture of mid-nineteenth century American health, and concurrently, advance their creative solutions. To this end, Beecher was one of the more successful activists. Her 1842 Treatise on Domestic Economy and 1856 Physiology and Calisthenics masterfully played off of Americans‘ newly formed, patriotic love of the body. Sighting those European nations and even third world countries rising above the United States in public health standards, Beecher cautioned Americans to take better care of their bodies. In addition to this disconcerting comparison, she notes the deteriorating health of American children–their bodies —becoming feeble, sickly, and ugly“ (in Letters to the People on Health and Happiness, as quoted in Green, 139). The threatening prospect of these young boys and girls growing up as effeminate men and unfit mothers was enough to communicate her message to readers. In a nation still drawn to the concept of Republican Motherhood–women as ultimate caregivers, raising the next generation of strong, moral male leaders–Beecher‘s rhetoric hit home. Despite a strong draw towards the ideology of healthy bodies breeding a healthy nation, Americans were still negotiating the tricky balance between public and personal needs. Remnants of puritanical ideology still privileged communal work over personal desire, yet the recreational opportunities introduced during the mid to late nineteenth-century (nightclubs, amusement parks, dance halls, etc.) held increasing appeal for those seeking pleasure and new forms of expression. Within this changing climate, health advocates imaged physical activity as a way to satisfy both public and personal needs. Energetic, exuberant physicality could be an act of patriotism and self-expression (Mrozek in Grover, 20). As hard-working citizens started to recognize the ill effects of early capitalist industrialism, they integrated exercise and other forms of self-care into their daily work lives. Rather than treating these indulgences as disloyalties,

11 health promoters emphasized their benefits: increased employee productivity, discipline, and overall physical and mental health. Self-cultivation could better the individual as well as his surroundings. With growing confidence in the groomed body as an instrument for personal and social change, Americans demanded fostering institutions.

—Sound Mind, Sound Body“ Developing this sanguinity in the body, the belief that physicality could raise individual and national potential, was an integral turning point in the history of fitness. Outspoken educators, social activists and physicians participated in this gradual reorientation towards self- betterment and the pursuit of pleasure. The new mantra of —sound body, sound mind“ took hold and soon diverse physical programs saturated the nation‘s educational system. Dudley Allen Sargent, physical education specialist and entrepreneur, was a key figure in this dissemination. Bombarding the public with exercise propaganda, Sargent asserted the need for gymnasiums, athletic opportunities and physical education programs in elementary, secondary schools and universities. Besides founding the Harvard Summer School for Physical Education in 1879, he also helped to establish the first professional institution of its kind in 1885: The American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education (AAAPE). This organization professionalized the field and paved the way for collegiate athletics and institutionalized exercise. The rapid emergence of physical education departments at universities, the onslaught of physical training conferences, and recognition in presidential reports reflected the growing strength of the physical culture movement. As the rhetoric of fitness–—shaping up“ and —in form“–eased into the nation‘s vocabulary, people wanted accessible sites for public, group exercise. City-based athletic clubs such as the YMCA promoted sheer athleticism and profound physical strength. Heavy lifting, practiced in YMCA‘s across the country, was a popular sport involving brute strength, rather than attention to proper form: —There is no special method of raising them, the object to be attained is simply to raise a heavy dumb bell, weighing from fifty pounds to one hundred and fifty pounds, from the ground, at arm‘s length above the head“ (Bornstein, 40). YMCA leaders initiated their own journal, Physical Education (1892-1896), and prepared instructional manuals on youthful fitness regimes and games. This sort of prescriptive literature, much of which will be discussed later in the chapter, multiplied as Americans became more invested in self-

12 cultivation and improvement. With the absence of licensing laws, any —… medical doctor, health seeker, entrepreneur, or idealist of various persuasions“ could claim themselves an —expert“ in order to advance their own conditioning system (as quoted in Green, 148). Physical education programs of the late nineteenth-century were usually focused on gymnastics or a comparable physical culture system. These were appropriate methods for improving strength, endurance and possibly even flexibility among youth. Gymnastics‘ progressive series and disciplined approach was considered manly and superior to other exercise forms. Military in character, the drills set the standard for proper physical cultivation within the collegiate athletic system, community gymnasium or home. Up until this time, Americans relied on mild, —suitable“ exercise to maintain a reasonable fitness level. More rigorous training now promised stronger, bigger bodies in less time. As Americans‘ appreciation of purposeful exercise and a leaner, harder physique increased, physical education programs and organized sports adopted more aggressive conditioning practices. Testing strength and endurance, football evolved into the supreme game. The revival of the Olympics during this time celebrated rigorous, robust exercise and serious competition. Weight training with heavy dumbbells, influenced by George Windship‘s —heavy lifting“ technique, was the preferred conditioning method of numerous athletic clubs (Park in Grover, 148). As Edward Hartwell, director of the Johns Hopkins University gymnasium, stated: —The aim of any and all human training is to… develop power…. This muscular exercise, when properly chosen, regulated, and guided, may make a boy into a better man…“ (as quoted in Park in Grover, 132). Brawny, muscular strength, achieved quickly, was the main focus of mid-nineteenth century fitness. It follows that reciprocal physical disciplines were primarily male-dominated initiatives. In Chapter 2, I will trace this gendered participation as women opened up new opportunities in physical culture, some empowering and others limiting.

The Emergence of Mindful Conditioning Systems In the post-Civil War years, health —experts“ and physical education specialists (again, mostly men) started to emphasize slower, steadier, and more mindful conditioning forms. Homeopathic physician Dioclesian Lewis introduced foreign gymnastics systems such as Swedish Ling gymnastics and German Turnverein to America‘s physical culture repertoire. These practices deplored —heavy gymnastics“–any exercises that involved excessive hanging,

13 climbing and swinging (Park in Grover, 142). Influenced by a more purposeful, progressive, and anatomy-based set of principles, Lewis presented —light gymnastics“ as a promising alternative. This so-called —New Gymnastics“ introduced Americans to simple, but effective exercises such as —Shoulder Lifting“ and —Circular Arm Movement,“ the later detailed here: Right hand held perpendicularly over the shoulder, dashes forward, and is whirled round and round, coming to rest by the side. Left arm the same. Alternately and simultaneously the same, each ten times. Again raise the right arm, dash it backward, and whirl it round and round. Left arm the same. Alternately and simultaneously the same, each ten times (Lewis, 105).

Lewis believed that —men, women and children should be strong, but it should be the strength of grace, flexibility, agility and endurance; it should not be the strength of a great lifter“ (as quoted in Lewis, The New Gymnastic, 62). The success of his 1862 The New Gymnastic for Men, Women, and Children and 1872 New Gymnastics for Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children placed Lewis in great demand as an educational speaker and consultant throughout the country. Backed by scientists and ardent spokesmen, Lewis‘ Swedish-inspired gymnastics system was based on sound body mechanics, physiology and anatomy–rational knowledge that Americans could trust. Physician George Taylor, in the 1880‘s, introduced Americans to another gentle physical system. The Movement Cure, a popular Swedish program, involved active and passive (partner- assisted) movements. American Delsartism, a mild conditioning system (discussed in greater detail in later chapters), was another important addition to this softer side of the physical culture movement. Created by Frenchman Francois Delsarte and later promoted by Americans Steele MacKaye and Genevieve Stebbins, this spiritually-infused physical system promoted a harmonious combination of energizing and relaxing exercises over strict strength training.

—American Dis-ease“ In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the rise of heavy and light gymnastics, and Delsartism, as well as professional and collegiate sports teams, reflected both contemporary desires and fears. The Civil War had provided Americans with national heroes: virtuous, masculine men courageously performing their patriotic duties while comforting the nation. Late- nineteenth century Americans were ready for a new wave of youthful, hardy figures. Increased immigration, as well as revolutionary scientific and psychological philosophies such as Social

14 Darwinism and Popular Freudianism brought ethnic, racial and other social differences to the forefront of American concerns (Mrozek in Grover, 31). Barbed social relations created a need for tangible reassurance, especially among white, upper-class Americans. College bodybuilders and professional athletic stars, with their impressive strength and demonstrations of —survival of the fittest,“ fulfilled this need. In addition to building character and providing exhilarating leisure, athletics quelled social anxiety. Competitive sporting events fostered such important qualities as courage, discipline, self-reliance and cooperation. Scholar Harvey Green, in summarizing Roberta Park‘s studies on late-nineteenth century football, illustrates the social benefits of sporting: —… Organized physical activity [is] one of the most important components in Americans‘ quest to achieve a better society and to avert decline in a world that seemed to be changing too quickly and in too threatening a manner“ (Green, 9). The last two decades of the nineteenth century were filled with incredible change, as well as distinct unease. Aggressive sporting events and other forms of systematic exercise provided Americans with a sense of control and escape. Milder, progressive fitness regimes, such as Lewis‘ —New Gymnastics“ and Delsartism, offered Americans a more private, sensitive and organic retreat from industrialism. A range of exercise systems were developed to satisfy different levels of interest, engagement and skill. Dudley Sargent once stated that —the great thing to be desired and attained is that prime physical condition called fitness–fitness for work, play, for anything a man may be called upon to do“ (as quoted in Verbrugge, 131). Self-cultivation was an act of preparedness, discipline and social duty. Early advocates utilized their extensive, legitimizing ties to religion and educational institutions to expand this definition of physical fitness. Their compelling rhetoric and creative exercise systems encouraged healthy self-promotion. In scholar Donald Mrozek‘s words, —The physical side of humanity was no longer a regrettable accident but an essential instrument of identity“ (in Green, 30). No longer restricted to a conduit of patriotism, the body was now something to nurture, improve, protect, and possibly even enjoy. Scholarship in performance studies and feminist theory illuminates this historical embrace of the body. Ramsay Burt and Susan Leigh Foster are two scholars who have theorized why movement translates into identifiable power. As Burt states, purposeful physicality is —a site of dissidence,“ or —a place to imagine and enact possibilities“ (Burt, —Katherine Dunham‘s Rites de Passage: Censorship and Sexuality,“ 79). Foster explains that movement (and

15 specifically dance) —induces states of well-being and a sense of increased potency“ (Foster, —Closets Full of Dances: Modern Dance‘s Performance of Masculinity and Sexuality,“ 154). Amplifying and appreciating corporeality could forge new private and public identities. Late nineteenth-century Americans were just beginning to relish in this increased physical mobility and powerful self-care. Embracing the body and its transformative possibilities was an essential coping mechanism in an increasingly disillusioning industrial world. With the rise of corporations, market production and population, late nineteenth-century Americans grew anxious about their new role in society, what could be considered —dis-ease“ with hard industrial life (Verbrugge, 3). New environmental toxins and long work hours threatened public health. Businessmen, factory workers and housewives suffered from —overpressure“ and inhospitable working conditions. Scientific discoveries on the ill effects of smoking and drinking also alerted Americans to their declining health. The front cover of S.M. Barnett‘s 1871 exercise manual, clearly announced his sickly, intended audience: For the Young and Middle-Aged. For the Narrow-Chested. For the Round Shouldered. For Persons Afflicted with Spinal Distortions. For Dyspeptics. For Ladies Sitting at the Sewing Machine and All Persons Engaged in Sedentary Employment. (Barnett, The Gymnasium at Home: The Patent Parlor Gymnasium and Chest Expander for Schools and Families, front cover).

Gymnastic enthusiast Dioclesian Lewis also remarked on —… the imperfect growth, pale faces, distorted forms and painful nervousness of the American People…“ (Lewis, 9) Prescriptive authors and other health advocates pleaded for Americans to take an active approach to their failing physical condition–both for the good of the nation and themselves. Unhealthy and busy lifestyles created a climate ripe for emerging forms of generous self- care. Scholar Judith Lynn Hanna wrote that people were weary of —industrialism‘s distortion of the natural rhythms of social life“ (Hanna, Dance, Sex and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire, 138). The overly mechanized marketplace had sucked energy and integrity from its citizens. People believed that modernism, with all its —evil“ stimulants, drained the body of —vital forces“ (Green in Grover, 14). According to Brook Adam‘s 1895 book The Law of Civilization and Decay, human beings were all equipped with naturally endowed energy; the rise and the fall of civilizations depended on the degree to which that energy dissolved (as quoted in Green, 13). Conservative products and behavior could combat

16 declining energy. Patent medicines, magnetic machines and other gimmicks were marketed as nourishing and energizing solutions. Physical activity and conscious exertion could also jolt Americans‘ energy levels and return them to a more organic state. General self-care promised to resurrect the individual from the sea of manufactured goods, factories and immigrants. A nourishing lifestyle might protect society from its own technological chaos and restore romantic, naturalistic ideals. In —From Salvation to Self- Realization: Advertising and the Therapeutic Roots of Consumer Culture, 1880-1930,“ historian Jackson Lears describes this move towards personal cultivation: —[It was] a shift from a Protestant ethos of salvation through self-denial toward a therapeutic ethos stressing self- realization in this world–an ethos characterized by an almost obsessive concern with psychic and physical health defined in sweeping terms“ (Lears and Wightman, 5). This shifting landscape had its roots in the early eighteenth century, but post-war advocacy and the burgeoning Industrial Revolution from 1870-1890 accelerated the change from self-denial to self-realization.

A Return to Healthy, Natural Living through Consumerism Americans channeled these obsessive concerns into healthful, consumer-driven pursuits. The goal was to —get back in touch“ with the natural activities of the body. Through outdoor endeavors, wise dietary and hygienic choices and conscious exercise, they could recover healthy living. Health promoters, authors, and marketers presented these solutions as appealingly natural and antonymous to their mechanical environment. They used organic images from the rising Art Nouveau aesthetic–curves, spirals, flowers, veils, hair and silk–to draw connections between their invigorating products and the natural world. Attempting to soften technology with floral and fairy-like icons, promoters touted naturalization over mechanization. Ironically, many of these artificial products and activities were subject to the same commercial influence that Americans were trying to escape. As scholar Helen Thomas writes, —The requisite ”natural‘ form celebrated by consumer culture is achieved through constant surveillance and control“ (Thomas, 55). As America moved away from Victorian and toward consumer capitalism, old notions of the natural body became even more codified, disciplined and subject to idealization Thomas, 54). Outdoor magazines promoted open-air activities that took advantage of the earth‘s elements. Going to the seashore and sunbathing was a perfect tonic to ailing national health, as

17 one 1901 health manual suggested: —The sunlight is one of nature‘s best remedies for many bodily ills…. Although the sun may tan your white complexion, the skin will vastly improve in whiteness and clearness when the tan disappears“ (Fourmen, 130). Physical education was best performed outside, as fresh air was believed to aid lung and muscle development (Blaikie, 14). Many physical culture and health manuals romanticized the bygone days of hard, outdoor labor performed on farms. These mythical, healthy figures of the past were far superior in work productivity, moral values and overall happiness. Americans needed to return to basic life skills–to work hard, enjoy the outdoors and take full, deep breaths. Author (not modern-day scholar) Julia Thomas claimed in her 1892 manual that —not one woman in 500, and not one man in 100, knows how to breathe“ (Thomas, 13). Professor Fourmen, in his 1890 manual Ladies' Home Calisthenics; A Guide to Health for Women and Children, demanded that Americans get out of the city to revitalize their breath and life energy: —Develop your lungs. Breathe correctly. Do not be afraid of fresh air. Take all you can get, for fresh air is life itself“ (Fourmen, 63). If one had to stay in the city, indoors, the least you could do was open the windows, says Fourmen: A daily air bath in your own room is almost necessary to the acquirement of the highest degree of health. Open your windows gradually day after day and with the body nude, slowly accustom yourself to the fresh air tonic, which will work wonders in building up your system. Cold air is really the most valuable medicine in the whole world. (Fourmen, 130).

Warm sunshine, fresh air and even cold water were the natural ingredients for reliable, outstanding health. And, as will be discussed in the following chapters, correct breathing became one of the primary concerns of most physical culture systems. All these natural remedies were also integrated into the philosophies and movement qualities of late nineteenth century choreographer Isadora Duncan. As urban conditions declined, Americans felt even more of a need to align themselves with an organic lifestyle. The dangerous appeal of commercial goods and public amusements was believed to endanger not only public health, but also national character. Technological advances threatened American work ethic: —Elevators and lifts and the moving stairways, as introduced in New York City at the elevated railway stations, are a curse, rather than a blessing. Climbing stairs should be made a beneficial exercise“ (Fourmen, 60). Some authors even claimed that Americans no longer knew how to —walk well“–what Julia Thomas called —the

18 universal exercise“ (Thomas, 15). Returning to the natural, through physical cultivation, might boost the prospects of salvation, as Dioclesian Lewis eloquently remarked: Man‘s physical integrity must ever depend upon his fidelity to nature. Through the deteriorating influences of civilization, he has departed far from nature. If he would restore his life-energy, he must, like the prodigal son, return. Health is the most precious of earthly possessions. He who has it, has all things; he who lacks it, has nothing. Men seek with vehement earnestness, external things. How few recognize the value of health. Men seem to care as little for their bodies as the snail for its shell. The world is full of misery. Physical deformity and suffering are increasing with fearful rapidity. Thank God, the great physiological revolution which is to restore man to his pristine condition, has been inaugurated. (Lewis, 119)

The promotion of outdoor activity, hygienic and beauty products, and systematic exercise was designed to bring Americans into closer harmony with natural perfection and protect them from synthetic, unhealthy industry. Americans celebrated the body‘s potential for beauty, balance and overall self- improvement. —Uplifting“ individual physicality could improve quality of life as well as social standing. Attempting to control one‘s appearance through a perceived attachment to —naturalness,“ Americans clung to commercialized health products that promoted organic wellness. From 1870-1900, businessmen, factory workers and housewives bought items that promised healthfulness and introduced new forms of exercise into their sedentary lifestyles. They followed advice from watered-down versions of serious health manuals, believing in their promises of rebirth and transformation. This trend, of course, revealed itself again one hundred years later, with a barrage of do-it-yourself instructional literature and commercialized fitness videos. This late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century phenomenon–the fitness and wellness industry–will be discussed in the Epilogue. Entrepreneurial advertisers of the early Progressive Era, fueled by heightened market production and increased per capita income, took advantage of this demonstrated interest in healthful bodies. If Americans were anxious about their overly mechanized, potentially dangerous urban surroundings, businesses would provide a barrage of services that guaranteed healthy living. With an emphasis on cleanliness, moral virtue and smart choices, advertising companies succeeded in luring consumers. As national health continued to deteriorate, newspapers and weekly magazines filled their texts with advertisements for various health remedies–fad diets, iron therapies, water cures, and other self-mending techniques. Doctors and

19 supposed health experts also made a career out of popularizing physiology, promising quick fixes through nutritious food and bogus sanitizing inventions (Whorton, 120). The sudden increase in hygienic and healthful products during the last decades of the nineteenth century reflects Americans‘ changing perceptions of the healthy body, as well as their vulnerability to slick marketing gimmicks. This was not a new phenomenon. Advertising scholar Jackson Lears argues that, historically, eager consumers buy into brand name merchandise for its promise of immediate physical regeneration. Prior to the Civil War, patent medicine vendors, many of whom were trained as evangelical ministers, assumed phony scientific personae in order to sell their miraculous cures and transformative tonics. This trend continued during the Industrial Revolution, an era of quick fixes and faddish solutions. Pharmaceutical drugs were a speedy, easy and mindless remedy for those suffering from ill health and decreased productivity. Products marketed as easily accessible and simple won over customers desiring relief. Advice writers and advertisers, rarely with sufficient medical background, took advantage of these consumer habits, imparting scientifically unsound cure-alls for a number of ailments. Soap, Grapenuts, and even home exercise equipment also promised to enhance quality of life while giving customers a sense of control over their increasingly deteriorated urban surroundings. Buying products to cultivate the individual body and home now served as a controlling mechanism for greater social order. These conscious, determined choices about health, although rarely —natural,“ also afforded people the opportunity to work for, rather than against, their bodies–a novel contrast to old Puritan and Victorian attitudes.

The Far-Reaching Benefits of Conscious Exercise In addition to hygienic and dietary products, conscious exercise (as commercial enterprise) could alleviate physical ailments brought on by industrial conditions. Popular health journals, advocacy magazines and instructive manuals, in a foreboding rhetoric of distinct unease, advocated a daily fitness regiment to combat unhealthy surroundings. These manuals, designed to —rescue“ an ailing nation, promised that purposively controlling one‘s intake (through diet and medicine) and physical output (through regular exercise) would actually change one‘s quality of life. These guarantees extended beyond obvious physical benefits to subtler shifts in social, moral, spiritual and intellectual prowess. Advocates claimed that those

20 engaging in physical activity had —less tendency to nervous troubles“ and frequently improved their mental facilities (Fourmen, 39). Taking time to exercise–whether on the job, on the dance hall floor, or at the gymnasium–provided necessary breaks from industrial labor, as well as new social opportunities. As with other popular public amusements of the time, exercise satisfied distinctive recreational needs. Exercise offered a variety of therapeutic benefits. Disciplining the body could have profound effects on work ethic and moral principles. Many physical culture manuals of the 1880‘s and 1890‘s condemned Americans‘ lack of discipline, and offered exercise as the all- encompassing solution. —That tired feeling“ could only be addressed through conscious fitness (Lears in Grover, 51). Manual prefaces, sermons on the importance of physical fitness, are filled with complaints on the state of national health, implying that most citizens are either lazy or ignorant to their bodily needs. Mrs. John Bailey, author of the 1896 manual Physical Culture, was appalled by this obvious disregard: I do not know anything in this world half so strange as the way in which people neglect their bodies; that is, their set of instruments, their one set of instruments which they can never replace and can do very little toward mending. When it is too late, when the instruments are hopelessly out of order, then they do not neglect them any longer; they run about frantically, trying to find someone to help and this is one of the saddest sights in the world (Bailey, 263).

Manual author M. Bornstein also speaks of Americans‘ inactivity, convincing readership that a break from the desk would profoundly affect the efficiency of one‘s brain and body: To men of sedentary habits, whose vocation confines them a great deal in their offices and counting-houses, I would say, that the laws of nature cannot be slighted with impunity. Turn away from your brain work, if but for sixty seconds at a time, to some vigorous exercise, and you may rest assured that you will go back to your work refreshed and invigorated, your power and energy will increase, and you will be amply repaid for the extra effort and the trifling loss of time. (Bornstein, 11)

Whether indolent or overly engrossed in their demanding jobs, Americans did not have the self- control necessary to optimize functionality and personal fitness. Maintaining a Calvinist work ethic was increasingly important in a society ruled by corporations and scientific management. Systematic exercise would improve physical health while doing wonders for —slothing off the sedentary“ (Barnett, 26). In a world increasingly reliant on mass production and commercialism, exercise was a way to preserve individual work ethic and maintain some sense of control. Justification for

21 exercise still hinged on the age-old argument that mind and body should be simultaneously developed. Physical activity was thought to increase intellectual capacities and general contentment: —The sharp, hot work, till the muscles are healthily tired, insures the good digestion, the cleared brain, the sound sleep, the buoyant spirits“ (Blaikie, 75). Mental facilities and physicality deserved equal treatment, for their health depended on one another: —Mind and body should be viewed as the two well-fitting halves of a perfect whole, designed and planned in perfect harmony, mutually to sustain and support each other, and equally worth of our unwearied care and attention in perfecting“ (Thomas, 3). While fostering good work habits and intellectual growth, regular exercise also offered spiritual benefits. Many physical culture authors discuss the human body as a sacred instrument to cultivate and perfect. Naming natural beauty and ancient history as legitimizing forces, they branded physical activity a noble and spiritual duty. Raising the individual body to heights of natural perfection would fulfill God‘s plan. Physical culture advocates sought to prove the human body a perfect, superior example of God‘s creative forces. —The human body is evidence of the infinite wisdom, power and goodness of the Creator. No other object in physical nature can transcend the human body in beauty of perfection nor in the wonders of its mechanism“ (Fourmen, 9). Given this powerful capacity, it followed that men and women should seek to cultivate their bodies (symbols of God‘s work) to reach maximum potential. Author Julia Thomas, who used St. Bernard‘s quote —Thou Hast a Noble Guest O Flesh“ on her manual‘s front cover, described this ambition through natural imagery: We look out into God‘s beautiful world, and see the lovely flowers in their luxuriance and perfection, the perfect trees and fruits and grains. We enjoy the perfect sunshine, breathe the perfect air… [everything] moving in true accord with the laws of the universe, in perfect harmony. We see perfection everywhere, as the aim and end of all creation, and this love of beauty, of harmony, of perfection in the soul, urges us to plead, in all self-abnegation, that man, the great centre of all… may rise to the heights of a glorious perfection… (Thomas, 7).

In reality, late-nineteenth century Americans had drifted away from this grounded, natural ideal. Technological advances and hard labor had left bodies inharmonious, overworked, weak and diseased. Many manuals speak of the tendency to —run off on a bias,“ —grow one-sided“ or —produce an unsymmetrical development“ (Thomas, 2). The number of exercises that target abdominal strength during this time demonstrates the widespread interest in proper spinal alignment and posture. One guidebook author gives a clear description of such an exercise:

22 Inhale the breath naturally and while holding it in the lungs draw the abdomen in and up as far as you can. Repeat several times without taking breath. Clinch the fist and with the fingers toward the body rub a circle around the outside of the abdomen over the colon…. Repeat with left fist. Then, with both fists clenched, press the outer muscles between the two fists, gently at first, and then more vigorously; they knead the stomach with both fists (Fourmen, 70).

Americans‘ imbalanced work and leisure lives symbolized a disastrous detour from our natural state: By our artificial modes of life, we are losing all taste for that which we most need. Because of this distaste for bodily exercise, we have adopted a one-sided system of culture, which leaves the body entirely out of view, and which works upon it in a destructive manner. We must seek restoration mainly through efficient physical training (Lewis, 122).

To resurrect natural harmony, one had to make exercise a priority through devoted, consistent practice. Stripping the body of artificial coverings and technological baggage would rebalance the trinity of mind, body and soul. True education of all three components (a Delsartean philosophy, as we will learn in the upcoming chapters) was the ultimate solution. Getting outdoors, buying healthful products and partaking in conscious exercise might save industrialist Americans from themselves.

Other Cultures Setting the Standard In addition to natural imagery, manual authors relied on ancient sporting history and mythology to justify increased physical activity. Celebrating the simple, athletic lives of Mediterranean cultures, prescriptive authors sought to reveal the inadequacies of their audiences. One manual glorifies Roman and Greek gladiatorial games and festivities: —The ancients were, physically, far superior in health and strength to the people of the present day. The ancients were athletes and fond of out-of-door exercises and sport of all kinds“ (Fourmen, 18). Other authors lionized Germany‘s robust male population, giving credit to their militaristic drills and gymnastic system. Russia‘s hardy, almost savage physicality was another model of prime, national health. Prescriptive authors noted that other countries‘ successful businessmen and intellectuals were prioritizing their health just as much as their career lives. Even Catharine Beecher romanticized —the superior health and activity of our ancestors“ and drew critical comparisons between the health of Americans and Europeans (as quoted in Park, in Green, 139).

23 Ancient cultures and contemporary European communities epitomized physical perfection; their unwavering appreciation of high art and its natural influences was commendable as well. Equating the physical body with sensual beauty, cultural vitality and intellectual rigor, Greeks —made whole men… intermarrying soul and body“ (Lewis, 121). Capturing the natural magnificence of the body through architecture and sculpture, ancient cultures had produced balanced, content citizens who neither worked nor played too hard. Many physical culture activists believed that if Americans embraced these same cultural valuations, their health could be salvaged from the terrors of industrialism. Later chapters will demonstrate how the language and technique of calisthenics and Delsartism embraced this balance of art, intellect, spirituality and physical health. This fashionable celebration of ancient physical culture can be analyzed within the broader context of Orientalism. Imperialist conquests of the nineteenth century set the stage for prejudice concepts of —the other“ as appealing, yet dangerously exotic. Orientalism, as scholar Edward Said described it in his renowed 1978 book, refers to the depiction of Eastern cultures by Western designers, writers and artists. Although the term harks back to the Orient, it can be applied to the popularized —otherness“ or —foreign-ness“ penetrating American culture from the 1880s and beyond. This is demonstrated not only in the physical culture language of this specific period, but also the overall —look and feel“ of late nineteenth century architecture, fashion and home décor. Women played an integral role in the last two movements, using outward appearance to assert socio-cultural and economic power.4

Spiritual and Aesthetic Health The idea that a healthy body could reveal a healthy spirit and movement was a glimpse into the soul, was widely read and accepted within a society fixated on Greco-Roman and Eastern philosophies. Bernarr MacFadden, the founder of the American popular health magazine Physical Culture, exemplifies this spiritual, corporeal philosophy. Although the first edition of his magazine came out in 1899, his early influences on the physical culture movement and public ideology are notable. He named —sickness a sin“ and —weakness a crime“ (as quoted in Mrozek, in Green, 34). Consistent exercise was considered —a sweaty act of revival“ and he believed that

4 See Kristin Hoganson, —Cosmopolitan Domesticity: Importing the American Dream, 1865-1920,“ The American Historical Review, 107.1 (February 2002): 55-83.

24 —a person‘s main goal was fulfillment of individual potential“ (as quoted in Hunt, 70). A radical spokesman for the physical culture movement, MacFadden argued that making full use of one‘s muscular capacities, cultivating the body into a perfect specimen, was the most direct path to God‘s chosen path. Scholar Jackson Lears calls this preparing the body as a —fit dwelling place for the Lord‘s divine grace“ (Lears, in Green, 61). Following popular holistic solutions of the time, MacFadden spread the mantra —Let nature be the guide,“ thereby releasing the physical body from industrialist taint (as quoted in Mrozek, in Green, 34). The individual could heal and purify himself through devotional exercise. Macfadden‘s arguments on salvation through physicality were powerful and convincing for middle to upper class men. These readers had the time and money to act on such leisure opportunities. Besides its obvious health benefits and subtler emotional, intellectual and spiritual effects, exercise also served aesthetic desires. As Americans made the ideological shift from patriotic health to self-interested physicality, they invested more time in personal upkeep and primping. Self-cultivation was as much about presentation as it was about staying healthy for one‘s family and country. Ideal body types evolved with this new narcissism. Equipped with additional tools for sculpting healthy physiques, Americans came to value slimmer definition over excessive suppleness. Obviously, this re-definition of acceptable exercise and body type was gender-specific. These differences will be articulated in the next chapter.

Summary The industrial climate of the late nineteenth century, with its unforgiving reliance on machinery and efficiency, left little room for individual expression. Labor activism, public health mandates, and tenement reforms were all responses to the need for physical relief, moral expression and spiritual invigoration. People were interested in opening up spaces for increased mobility and, by the turn-of-the-century, the body was no longer avoided but treated as a powerful tool for such reform. Conscious exercise was an escape from industrial mechanization and a return to more romantic, natural ideals. A necessity for healthy bodies, minds and spirits, daily exercise was also a means of improving physical and intellectual capacities, achieving spiritual wellbeing and, finally, proclaiming self-identity. With this therapeutic component, physical activity (before dismissed as self-gratifying) evolved into a more widely recognized practice for preserving individual and

25 communal health. Late nineteenth-century Americans now placed confidence in the individual body as a place of change, transformation, and social control. The turn-of-the-century marked a departure from Puritan pessimism to an —unabashed love of the human body“ (Mrozek in Green, 26). Self-improvement was fashionable. By the 1920‘s, a national —culture of pleasure“ where the pursuit of personal satisfaction was a legitimate goal in its own right, was in full swing. Although it is beyond the chronological scope of this thesis, it was a fascinating era in body politics and physical expression. By 1880, physical culture advocates and prescriptive literature authors had done significant work towards this heightened physical consciousness. The majority of available movement systems (led primarily by men), however, still endorsed a fairly aggressive, competitive approach to self-cultivation and personal fitness. The pioneering work of Dioclesian Lewis introduced subtler systems to come. A more holistic, mindful approach to the exhausted body, one that advocated self-healing through diligent exercise, was just beginning to formulate. Women were the key players in this graceful physical culture movement. As advocates, creators and consumers of fitness systems, they privileged progressive and mindful physicality over weight training and brawn. Alongside more public, muscular endeavors, women pushed an artistic, subtler vision of cultivated corporeality–one that provided an opportunity for both escape and defiant assertiveness. It also left women in an ambiguous position: Did softening exercise restrict or bolster their power?

26 CHAPTER 2: SHIFTING NOTIONS OF —ABLE-BODIED WOMANHOOD“

By 1880, Americans had deemed self-care a necessity for surviving their industrial climate and reclaiming some sense of control in their lives. Reconnecting with the natural activities of the body through proper diet and adequate exercise was the key to a balanced, enjoyable lifestyle. This physical culture movement relied heavily on masculine leadership–the celebration of manhood through gymnastic and sport practices. Yet, late nineteenth-century women also participated in this revolution–as reformers, visionaries and consumers. While men sought rejuvenation from the production line in organized collegiate sports, women (with little access to formalized exercise) found freedom in more individual fitness systems. The —New Woman“ of the 1890‘s, a rising cultural icon of femininity, was active, confident and expressed her needs through the body. This chapter will trace this iconographic development– how women‘s corporeality shifted from fashionable illness to fashionable health, paving the way for more feminine, lyrical conditioning systems. It will also introduce two of the most popular systems–calisthenics and Delsartism–and end with a discussion of the ramifications of —feminine“ exercise.

Indoctrinated Invalidism Throughout history, women have been discouraged from taking full charge of their physical lives. For a greater part of the nineteenth century, women‘s poor health was a constant source of concern. Domestic advocate Catharine Beecher wrote of —hopeless invalidism“ and —the mysterious epidemic“ in her 1871 manuscript, declaring —a terrible decay of female health all over the land [which was] increasing at the most alarming ratio“ (as quoted in Ehrenreich, 113). Vague sicknesses–nerves, female troubles, neurasthenia, headaches–were plaguing middle and upper-class women. For many women, privilege translated into a refined, yet idle lifestyle (Ehrenreich, 126). Scholar Lois Banter documents women‘s ailing health of the mid-nineteenth-century: —American women were prey to gynecological ailments that doctors could not treat, to emotional disorders that were brought on by boring, powerless lives, to illnesses accentuated by a lack of exercise and physically damaging dress“ (Banter, 51). Physical inertia, fashionable corseting

27 and even traumatic childhood mortality completed a delicate and frail picture of Victorian beauty (Peiss, 22). This curious female invalidism–a woman —languishing on her chaise lounge“– developed into a morbid aesthetic. Sickness was seen as the spring of female beauty (Ehrenreich, 155). Mid-nineteenth century romantic paintings, fiction and other forms of popular literature asserted the beautiful invalid as heroine, —… too good and too pure for life in this world“ (Ehrenreich, 119). Many Americans felt that something had to be done for those women suffering from extreme weakness, depression and other —female ailments“–despite the vogue status of these conditions. Since female reproductive powers were viewed as threateningly powerful, and women incapable of controlling their own physicality, limiting activity was the best solution. As scholar Barbara Ehrenreich states so clearly, —… any kind of physical or intellectual challenge– even reading or intense conversation–was a hazard to women‘s health… hence the only sane recommendation was a life of quiet domesticity“ (Ehrenreich, xiv). Any deviation from natural, home-based activities (especially exercise outside of the household) was considered not only unhealthful, but an act of disrespect and wild abandon. Instead, women were advised by a barrage of mostly male —experts“ to stay in bed. In his manual A Physician‘s Counsels to Women in Health and Disease, Dr. W.C. Taylor told his readers to —avoid activity such as long walks, dancing, shopping, riding, parties…“ (as quoted in Ehrenreich, 122). Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, another popular prescribing physician of the time, took this advice to the extreme, advocating the —rest cure“ for all ailments. This treatment involved multiple weeks, even months, of total inertia, extreme eating habits, and —purifying“ massages. Designed to rejuvenate women‘s reproductive capacities, the rest cure encouraged total submission of the patient to the —expert.“ As hordes of health specialists claimed authority over women‘s lives, the right to heal fell to male expertise (Ehrenreich, 38). Even in illness, a woman‘s body was not considered her own. Self-control and uplift for women was out of the question and transformation lay in the hands of outside authorities. Home-based exercise would eventually arise as an acceptable means for women to finally take charge of their physicality. This allowance, where women could serve themselves, was just beginning to percolate as a viable possibility. The sluggishness of this evolution can, in part, be attributed to the strength of American patriarchal ideology.

28 The Woman Question: Recovering or Destroying Republican Motherhood With industrialization, female health–especially of those privileged women who rarely performed demanding physical labor–deteriorated further. Infant mortality (tied to environmentally-influenced infectious disease) was also reaching an all-time high (Ehrenreich, 175). Such a dramatic health decline could prove detrimental to a society raised on the assuring concept of Republican Motherhood. If sickly women could no longer perform their —natural“ duties of childrearing and housekeeping, future generations of male leadership would endure the consequences. Physical movement for women, with its promises to resurrect reproductive powers, now emerged as a rational and even appealing solution. Performing subtle exercises in one‘s parlor, taking short walks outside, or even bicycling outdoors could enliven women‘s nurturing abilities. Ironically, this solution still threatened the patriarchal concept of separate spheres. Women‘s exercise had the potential to blur boundaries between private and public spheres, bringing into question how —able“ or —fit“ a woman should really be (Verbrugge, 2). Yet again, women‘s physical mobility lay, to a certain extent, in the hands of men who privileged national, patriarchal health over individual wellness. This unease with emerging female physicality, especially outside the private sphere, makes sense in the context of the —cult of domesticity.“ According to this nostalgic ideology, the home was —… the last refuge from the horrors of industrial society“ (Ehrenreich, 27). Women, symbols of an untouched world and the antithesis of economic man, could run it most effectively. Femininity was envisioned as negative masculinity, a romantic sentiment that glorified women (and the home) as savior (Ehrenreich, 29): The Market transforms human activities and needs into dead things– commoditities–woman can, and does, create life. Economic man is an individual, a monad, connected to others only through a network of impersonal economic relationships; woman is embedded in the family, permitted no individual identity apart from her biological relationships to others (Ehrenreich, 22).

Tied to the responsibility of family health and proper hygiene, women were perceived as the natural consumers of products that promoted wellness. They were the givers; men, the producers. As the means of production moved further and further from the home, the task of health maintenance rested solely with women–pious managers of sacred domesticity. If they strayed from their home-based duties, if they tested the edges of private and public sphere by moving (literally) out into the world, the very foundations of masculinity and femininity might

29 crumble. Again, this shift in labor dynamics is only applicable to middle to upper-class women: low income situations (the majority of the American population at this time) still required wage work from both marriage partners. Americans tried to hold onto their maudlin sentiments for pre-industrial conditions. As Barbara Ehrenreich states, —Romanticism befog[ged] the senses, draw[ing] lace curtains against the industrial landscape outside, and offer[ing] a cozy dream in which men are men and women are–mercifully–not men“ (Ehrenreich, 31). Yet the industrial revolution forced Americans to reconsider gender definitions. Tasks usually absorbed by women in the home (manufacture of clothing and preparation of food from scratch) were taken over by large factories. Industrial production, where the house was no longer a self-contained unit, triggered a fundamental social transformation. No longer ruled by natural factors, modern economy brought about unsettling questions. Without their valuable production skills, how should women contribute to their environment? If they did not need to spend the day baking bread or boiling water, what was their lives‘ purpose? What did it mean to be female–and feminine–in a world no longer so clearly demarcated by biological differences (Ehrenreich, xiii)? Anxiety saturated these questions, introducing middle and upper-class women as anomalies in a busy and unpredictable industrial world. She was now an —issue“ and —problem.“ Feminists of the time believed the solution to the —Woman Question“ (the dilemma over women‘s natural role in society) could be found in new opportunities outside of the home. They encouraged women to actively participate in the fights for abolition, temperance, and labor reform. Developing —bonds of womanhood“ in mutual aid societies, churches and other social arenas, they came to appreciate the body as a powerful tool for reform (Cott, 5). Feminists took command of their —problematic“ existence with visible public actions. In contrast, proponents of the new —cult of domesticity“ (which privileged piety, purity and submissiveness) believed resolution lay within the home, and called for a return to traditional Republican Motherhood. —Domestic science“–keeping the family home groomed and healthful–was now a —hard science,“ and housework a challenging, full-time career. Under the rubric of rising health consciousness, women had to meet the conservative demands of marriage and family vitality, while also traversing the more public arenas of social reform, artistry, recreation and education. This negotiation of private and public responsibilities, interior domesticity and exterior freedom,

30 ultimately increased women‘s range of movement as housewives, workers, consumers and artists. This was not, however, accomplished without struggle.

Domestic Science as Commercialized Womanhood Examining those women who embraced domestic science and analyzing how this choice affected their physicality is revealing. Weary of their perpetually inactive lifestyle, some late nineteenth-century women began to focus their energies on household, family and personal health. Following the teachings of the —cult of domesticity,“ these women invested more time into the aesthetic and hygienic management of their homes. In scholar Elizabeth Kendall‘s words, —… their [women‘s] supposed condition of chronic disease was the background; the search for renewed health was the impetus“ (Kendall, 19). Mothers and wives were no longer passive caregivers, but active members of their household. Well-managed health was a way to access female achievement (Lears and Wightman, 25). With the rise of commercial products, women tried out their new identities as wise and thrifty consumers. They bought laundry detergent, patent medicine, soap and deodorant–all marketed to —clean up“ the home or body and return life to a more —natural,“ healthy state. Sylvester Graham, a leader in the hygienic movement, encouraged women to bathe more frequently, eat more fruits and whole grains, ventilate homes with cool, damp air, and perform daily, outdoor exercise (Ehrenreich, 65). A 1882 Atlantic Monthly article named America —a nation of science,“ ruled by the controlling dictates of domestic experts (as quoted in Ehrenreich, 67). Although unsubstantiated, the notion that eighty-five percent of purchases were made by women in the last decades of the nineteenth century was an accepted wisdom of the time (Lears, 209). Advertisers and popular self-help authors targeted women as consumers. They employed voluptuous and sensual images of abundance to convince women of their untapped potential. Buying brand names was a bold statement of successful housekeeping and beautifying skills. The public consumption of manufactured goods shaped the contents of the home. As middle to upper-class women‘s buying power increased, desire for tangibles also swelled and families made room for newfound household —staples.“ Although fitness equipment and props never became an essential, they increasingly entered the parlor or living room spaces as tools for self- cultivation. Early renditions of self-help guides also appeared on bookshelves and bedside tables, directly affecting the private rituals women performed within their homes.

31 Powerful Consumerism This eager consumption, however, did not translate into total acquiescence. Women were still negotiating their autonomy both in and outside of the domestic sphere: —The liberation promised by participation in market exchange could be exciting but also troubling“ (Lears, 73). Exercise manuals as commodity were the perfect literary answer to this growing confusion. A link between the romantic advice literature of the Victorian age and the opinionated advertisements and topical magazines of the modern era, exercise guides acted as compassionate companions for women. They wanted answers to their questions and —… experts were ready with answers that grew out of their own anxieties in the face of rapid, unpredictable social change“ (Ehrenreich, xviii). Women sought this advice (and were willing to pay for it), yet also desired freedom from the consumer machine. They seem to perceive the body as something to improve and mold, but not necessarily surrender to mechanical objectification. Domestic advice literature usually romanticized woman as preserver of natural ideals, beauty and above all else, family stability. The —cult of domesticity“ and even some feminists of the time supported this traditional role for women. Yet, contrary to this supposition, many women took an active role in their personal cultivation. Although selflessness was an assumed feminine quality and many women did exert a great deal of energy on their family‘s well-being, they also took time to care for their own bodies. This is demonstrated most aptly in their acquisition and use of exercise equipment and advice literature. Women bought into the physical culture phenomenon and made it their own. This consumption partially reflected their anxieties. Consistently reminded of their inevitable frail constitution by medical professionals and supposed health experts, women often feared that their —nervous conditions“ (often just normal nerves or minor depression) were a punishment of sorts. If they moved (physically, emotionally or politically) beyond their —natural“ role, if they failed to put family before self, their selfishness might trigger sickness or household chaos. But rather than surrender to this imposed inertia, women found freedom and innovation in their power as consumers. In addition to domestic hygiene and orderliness, women‘s refined appearance became a measure of success. While adorning her parlor or kitchen with mass-produced products, the middle-class housewife also adorned her body. Dress reform and new icons of female perfection encouraged women to embrace a more mobile, conspicuous and physical existence. No longer

32 demure figures, women could make physical cultivation a priority. The frail ideal morphed into a plump, soft model, and finally, a more athletic and lean look. The standard for Anglo-Saxon perfection was one of youthful strength: —The voluptuous woman and the bearded man yielded to smoother, cleaner, more activist and athletic models of beauty“ (Mrozek in Grover, 56). Along with cleaning supplies and other hygienic products, women bought make-up, hair styling gels and other beautification remedies. This merchandise, in conjunction with new exercise regimes, served as manipulative tools for controlling and uplifting women‘s bodies. In this sense, these tools both confined women to, and freed them from, restricting existing gender roles. Uplift could be superficial or performed on a deeper level–external transformation or a more profound change in self-worth and public identity.

The New Woman‘s Body Middle and upper-class women negotiated their relationship between family obligations, consumer economy, and individual corporeal desires. Within this tricky balancing act, the —New Woman“ of the 1880‘s and 1890‘s came to view and care for her body as a potent means for renewal and liberation. Various media forms strongly endorsed this search for self-identity. To suit its own needs, the ten cent ladies‘ magazine, a publication targeting middle-class female readership, treated women as intelligent and resourceful consumers. Editorials and promotional advertisements flattered their audiences, imaging the loyal wife or female singleton as powerful queen of the private sphere. This was an effective strategy for magazines hoping to maintain subscribers and encourage new reader participation. Publishers solicited letters to the editor and established popular advice columns that, much like they do today, spread the liturgy of self- cultivation, glamour and perfection. Discourses about transformation supported the —New Woman“ seeking individual regeneration. Widespread readership laid the foundation for the consumption of the nineteenth century version of the self-help book: the physical culture manual. Many women relied on this type of promotional literature, in conjunction with popular ladies‘ magazines, to guide their self-renewal process. As part of the professionalization process, even self-cultivation and care-taking,

33 formerly associated with women, was beginning to be usurped by —experts“ (often male). This supposedly authoritarian voice frequently found its home in such self-help books.5 Most exercise manuals dedicated early chapters to the value of fresh air and outdoor activities. Physical culture enthusiasts and commercial entrepreneurs alike encouraged women to step outside, if only briefly, of their staid, domestic lifestyles. Walking, bicycle riding or shopping were ways to explore life outside the home and assert some economic and physical mobility. As bicycling increased in popularity, health guides warned female riders to take care in —proper saddle adjustment,“ and not ride —too fast or recklessly“ (Fourmen, 184). In addition, athletics and social dance became acceptable fitness alternatives for women beginning to physically exert their bodies in public spaces. This burst of energy–loosening garments, riding bicycles, leaving the home to organize women‘s clubs, charities, and civic reform groups–was a significant departure from conservative domesticity. Women were challenging the separate spheres ideology (the idea that work and home life; men and women should be strictly divided), leaving behind their strict managerial role and using movement to stir up new ways of envisioning the female body.

Expressive Exercise Early nineteenth-century fashionable sickness had, in fact, evolved into late nineteenth- century fashionable health. Moving away from traditional notions of health and beauty (bed rest, corseting, etc), women embraced exercise as a way to sustain energy and assert personal identity. Desiring a healthy mind and body, they started to experiment with different movement systems. Interestingly, the beginnings of women‘s concerns with bodily improvement were much less about muscular cultivation and much more about intelligent, progressive and expressive exercise. They re-directed goal-oriented movement from winning an organized sports game or weight- lifting competition, to cultivating the individual body. This process was highly personal, but also political, commercial, aesthetic, and spiritual. Popular forms of fitness intersected with artistry, and women came to view exercise as an effective tool for various forms of expression. To a certain extent, women retreated from their strict caretaker role, placing more value in personal cultivation than maintenance of the collective body. Ladies Physiological Societies,

5 For further analysis of this professionalization and —expert“ advice, see Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English, For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of Experts‘ Advice to Women (New York: Anchor Books, 2005).

34 initiated in the 1870‘s and 1880‘s, were an early demonstration of this profound ideological and behavioral change. Middle and upper-class women gathered in the privacy of their neighbors‘ homes to learn about female anatomy and physiological function. Similar to the —know-your- body“ courses offered by the women‘s movement of the 1970‘s, these workshops were one of the first mechanisms for fostering self-knowledge and care (Verbrugge, 25). Within this safe space, they were also resisting the professionalization of caretaking. As abortion, labor reform and other issues involving women‘s bodies leapt onto the national political scene, medical science started to exclude women from their previous domestic, health-related roles. Through these home-based societies, women could actually learn about biological and physiological discoveries. Women‘s newfound corporeal wisdom would translate into intelligent exercise systems for the budding —New Woman“ of the turn-of-the-century. Without organized sports and comprehensive physical education programs, the late- nineteenth century —New Woman“ had to create her own physical panaceas. Light calisthenics and gymnastics, as well as emerging American Delsartism, were the most fashionable systems for cultivating physical, intellectual and spiritual health amongst middle and upper-class women. Suitable exercise alternatives, these mild systems could be accomplished within the private home–an appealing feature for those still advocating insular domesticity. And for those attaching themselves to the early feminist bandwagon, Delsartean movement choirs, salon performances and women‘s gymnasiums provided opportunities for collective movement in more public arenas. Women practiced by themselves, but also organized all-female communities for physical and cultural exploration.

Justifying Female Participation Before exploring the particulars of each exercise system, it is important to understand how popular culture justified this upsurge in women‘s corporeal cultivation, and how this was different from the advocacy language attached to male exercise. This divergence marks, again, the strength of patriarchal values during this time. Whereas men were told to exercise for the good of their profession (a well-tuned body led to career advancement and work efficiency), women were told to exercise to improve their child-rearing, household abilities, as well as aesthetic appearance (Blaikie, 90). Their connection to organic, cyclical processes made them prime candidates for physical culture participation. Ladies Physiological Societies encouraged

35 women to learn about their natural functionality, convinced that this knowledge would ultimately benefit mankind. Manual author Julia Thomas called women —the natural disciples of this ”Gospel of Health‘“ and that they should demand —… a thorough knowledge of physiology, a thorough exposition of the mysteries of their own physical being….“ Cultivating this wisdom would fulfill their duties —as mothers and teachers of the race“ (Thomas, 5). Physical culture proponents, many of them male, eagerly supported exercise mostly for the benefit of others. A running theme throughout this entire thesis, women‘s exercise was constantly re-worked and re-written to appease social expectations and needs. Although women claimed some authority over their bodies, exercise regiments were still subject to redefinition– usually away from individual fulfillment and towards greater social needs. This misappropriation reveals how undervalued women‘s personal gratification really was. Just as earlier physical cultural advocates had cited other cultures to support their ideas, proponents of women‘s fitness leaned on the romantic history of ancient cultures to bolster their exercise programs. Advocate Julia Thomas indulged in Republican Motherhood sentiment, celebrating —great woman figures“ that raised successful sons: —The Roman matron and Roman warrior are synonymous terms“ (Thomas, 6). Representing the woman as seed of a successful, balanced and healthy society, manual authors uplifted the female form. As Thomas concludes, —… we believe the remedy lies more largely in woman‘s hands for the future than it has in the past, because of her enlarged sphere of action. The world is beginning to see that what woman [is] is largely the measure of what civilization is…“ (Thomas, 9). Here, Thomas usurps the idea of females serving the greater good of society and uses it as a tool for empowerment. Women engaged in the physical culture movement could save an ailing nation from itself, but it could also save themselves from unbalanced work lives. If women could perform their laborious housework and childrearing duties with newfound energy, they would be more content with their interior existence, as author William Blaikie suggested: … Far too often both the house-work and the looking after the children are sources of great exertion. Were the woman strong and full of vigor, she would turn each off lightly, and still be fresh and hearty at the end of the day (Blaikie, 20).

Blaikie then argues that systematic physical exercise in early childhood could train happier, healthier and more efficient mothers (Blaikie, 61). Applying the philosophy of Republican

36 Motherhood to physical culture, authors convinced Americans that private exercise among women would serve the greater good: Is there any need of pointing out to a spirited girl the value of a sound, healthy, and shapely body? Is there any sphere in woman‘s life where it will not stand her in good stead, and render her far more efficient at whatever she is called on to do–as daughter, sister, wife or mother, teacher or friend. Nor is the benefit limited even to her own lifetime…. Will her children like any better to inherit the same from her? In our Christian lands, we find, if history be correct, that the great men have almost invariably had remarkable mothers, while their fathers were as often nothing unusual (Blaikie, 73).

A more conservative validation of purposeful exercise, Blaikie and other manual authors advocated physicality in order to further cement women‘s domestic existence. Other justifications for participation included the need for physical relief and heightened beauty. Exercise would teach the highly-valued habits of neatness, cleanliness, virtue and self- respect. It could also provide a much-needed escape from everyday work and stress. Thomas reiterated this later benefit: —Psycho-Physical Culture… opens healthful valves for the escape of the pent-up surplus of force, generated in all natural, healthful bodies, and which, if not relieved or utilized often proves dangerous, if not ruinous, to health….“ (Thomas, 21). A consistent fitness regiment would afford relaxation, while also improving physique: It is an indisputable fact that a system of light exercise gives precision and action to the muscles, it will not only give strength but add greatly to the natural gracefulness in women; and if with a light pair of clubs or wooden dumb bells (weighing about 3 lbs each) they would go through a routine of exercises for fifteen minutes in the morning and at night before retiring, they would greatly enhance their bodily strength; and after practicing for a few months, their chests will begin to expand and their arms become plump and muscular. And what lady would not be proud of a well developed form, a beautifully-shaped arm, a high chest and an erect carriage? (Bornstein, 12)

Facial exercises were also marketed as combaters of aging, wrinkles and any other enemies of youthful glamour (Fourman, 142). If a woman consciously built her muscular strength and endurance, she could expect a more attractive appearance: Beauty of the face and form are largely dependent upon the muscles. Twelve months of persistent exercise will do more for a woman‘s beauty than all the pomades, powders and lotions that were every invented by the crafty chemist. Exercise has a particular, almost immediate effect upon a woman‘s complexion (Fourman, 40).

Although women still bought into commercialized beauty products, the novel idea that using natural capacities might, on its own, foster transformation, was appealing. Cultivating the

37 potential within, versus external application, was an empowering concept for popular culture readership.

Qualifying Female Participation: Emergence of Modest and Mild Exercise Thus, in order to save personal and national health, exercise for women was just as essential as for men. Despite this conceit, manual authors who wrote for both male and female audiences still qualified their claims: Except in cases of particular weakness, a woman can follow the same system of exercises as a man. The muscular and bone systems of men and women are much alike, but there are certain exercises that should be approached very moderately by the fair sex, so as to avoid any chance of shock to the pelvic region (Fourman, 40).

Although female corporeality had been largely re-envisioned to incorporate its optimistic potential, perceived physiological differences still limited women‘s participation. This historical treatment of male and female corporeal possibilities requires a brief analysis. Linda Tomko‘s research in the gendered politics of the Progressive Era is a nice theoretical backdrop for such discussion. Her studies investigate the perceived differences between masculine and feminine corporeality, and resulting gender identities. Tomko argues that the —New Woman“ was a resounding icon of female confidence in predominately male-oriented physical culture. Honoring grace and harmony over —bulking up,“ women in this field made important statements about male and female physicality. Whereas most men treated exercise as a separate project in muscular endurance, women treated it as a way of living. What scholar Ramsay Burt calls —the problematic nature of male embodiment within patriarchical culture“ resonates here (Burt, The Male Dancer, 68). In order to protect masculinity, late nineteenth-century men had to embellish their brawny strength, pride and competitiveness. This is a trend seen later in exercises and dances inspired by —Muscular Christianity“–the pious commitment to manliness and health. Those advocating exercise for women focused more on what were still seen as feminine attributes: introspection, sensitivity and softness. These socially constructed —bodies of difference“ served to confine appropriate exercise for women, yet not without some progressive gains. Gentle, light movements that released women from the confines of their corsets and tight- fitting shoes while maintaining proscribed gender roles, were considered acceptable. Progressive exercise, performed every day, would secure the necessary physical qualities of symmetry,

38 erectness and subtle strength. A milder form of gymnastics, known as calisthenics, developed out of this requisite for light, accessible home exercise. By the late nineteenth century, most men had access to public gymnasiums and organized sports teams–sites that served their need for heavy body building and social camaraderie. With women‘s physical education limping behind, women were largely on their own for developing similar, functional spaces. For the privileged few, a private lesson with a well-known dance master was a viable option. Other alternatives might include a brisk walk in the park or mild lawn hobbies such as croquet or gardening. Although naturalism and opportunities for outdoor activity were gaining steam, the house was still the most logical and optimal space for tending to one‘s body. Women were still defined by their graceful occupation and facility within the home. Thus the home parlor evolved into the epicenter for burgeoning forms of mild exercise.

Calisthenics and Psycho-Physical Culture Health reform magazines and fitness guides encouraged women to perform modest series of calisthenics exercises. In Watson‘s Manual of Calisthenics, published in 1889, author J. Madison Watson provides a helpful definition for this popularizing form: [Calisthenics]… is designed to further the proportionate development of the body; render the joints more flexible in all directions; give the pleasing and graceful appearance of firmness, steadiness and dexterity in the positions and use of the limbs; and secure physical beauty, muscular strength and robust health (Watson, 9).

Calisthenics, far from the arduous, muscle-bound activities performed in public gymnasiums and later private homes, promoted mild exertion, while teaching comprehensive skills in balance, force, grace, and breath. Incorporating stretching and strengthening exercises, the system valued efficiency and equilibrium from a place of alignment and control. In this sense, calisthenics was very similar to the early modern dance techniques developed around the turn-of-the-century–a correspondence I will discuss further in Chapters 3 and 4. J. Madison Watson offered his readers the etymology of calisthenics: —Calisthenics [is] from the two Greek words: kalos, signifying beautiful, and sthenos, strength“ (Watson, 9). Calisthenics advocates believed that this pairing of elegance and robust strength would afford both men and women physical, emotional and spiritual knowledge. Although calisthenics was unique in this respect, its philosophy and form were greatly influenced by German physical culture and heavy gymnastics‘ apparatus work. Calisthenics used similar exercise devices–

39 Indian Clubs, wands, dumb-bells, beanbags, barbells, batons and even parallel bars and vaulting horses–but only as —…stationary bases for building muscular strength and projecting, extending and propelling bodies into space…“ (Tomko, 11). Developing the necessary vigor for such military drills, callisthenic practitioners would progress to more expansive exercises that cultivated joint articulation and coordination. Exercise equipment served basic training needs for the system‘s more creative movement endeavors. Calisthenics manuals of the late nineteenth century offered simple, progressive instructions for cultivating physical prowess. They assumed little, if any, body awareness and took the reader through basic lessons in alignment, standing, sitting, and overall proper carriage. Chapters were organized by body part, moving from head to toe in a series of targeted exercises. Upon learning the elementary movements, readers were encouraged to perform a flowing series, concentrating on smooth transitions and deep breathing. As a reader advanced through the guide‘s step-by-step instructions, they developed a personalized routine that, when executed regularly, could result in a healthy lifestyle. Women‘s magazines and popular culture literature assumed different stances on this mild exercise form. Godey‘s Lady Book consistently rated housework as the best means of exercise and advocated calisthenics only —to counteract nervousness and invalidism, not to make athletes“ (as quoted in Banter, 91). Others credited calisthenics for improving not only health, but appearance. One physical culture advocate in 1892 named calisthenics the quick and easy prescription for improving feminine manners and style: —[Calisthenics] is necessary to attain the highest type of womanly beauty and grace“ (Bailey, 28). Simple exercises would not only build strength and agility, but also assist women in carriage and adornment. In addition to calisthenics, similar exercise systems that favored agility over brawn were gaining recognition amongst middle and upper-class women. Soft, home-based exercise was increasingly becoming accepted as the most appropriate means for nourishing overworked, physically imbalanced women. Female manual authors advocated self-conscious, graceful movement in conjunction with other training in elocution, etiquette, and housekeeping. Lyrical, yet strong qualities could assist women in their demanding, everyday duties. Advocate Julia Thomas is just one illustration of this shift towards softer exercise systems. In addition to vocal and breath training, Thomas based her system on harmonious movement. She demanded that there be —harmony of action between the moving power and the

40 part to be moved, or in other words, harmony of action between soul and body“ (Thomas, 24). Exercise should be both psychological and physical, with an attention to emotional expression. Her description of the —ready stance“–called the Normal Pose or Psycho-Physical Pose– demonstrates this consciousness: Head erect. Hips well backward. Chest forward. Shoulder-blades nearly touching. Weight of body forward on balls of feet, slightly resting on the heels.... This is the attitude of the body to express health, strength, courage, hope, success, love, enthusiasm, joy, freedom, and all things pleasant, agreeable or beautiful… in other words, the attitude of the body controlled by the soul“ (Thomas, 30, See Appendix, Figures 1 and 2).

Through a series of walking, kneeling, falling and skipping exercises, Thomas encouraged a full workout of every joint and muscle. Facial expression, vocal inflection and the nuances of hand, feet and head gestures were essential to the regiment. Combining these exercises with the natural movements of the body in work and play, would cultivate symmetry, grace and proportion within the body (Thomas, 67). Some exercises even mimicked household and agricultural chores (See Appendix, Figures 3 and 4). Thomas‘ philosophy, adopted later by other female physical culture authors, was centered in simplicity and functionality. She was also very much in tune, and possibly even directly influenced by, the Delsartean movement philosophies discussed in Chapter 4. Reformers also reinvented existing physical culture systems. Softening gymnastics exercises into play games and dances, advocates made purposeful fitness more accessible to women, and less threatening to the general public. Moderating women‘s exercise confined its influence, to a certain extent. Dioclesian Lewis arranged his calisthenics exercises to music, hoping that this accompaniment would offer women the same enjoyment that they found in dance and other social amusements. Music also acted as a motivating factor: —I believe five times as much muscle can be coaxed out, under this delightful stimulus, as without it“ (Lewis, 14). Arranging old military drills into more sophisticated tableaux, Lewis advanced his dance- like system (Lewis, See Appendix, Figure 5). Practitioners of his —free“ or light gymnastics could use props, but were not tied to them, like —big muscle men“ engrossed in the current —mania for monstrous arms and shoulders“ (Lewis, 65). Part of what made these forms so appealing was that they could be done within the privacy of women‘s homes. Dioclesian Lewis and other physical culture authors discussed the benefits of home gymnastics extensively. Offering all the necessary equipment and instruction,

41 the home gymnasium and accompanying manuals allowed women to practice their routines efficiently, systematically, and discretely. They did not have to stray too far from everyday, household chores: —For clergymen, ladies and many others, who would carry on the work at home, this invention is the most complete means imaginable… it will everywhere prove a source of unlimited interest in private houses“ (Lewis, 173). Advocate Blaikie asserts that every girl and woman should have a —little home gymnasium,“ perfect for practicing calisthenics and other mild forms of exercise (Blaikie, 71). This was the best place for women to cultivate a healthy body while maintaining propriety. Manuals assured that, with home practice, —… it is never too late to begin, and that one hour a day, properly spent, is all that is needed to secure it“ (Blaikie, 73). Walking was one of the only acceptable forms of outdoor exercise. Although fresh, clean air was marketed as the healthiest alternative to industrial pollution, physical activity outside of the home was still carefully monitored. Hotly contested bicycle riding of the 1890‘s– appealingly liberating, yet threateningly sexual–is a potent example of such controversial outdoor amusements. Bicycle riding, with wind-blown hair and a seat in between the legs, was considered a rebellious leisure activity. Walking was a more romantic and suitable pastime for women. This light form of exercise provided unsullied air, friendly conversation amongst women, and the chance to practice proper posture, gait and decorum. Manuals of the late nineteenth century applaud those European women who took to the neighborhoods and woods for vigorous strolls. Author M. Bornstein, in his special preface —To the Ladies,“ encouraged American women to perform —not a listless or lazy lounge, but a good, brisk walk for an hour in the morning“ (Bornstein, 13). Blaikie also acknowledged the benefits of daily walks: [It would] make her forget the dull routine of her day–not dawdling, aimless walking, but stepping out as if she meant it, with a spring and energy with quickens the pulse, driving the morning‘s thoughts out of the mind, scatting low spirits to the winds– it would bring a pleasant feeling of recreation and change.... The new day will find a far fresher woman, one better up to her duties, than if no exercise had been taken (Blaikie, 68).

Invigorating laps around the neighborhood or park were necessary escapes for hard-working middle and even upper-class women. It was also an opportunity to be inspired by other mobile women. As physical culture advocate Julia Thomas stated, —To notice, to criticize, and to imitate, the walks of others by way of contrast, greatly aids one in acquiring an easy, graceful

42 carriage. As before stated, the walk often denotes the character of the person“ (Thomas, 56). This social exercise, in conjunction with home calisthenics, provided an avenue for exploring the possible intersections between women‘s public and private existence. Moving within their homes and outward, into public spaces, women were beginning to assert their bodies in empowering new ways. Home calisthenics, light gymnastics, and walking gave married and unmarried women alike the chance to rejuvenate their tired bodies. American Delsartism, similar to Julia Thomas‘ system (and the subject of Chapter 4), was another holistic system that promoted attentive, mindful exercise. This system, as pioneered by Genevieve Stebbins and produced by Henrietta and Edmund Russell, gave middle and upper-class women another means of celebrating the health and versatility of the human body. Focused on physical and spiritual transcendence, Delsartism was an exciting tool for women just starting to assert their rights in industrial America. Body and soul were intertwined to create noble physical expression. Dynamic posing and character pantomime, in addition to soft conditioning exercises, was believed to lead to muscular strength, agility and spiritual transcendence. Delsartism, with its lessons in relaxation, proper breath and efficient movement, took place within the middle to upper-class home. Those with sufficient economic resources could enlist the private tutelage of these movement experts. Women used Delsartean movement to satisfy their spiritual longings, advance their physical health, and perform social roles. Regardless of this limited participation, the system‘s emphasis on freedom through healthy, bodily expression was revolutionary. Taking advantage of full breath, allowing the diaphragm to expand sans corset, participating in flowing, spiraling movement–all of it could now be justified under the rubric of godly aesthetics. Physical transformation was still a priority, like other masculine systems of the time, yet Delsartism discouraged exertion in favor of relaxation (termed —decomposition“). Props and equipment were occasionally utilized, but only to serve aesthetic, presentational needs. Thus, Delsartism lent itself to easy, yet thoroughly thoughtful cultivation of the female form. Celebrating strength and serenity, Stebbins‘ system was about —training the body easily to express a beautiful soul–or vice versa“ (as quoted in Kendall, 25). Together, calisthenics and Delsartism formed the basis for a gentler approach to purposeful fitness. The home parlor acted as epicenter for promoting this healthy, mindful athleticism.

Summary —The New Woman“ was not idle, but a physically fit creature. She expressed health and pleasure through her body and this liberation reflected her other, more public endeavors. She took advantage of rising intellectual and physical prospects–educational opportunities, dress reform, and natural movement–to improve herself. Physical culture innovators of the time epitomized this new feminine identity, an identity that sometimes threatened the revered public/private division. Despite potential opposition, many middle and upper-class socialites embraced these women for challenging gendered lines of strength, sexuality and expressiveness. Gendering exercise had liberating consequences. Neither frail nor indolent, —The New Woman“ committed herself to exuberant athleticism and a confident spirit–she was —defiantly healthy“ (Kendall, 41). Developing personal wellness practices and organizing societies that celebrated female corporeality, she injected some life back into her required domesticity. From fashionable illness to fashionable health, women began to enjoy their bodies as powerful sites of contention, transformation and pleasure. Their enjoyment came out of engaging in softer, progressive conditioning systems such as light calisthenics and Delsartism, the first of which I will now examine in more detail.

CHAPTER 3: CALISTHENICS MANUALS ADVANCE A SOFTER APPROACH TO PHYSICAL FITNESS

This chapter, focused on calisthenics, and the next, focused on Delsartism, will look more closely at the conscious fitness routines performed within the late nineteenth century home– softer versions of male physical culture. What exercises comprised this more graceful, harmonic approach to physical fitness? How did manuals teach these movements? How did women incorporate equipment into their regiments? What did prescriptive authors have to say about the necessity and role of exercise in women‘s lives? What values are embedded in these commercial texts? And ultimately, did women‘s increased activity inside the home translate into a more mobile public existence, where physicality affected decision-making and reform efforts? The —New Woman“ of the 1880‘s and 1890‘s expressed her economic, physical, and artistic needs through her fitness pursuits. The personal exercise regiment was a rejuvenating practice that allowed women to assert power, as well as softness, onto their industrialized climate. Women participated in the consumer market–buying exercise equipment and instructional manuals that would guide the development of their own home-centered workout. Bringing props and mindful, methodical exercises into the private sphere, women used technology to, paradoxically, both soften and take charge of their surroundings. Pursuit of fitness within the home was in itself a dance, and women‘s interaction with expanding literature and technology was an important factor in its performance. Crafting physical routines of their own, they took charge of the domestic sphere and explored new ways of moving about the home. Calisthenics was an exercise form that cultivated suppleness, agility and strength. It allowed women to step away from their home and civic responsibilities, even for only fifteen minutes, and enjoy a few self-nurturing moments. The therapeutic system was mild enough to not push gender boundaries unnecessarily, yet rejuvenating enough to shift more power on to the female body. With health as their ally, women found maximum potential for both individual and social regeneration. Concentrating on calisthenics, this chapter will discuss women‘s relationship to exercise products and health guides in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Performing exercises

45 while reading prescriptive manuals was not just a steely adherence to step-by-step, methodical instructions. Women used creative movement and technology to fashion satisfying fitness regimes. These functional personal workouts demonstrated grace, strength and, foremost, autonomy. Callisthenic manuals that targeted women in the home were rare. Most instructive books for a female audience were dominated by housekeeping advice and general health tips. The priorities were clear: learn how to successfully manage the home with tips on table talk, giving to charities, frugality, gardening, travel and cleaning. Most fitness-centered guides either concentrated on male sport or children‘s physical education within the public gymnasium. There were, however, a limited number of physical culture guides written solely for women, or that included lengthy discussions of appropriate feminine exercise. This chapter will rely on these rich texts to dissect the motivating forces and actual movements behind turn-of-the-century women‘s purposeful fitness. Clear, consistent motifs are interwoven into the prescriptive manuals of the time. They usually begin with a rather involved preface, highlighting the necessity of exercise, the author‘s intended solution and his or her health-related credentials. Rationale for women‘s participation in exercise was also included and health benefits, warnings, and instructions for appropriate exercise conditions followed. Subsequent chapters describe and illustrate exercise series by body part, with or without accompanying equipment and music. The intended audience and function of the manuals varied–from physical education teachers in need of reputable curriculum, to middle-class housewives, to elite women desiring a home-based fitness regime. Many guidebook authors strived to cater to multiple customers. They divided their content accordingly: Calisthenics for school groups, public gymnasiums and private homes. The home, as an increasingly popular and rational site for women‘s exercise, is the concentration of this thesis.

Necessity of Women‘s Exercise Prefaces often began with a commanding quote from Greek or Roman physical culture history. Author F.J. Harvey begins with a romantic discussion of the Greek national games, as well as Spartan women‘s participation in the Pentathlon. Author Oskar Guttman recalls dancing masters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who taught children the importance of

46 movement and manners. Both authors then go on to express their discontent at the state of America‘s physical education system, especially that for women and children. Guttman admonishes our lack of disciplined cultivation: —That race is no more. The age is now gone“ (Guttmann, v). Harvey refuses to give much credit to an apparently rising physical culture consciousness: —The necessity and importance of physical training for girls is a subject which of late years has been receiving a great amount of attention and consideration. This is as it should be, but after all we are only reviving what was the practice of the ancients“ (Harvey, 1). The message is clear: Americans must condition their bodies twofold to restore years of ignorance and mistreatment. Author M. Bessie Eddy points out that corporeality has taken second place to intellectualism in late nineteenth-century America: —We appreciate highly mental culture, but do little comparatively in the way of body development, especially in the upper walks of life, or if it is attempted, little or no system is used“ (Eddy, 1). Physical culture advocates believed that young women suffered most for this negligence. Girls were discouraged from playful, energetic activities: —To run, to shout, to jump is considered rude and uncouth“ (Eddy, 2). Lazy childhood was believed to translate into ill health for single and married women alike. Author William Blaikie describes his concern for these ladies: The shop-girl, the factory operative, the clerk in the store, the book-keeper, the seamstress, the milliner, the telegraph operator, are all confined, for many hours a day, with exercise for but a few of the muscles, and with the trunk held altogether too long in one position, and that often a contracted and unhealthy one. Actually nothing is done to render the body lithe and supple, to develop the idle muscles, to deepen the breathing and quicken the circulation–in short, to tone up the whole system. No wonder such a day‘s work, and such a way of living, leaves the body tired and exhausted…. Nor wonder that, later on, special or general weakness develops, and the woman goes through life either weak and delicate, or with not half the strength and vigor which might readily be hers. (Blaikie, 59)

Inactivity, imbalanced musculature and a stooped posture were mentioned frequently in manual prefaces. Malposition was considered a great evil and —… a frightful source of disease and death“ (Smart, 46). Spinal curvature, weak backs and ankles, and a condition known as —low shoulder“ were other common ailments of both working and upper-class women. Cultural mores, parental laxity and rough working conditions had, in Harvey‘s words, produced —girls who are useless as companions, wives who live on a sofa, and mothers who are

47 unfit for their duties“ (Harvey, 5). The strong belief in Republican Motherhood, resurfaces here. Without strong wives and mothers, the country was doomed: The health of coming generations and the future of a nation depend in great part upon the girls. They are to be the coming mothers; and, as such, obligations for the formation of a new race are incumbent upon them. These obligations they can by no means fulfill unless they are sound in body and in mind (Eddy, 1).

Something had to be done to revitalize reproductive and nurturing powers: exercise was the answer. Invigorating stiff muscles through —… a few brisk exercises calculated to limber“ would reacquaint the human body to its natural state of health (Blaikie, 68). This heritage of health was well worth striving for, even if it required small sacrifices in time and effort: —… judiciously directed exercise will go a long way towards alleviating weakness and help[ing] to attain what should be a prize well worth striving for, namely, a perfect and harmonious development of their own bodies“ (Harvey, 15). Ten or fifteen minutes could be spared for such an essential and almost spiritual activity. Author Helen Thomas demonstrates the low tolerance common amongst many physical culture advocates of the time: —Do you say you have no time for all this? Then economize or steal time from visiting, dressing, from clubs, from business, to make sweet and pure and healthful the temple of a beautiful soul, and you make the soul more beautiful“ (Thomas, 16). Manuals communicated that taking care of the whole self was of utmost importance.

Rationale for Home-Based Exercise Acknowledging the necessity of exercise and investing substantial time and energy into the cultivation of one‘s body, were the first steps towards building a healthy nation. Physical culture advocates argued that these efforts might feel like foreign sacrifices at first, but would pay off in the resulting number of physically fit and astute mothers. Manual authors also campaigned for home fitness regiments. Although outdoor exercise was beneficial, prescriptive writers pointed out that weather conditions, environmental toxins and other deterrents made home-based systems more convenient and appealing. Outdoor exercises such as mountain climbing, biking, rowing and swimming–although valuable activities–brought with them added challenges. They were seen as difficult to regulate and more susceptible to misuse or injury. Eddy expressed her concern and preference for home calisthenics: —… These [outdoor]

48 exercises are seldom wisely or regularly or systematically carried out. Their effect, moreover, cannot be accurately estimated; while with gymnastics the practice can be regularly carried on in the house, at regular intervals, and in prescribed amount“ (Eddy, 3). Fear of deformed spines or one-sidedness (in the case of horseback riding or tennis) pervaded prescriptive literature, with home calisthenics emerging as the safest and most accessible alternative (Harvey, 26). In addition, few women had access to consistent outdoor or public exercise. Even large cities lacked all-female gymnasiums, and the few existing usually proved poorly ventilated and ill-equipped. Some privileged young ladies could reap the benefits of early physical education– exercising with classmates in such places as the Normal Institute for Girls in Boston. Yet the average middle to upper-class woman–constrained in dress and relinquished to heavy domestic duties–relied on the home parlor for physical revitalization. As author Susan Brown makes clear in her 1871 Home Topics: A Book of Practical Papers on House and Home Matters: —[The parlor] should be the rallying point of daily family life…. But above and beyond all, it should be the room in which enters the soul and throbs the heart of home life“ (Brown, 491). Women used this comforting setting to experiment with exercise equipment, practice new movements, and establish healthier lifestyles. This attentive, private self-care was nestled within a more threatening industrial climate. They cultivated their bodies while softening their mechanical, overworked surroundings.

Health Benefits Once prescriptive authors made their case for women‘s exercise and convinced their readership of the home‘s central role in this campaign, they could espouse the wide-ranging benefits of increased activity. Some manuals devoted an entire chapter, usually following the preface, to specific effects on respiration, circulation, and digestion. Physical activity was known to activate sluggish organs and cultivate freer movement throughout all bodily systems. This was especially true for the nervous system, —… the best foundation for the growth and development of a normal, mental and spiritual life,“ touted Eddy (Eddy, 9). The —nervous irritability“ and —irrational emotionality“ that some middle and upper-class women suffered from could be lessened or even dispelled via consistent exercise (Eddy, 9). In such chapters, manuals continuously reiterate the importance of women‘s upright, graceful posture–—a healthy and well-knit frame“ (Harvey, 14). This taut, composed carriage

49 connoted strength and propriety. Thus, the prevalence of —drooping heads, round shoulders, projecting shoulder blades, and lateral curvature of the spine“ was a disturbing reality for many late nineteenth-century women (Harvey, 18). The plumb line, or spinal column, remained at the center of this aesthetic and health concern, which Harvey illustrates clearly: —Most of the power and grace of the body depends upon the erectness, suppleness, and strength of the spinal column, and the importance therefore of avoiding bad habits of sitting and standing must be apparent to all…“ (Harvey, 17) Eddy devotes a whole section to exercises for women with scoliosis–a physical distortion that commands significant public attention even today (Eddy, 51, See Appendix, Figure 6). Exercise would not only enliven internal systems and improve posture and gait; it also provided women a mechanism for functional training and physical relief. Finger-stretching, arm swings and other fluid movements of the upper body were, according to Oskar Guttmann, —… of very great importance to women, on account of delicate, feminine handiwork, as well as fine and graceful gestures" (Guttmann, 42). Exercise could aid in, and offer respite from taxing housework that often resulted in alignment issues and physical pains. Author S.M. Barnett made such claims about his patented regiment: —For ladies, it is light and pleasant parlor exercise that counteracts the effects of bending over a book or sewing“ (Barnett,12). Finally, physical activity within the home satisfied aesthetic desires. Exercise gave a healthy flush to the cheeks, a luster to the air and —made [the skin] clear, firm and wholesome“ (Harvey, 14). Simple arm exercises with or without dumb bells would render the arms plump and muscular, and possibly add other well-defined curves. Mrs. John Bailey‘s guide names calisthenics as the quick and easy prescription for improving feminine style and overall appeal: —[Calisthenics] is necessary to attain the highest type of womanly beauty and grace“ (Bailey, 28). Treating exercise as —the outer polish of mind and soul,“ Bailey acknowledged the power of movement to nourish intellect, spirituality, and maybe most importantly, outward appearance (Bailey, 25). This health and beauty benefit persuaded female readers to take up a daily fitness practice. Author M. Bornstein, almost dismissively, points out the obvious choice: —And what lady would not be proud of a well developed form, a beautifully-shaped arm, a high chest and an erect carriage“ (Bornstein, 12). If society women were not swayed by the selling points of intellectualism, morality, spirituality, or even physical relief, they would at least be stirred by beautification claims. Exercise manuals for men, in contrast, communicated very different

50 aesthetic goals–essentially —the bigger, the better“ was their motto. Feminizing specific exercises and health benefits, although it increased accessibility, allowed advocates and participants alike to hold tight to conventional sex roles and expectations.

Accessibility Manual author Russell Trall asserts the convenience of his home exercise system, which blended kinesipathy, calisthenics, vocal and free gymnastics. A great majority of our American people, whether invalids from disease or from injuriously sedentary habits, are too busy, while some are too poor, to expend the time and money necessary to employ teachers, join classes, or attend regular gymnasiums; and for all such persons I have endeavored to present an ample range of illustrations; so that each family or individual may choose such examples as may be most convenient under the circumstances (Trall, preface).

One of the most important selling points for a home exercise system was its accessibility. To attract buyers, advice writers highlighted the ease, portability and frugality of their exercise system (much as exercise videos, magazines and commercials do today). By assuming little, if any, anatomical or physiological knowledge, and taking the reader through elementary exercises first, manual authors suggested that physical uplift was available to all body types and ages. Basic lessons in alignment, standing, sitting, and overall proper carriage comprised the meat of these manuals. Authors strived to communicate these household suggestions to the average reader; —to write… in a way so plain and untechnical that even any intelligent boy or girl can readily understand it….“ (Blaikie, 6) In an age when self-improvement and upward mobility were highly prioritized, guides used simple language and movement to portray the image of clumsy housewife evolving into graceful mistress of the home. Exercise manuals themselves were compact books, designed to sit on a bedside table or easily tuck under a petticoat for later reading. They advocated low-cost regiments, some without any required apparatus and others necessitating minimal equipment. With a few handmade props, all Americans could reap the benefits of home calisthenics. Author Bornstein believed that his system (complete with accompanying apparatus) —… was simple, inexpensive, not complicated, and within the reach of all classes“ (Bornstein, 128). He also proclaims that —… the means of bringing out the dormant muscles are within the reach of the poorest man“ (Bornstein, 8). Author James Smart advised readers to make their own light-weight, wooden

51 dumb bells or hire —any wood turner“ for a fair price. —They should weigh from one to three and a half pounds, according to the strength of the performer“ (Smart, 35). Blaikie also comments on the ease and thriftiness of dumb bells: So wide is the range of exercise one can have with them, and of exercise of the very sort so many people need; and so simple is the method of working them, so free, too, from danger or anything which induces one to overwork, and so inexpensive are they and easy to make, that they ought to be as common in our homes as are warm carpets and bright fireplaces (Blaikie, 103).

If one chose to exercise with equipment, as opposed to —free gymnastics,“ multi-purpose, straightforward and cheap props (like handheld dumb bells) were the way to go. Such compact items, advice writers hoped, would become integral–but not disruptive–to the parlor environment. If a woman chose to forgo exercise apparatus, manuals that offered —a few plain and simple exercises for any given part of the whole body, and hints as to how to distribute the little time to be given to them daily,“ were most useful (Blaikie, 296). Women needed flexible, convenient, and, in some ways, less noticeable systems for executing their physical cultivation, since household work–not personal fulfillment–was their primary task. Physical culture advocates of the time reinforced this attitude, encouraging women to exercise, but only if it was discrete and unobtrusive to the rest of their lives. Improving women‘s health was important to the growing fitness industry, yet not so much that it would disrupt treasured gender roles. This calculated agenda is, not surprisingly, more true of the male physical culture authors of the time than the female manual authors. As we will see in the next chapter, female advocates such as Genevieve Stebbins often chose to present their exercise philosophies with women‘s fulfillment in mind. A hotly contested struggle between those seeking to preserve, or to debunk, status quo gender ideologies lay beneath the surface of physical culture advocacy. As women asserted their bodies and desires, more conservative camps fought to keep a tight leash on corporeal liberation. The later sect had double-edged intentions: they wanted women to regain health, but only for the service of others. It is fascinating to read prescriptive language and analyze physical culture —progress“ with these divergent agendas in mind.

52 Cautionary Notes Although performed within the home, exercise systems still needed regulation. Manual authors were happy to provide this protocol, offering cautionary notes on the proper environment, time of day, dress and accompaniment. Access to clean, fresh air was considered of primary importance, even while exercising indoors. Author James Smart stated that —pure air and free exercise are indispensable, and, whenever either of these is withheld, the evil consequences will be certain to extend themselves over the whole future life“ (Smart, 26). Bornstein claimed that air was —a natural stimulant to physical exertions“ (Bornstein, 91). Authors advised readers to cool the room, keep it well-ventilated and free of dust. Opening doors and windows before commencing practice was a serious ritual, as was cooling down the body post-workout. Author Alfred Beale even warned readers of possible temperature complications with physical exertion: —After exercising, stay indoors until the body is cooled“ (Beale, 115). Watson gives an even more detailed explanation of maintaining appropriate conditions: The temperature of a callisthenic hall should be kept at from 63 to 70 degrees; but during the continuance of the exercises the windows should be opened, so that the room may be thoroughly ventilated... At the close of the exercise, when the quick movement and changing evolutions of the limbs and the joints have increased the animal heat and produced a sensible perspiration, the windows must be closed, and all draughts of air avoided.... (Watson, 22)

Sensitivity to temperature and air circulation was a marked concern for late nineteenth-century Americans. Invigorating cold air or water symbolized an environment that was lost to industrial cities and homes. Advice writers advocated consecutive morning exercise, if at all possible. If a woman decided to repeat a series later in the day, the performance should take place between meals, or in the evening before sleep. Bornstein claimed that —fifteen or twenty minutes daily, just after the toilet and previous to retiring, are the best time for exercising“ (Bornstein, 16). Manuals also advised practitioners to avoid extreme cuisines, sticking instead with tepid food and drink. Once a consistent daily schedule was established, many writers suggested setting exercises to complimentary music. J. Madison Watson was an avid proponent of this approach: In order to awaken a lively and abiding interest in callisthenic and gymnastic exercises, and to secure an enthusiasm and a fascination that shall convert indolence and

53 sluggishness into cheerful and vigorous activity, it will be found absolutely necessary to employ instrumental music (Watson, 14).

Piano was considered the superior choice, yet guitar, violin and brass instruments provided lovely auxiliary to exercise movements. Some series were even set to patriotic tunes such as —Yankee Doodle“ (Smart, 6). Less savory, but still satisfactory choices would be the drums, bells or spoken counts. Timing and rhythm were considered important and influential skills, and musical accompaniment provided practitioners with a chance to exercise both movement and melodic sensibility. The worlds of dress and exercise reform intersected in the parlor. Manual writers, no doubt, provided their opinion on fitness fashion. Women had to dress smartly when strengthening the body; but restrictive clothing such as high collars, tight shoes, belts, hats, and above all else, corsets, would not do: The physical strength as well as the health of men and women cannot be very materially improved until reform comes in the matter of clothing, and especially during the exercise hour. Tight-fitting garments of any sort are radically wrong, and if the average woman cannot reach over her head, then surely her clothing is at fault (Fourmen, 153).

Before exercise commenced, all oppressive clothing had to be removed, freeing all parts of the body from unnecessary pressure. Manuals encouraged women to do away with their limiting drapery: —Never attempt any exercises with the feet perched on the top of French heels. In fact, high heels and corsets are not compatible with graceful and easy motions and must therefore be avoided“ (Beale, 114). Harvey argues that tight-fitting corsets, so often worn by women, had taken over the work that the abdominal and back muscles were intended to do, leaving them —… weak, flabby, and useless“ (Harvey, 16). This idea of fashion preventing full human potential is interesting. It suggests that manual writers considered the ill affect of consumer goods–how commercialism impinged upon range of motion both figuratively and literally. Submitting to fashionable standards was an easy way to maintain surface appearance while lazily letting more internal health (which required actual work) deteriorate. Instead, manuals encouraged dress that allowed for complete inspiration of lungs and unrestrained movement in the torso and limbs. M. Bornstein, in his section —General Instructions to be Observed While Exercising,“ states that —clothing should be loose and roomy, and the arms free… to move without restraint and allow a full expansion of the chest“ (Bornstein, 16).

54 Watson proposed that the best hues for a callisthenic dress were ones of brilliance: blue, gray, red, green, purple and scarlet (Watson, 22). He also provided a wonderful description of suggested parlor gymnastic dress: The waist, girdled in at the proper place, is of its natural size. How expressive the figure is of health, and grace, and bounteous fullness of Life! The dress opens in front, and is both more convenient and more beautiful than one which opens behind. It is so contracted that the wearer's limbs are as free as air; that she can even clap her hands, with arms vertical, above her head without the slightest discomfort. The gown is short, and the skirt is full, reaching only to about the middle of the calf of the leg; and therefore, though worn without hoops, it does not fall closely around the figure. The trousers, which are also full, are gathered in at the ankle by a plain band, which has a small ruffle at the lower edge.... (Watson, 24, See Appendix, Figure 7)

This liberating garb, inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, celebrated women‘s connection to nature. The elementary requisites of exercise clothing were that they be comfortable, decent, convenient, and —… harmonious with Nature and itself“ (Watson, 23). Women could be fashionable without over-indulgence; beautiful without sacrificing comfort or health. Instead of letting fashion rule, manual authors suggested women stay true to their god- given figure: Nature is everywhere harmonious, but the greatest harmony meets us in the human figure. It is, therefore, our task not to distort the form of the human body by dress and adornment, but to allow it to reach its fullest development. Whatever the demands of fashion may be, the finely cultured man or woman may not be absolved from this duty (Guttman, 185).

Professor Fourmen provided a similar warning: —Our fashionable clothes are passports to the graveyard…. Fit the clothing to your bodily wants and comfort, and not fit your body to the clothing that fashion dictates“ (Fourmen, 153). Women, as genuine preservers of natural beauty, dressed themselves in vivid, yet loose and wearable exercise clothing. They were determined to be both tasteful and functional. This trend was part of a larger movement towards conserving the natural within a rapidly industrializing and commercial environment. Ironically, as part of this quest for naturalness, women bought into money-making prescriptive literature and equipment.

Advocating Slow, Progressive and Conscious Exercise Before articulating and illustrating particular exercises, manual authors (alongside their cautionary notes on temperature, time of day, and dress) had to communicate the proper

55 movement methodology. One of the more insistent themes of such guidebooks was slow, gradual progression. Author Mary Eddy states it plainly: —Go slow, is a good motto“ (Eddy, 11) In direct contrast to those masculine physical culture systems that demanded feverish repetitions of strength exercises, home calisthenics focused on easy sequencing. Moving from simple to more difficult, instead of leaping right into challenging exercises, would —build and strengthen the body for years to come“ (Fourmen, 64). Initiation and completion were just as important in this calm progression: "Exercises should always be commenced as well as finished gently" (Trall, 21). Injury could result from —senseless over-exertion of the muscles“ and too quick a pace. A safe, steady passage from easy to more difficult was the best fitness approach (Guttman, 29). Calisthenics valued relaxation just as much as exertion. The system allowed breaks in between repetitions (one or two was always sufficient), to catch one‘s breath and prepare mentally for the next challenge. All exercises were performed with coordinated breath, the idea being that air circulation could be just as rejuvenating as muscular movement. Eddy describes the proper approach to torso bends: —The straightening of the body must be gradual. Inhale deeply while bending backward and exhale while straightening the body; vice versa, exhale while bending forward and inhale while straightening the body“ (Eddy, 16, See Appendix, Figure 8). Breath allowed women to relax into satisfying movement and become more aware of their own physical abilities. All parts of the body were interconnected and thus relaxing or exerting one area, had simultaneous effects on another. Oskar Guttman, attempting to illustrate this very point, quoted Dr. Kloss‘s —Home Gymnastics for Women“: When one reflects on what influence the shoulders have in the development of the bust, those exercises which prevent a muscular laxness in this region, should be prized as a means of beauty if the strengthening of the shoulder-muscles had not a greater significance as a means for promoting health. Any injurious pressure upon the shoulders must be transferred to the region of the chest that lies beneath them (as quoted in Guttmann, 36).

Undue tension or inadequate engagement in the shoulders could translate to women‘s bust region–affecting both her health and outward appearance. In order to achieve a balanced form, calisthenics practitioners focused on transferring energy from one body part to the next. Transitions, as well as the end shapes, were of equal importance to the system‘s success. Women migrated from one position to the next, stopping

56 when necessary, but connecting movements whenever possible. Guttman advised against abrupt changes in movement quality: —The arm movements must not be jerky or inharmonious; they must proceed in gentle gradations one from the other…. Women should be exceedingly careful in this regard" (Guttmann, 28). Much like a piece of music, movement was not meant to be interrupted or abruptly turned off (Guttman, 67). Author Trall also warns practitioners about hasty moves: "As a general rule, too, all very abrupt transitions are objectionable" (Trall, 21). In addition to breath, calisthenics privileged the circle and wavy line as the purest, most pleasing aesthetic form; —the slight curvature, the gentle transition from one direction to another“ (Guttman, 62). To this effect, exercises that included spiral shapes and wave-like movement catered to slow, progressive execution. This is not to say that calisthenics practitioners of the late nineteenth-century floated through their exercise routines without sweat. Building strength was important, but only from a place of easy consciousness. Guttman instructed readers that —the movements must be slow, but decided and energetic“ (Guttman, 28). Eddy encourages women to —execute [the movements] with attention, force of will, and energy; [sic] but calmly and without haste“ (Eddy, 11). Moderation was crucial to the training process; fatiguing the muscles unduly would result in failure: —As soon as an undue sense of weariness comes on, the exercise must be stopped or deferred until it is over. Be content with small results at first. Strength and ease will come with practice" (Guttmann, 28). In contrast to the other physical culture practices of the time, calisthenics valued process as much as end product. Strength and ease of movement would come with slow and steady practice. Advocates argued that this deliberate, conscious approach would result in a more balanced physique and lifestyle: In this way the student becomes conscious of the form and signification of each class of movements, and the exercises become conscious actions. This is also a reason why calisthenics are not only a means for the development of the body, but also for that of the mental and spiritual man. The mind is taught to govern the body, and every articulation and limb is habituated to a prompt and ready obedience to the will (Watson, 13).

Tuning the mind and spirit to care for the body would prompt a grander, swifter physical transformation than any other fitness approach. This patient, progressive and successive approach, so reminiscent of the philosophies and techniques behind Isadora Duncan and other early modern dancers, again distinguishes women‘s exercise from more masculine systems.

57 A Disciplined and Systematic Approach Calisthenics emphasized concurrent development of mental and physical health. Slow execution of the exercises would only produce significant results if one consciously adhered to this principle. Setting a consistent practice time for simple exercises was the first step to success. Eddy encourages patience while mocking those who expected quick results: The exercises… should be faithfully carried out for a long time; and to some extent, through life. Only by such long-continued and regular practice can the full and far- reaching effects of gymnastic exercises be properly manifested. Whoever expects grand results to be forthcoming after a few weeks of irregular, impatient exercise, will be doomed to disappointment (Eddy, 10).

Exercise should not only be consistent, but also conscious: performing the exercises quickly, without attention to transition and breath, would do no good. As Guttman states, "Success results only from perseverance. If the desired end is to be reached, practice must be carried on with great regularity" (Guttmann, 28). Although most manuals promised quick visible outcomes, successful results did not come without hard work. Watson encouraged readers to —practice systematically and sedulously…“ (Watson, 31). Beale counsels readers: —… the pupil will practice the following exercises, not dropping them because the results are not immediately apparent“ (Beale, 9). Manuals‘ emphasis on the important qualities of discipline and resolve made sense in the context of industrializing America. Drastic changes in work production, gender roles and social reform left Americans fretful of the seeming chaos of modern industrial life. Fully engaging in systematic body practices was one way to deal with this anxiety. Taking a break from housework and sticking to the fifteen-minute schedule would assure a balanced lifestyle: —Regularity of habit, timely exercise for both body and mind, tend to give happiness, comeliness and strength“ (Barnett, 120). Discipline and precision in exercise practices would benefit all aspects of one‘s life: —[exercises are] not only useful in the development of bodily vigor, but they are also efficient auxiliaries in mental education, by inducing habits of order, exactness, and directness in the mental operations" (Trall, 17). Ironically, this fixation on regular, disciplined practice reflected the machine-like regimentation of Americans‘ everyday lives.

58 Harmonious Development Setting clear intentions and consistent practice alleviated stress for some hard-working, disillusioned Americans. Balancing the demands of their fast-paced work, home and recreational environments, some middle and upper-class women found physical exercise a comforting mechanism for negotiation. In an industrial climate where assembly lines and division of labor ruled, it was often difficult to lead holistic, well-rounded lifestyles. People were valued for their individual, partitioned labor. Americans feared that this imbalance might sever the all-important connection to nature and its harmonizing powers. As demonstrated earlier, prescriptive literature of the time was saturated with concerns over —onesidedness,“ a physical discrepancy brought on by unequal exertion or inactivity. Women were the primary victims, according to Eddy: All people engaged in mental and sedentary work… all suffer from a one-sided development, caused by the lack of such bodily exercises to excite and activate the organs of respiration and circulation. But much as men suffer from these conditions of life, they suffer far less than do women and girls (Eddy, 1).

Some forms of exercise were even determined, by advocates of light gymnastics, to contribute to this prevailing —onesidedness.“ Weight-lifting, if not performed properly, could result in asymmetrical muscular distribution: —In a gymnasium, providing it is of good size and well ventilated… girls can obtain a form of exercise which is free from any suspicion of onesidedness, but which on the other hand harmoniously develops the whole of the muscles of the body“ (Harvey, 28). Instead of stimulating single muscles to unusual strength or —perfection,“ progressive authors argued for democratic training of all body parts: "We demand that all the muscles, the least as well as the greatest, should receive that training which is indispensable to easy, graceful movements…" (Guttmann, 27). Head circles and finger stretches were just as essential as leg lunges and other expansive, rigorous exercises. Symmetry was to be adhered to religiously, as Guttman dictated: "The double organs (arms, hands, legs, shoulders and hips) should be exercised right and left alternately" (Guttmann, 28). A woman was expected to balance home and family life, as well as her physical and aesthetic life. Smoothness of line and equal attention to all aspects of beauty was highly esteemed. The inside cover of Eddy‘s guidebook is embellished with a revealing quote: —And in the symmetry of her parts is found a power like that of harmony and sound“ (Eddy, inside and front cover, See Appendix, Figure 9). Synchronization of body, mind and spirit translated into influence and strength. The goal of Greek gymnastics, according to Guttman, was to "secure the

59 mastery of mind over body, and represent the internal harmony in the inward and outward appearance" (Guttmann, vii). Guttman embraced this philosophy in his system of aesthetic gymnastics and mimic art: The office of aesthetic gymnastics is to unite in a harmonious whole the limbs of the human body, which have been strengthened and rendered elastic by physical gymnastics; to regulate their movements by the fixed laws of beauty, so that the emotions of the soul may be clearly and beautifully expressed. The main requirement in the mimic art is to have the body as a whole, and its members severally, so in one's power that the moods of the soul may be easily and gracefully rendered.... There can be no real acting until the limbs and the body, as a whole, is made so elastic by training that the physical movements express aesthetically the disposition of the soul (Guttman, vii and 57).

The fusion of mind and body, a reoccurring theme in the physical culture movement, was imperative to total health. A woman was not considered in good physical shape unless she attended to inner and outer beauty: "Above all, the lady must keep before her a decided impression of the whole, with which every single part must harmonize in place and quality. A beautiful face receives the full might of its charm only from beauty of the whole person" (Guttman, 186). Creating wholeness within a disjointed environment was a principal goal of these late nineteenth-century women. This ideological objective was reflected in their fitness choices, from diet, to dress, to specific movement quality. Physical activity might return American women to a more natural, harmonious way of life, while opening doors for new experiences outside of the home. Various artists of the time embraced this holistic philosophy, allowing it to influence their creations. Shaped by the Arts and Crafts movement‘s appreciation for simplicity and organic design, Isadora Duncan‘s expansive phrase work, soulful expression and earthy energy connected mind, body and spirit. Dance critic and historian Deborah Jowitt contextualizes this perfectly: She [Isadora] evoked an idyllic ”nature,‘ even as developments in science and industry were shrinking the countryside… She emphasized the connectedness of body and soul at a time when links between human beings, their work and the land were being severed, and Victorian prudery shaped moral law (Jowitt, 70).

Duncan represented the very same ideals as that of early callisthenic innovators: grace, beauty, elasticity and strength. Other common themes were the use of breath, relaxation, flowing transitions, and symmetrical development to produce a soft, yet efficient aesthetic. Indeed her training in the —new gymnastics,“ an early rendition of light calisthenics, also influenced her

60 ideas on weight, mobility and coordination. The profound similarities between Duncan‘s work and Delsartism are the subject of the next chapter.

The Impact of Equipment on Exercise Practices Women‘s exercise regiments were softer, milder versions of previous physical culture systems. Valuing natural, creative movement over mechanical, injudicious training, women did not rely heavily on gymnastic or callisthenic apparatus. Equipment might provide additional resistance, but the body had sufficient capability for challenging itself. Mrs. John Bailey, went so far as to claim that an apparatus was totally unnecessary, yet most manual authors of the time developed clever marketing strategies that successfully sold simple exercise equipment. Watson, Barnett and others based their systems around a patent apparatus such as the —chest expander“ or —health lift.“ Some authors encouraged the development of a —snug little home-gymnasium,“ where practitioners would have access to multiple props, as well as the option to perform —free gymnastics“ without props (Blaikie, 97). Regardless of their approach, prescriptive writers advanced frugality, convenience, compactness, and versatility as the main ingredients of a successful exercise system. Watson‘s —Gymnastic Apparatus“ and —Horizontal Bars“ provided efficient and effective workouts for all: This is the most beautiful, convenient, and effective [apparatus] ever devised. It embraces only the few varieties that afford the most and best exercise in the shortest time; that may be used with equal facility under cover, or in the open air; and that may be employed by all persons, either individually or in classes (Watson, 145, See Appendix, Figures 10 and 11).

Barnett also promoted his fitness device as a helpful, convenient and inexpensive companion to staying fit: [The Barnett chest expander] does not necessitate special dress, locality or preparation, but is a light portable apparatus, possessing remarkable advantage over dumb-bells, Indian clubs and wands in its perfect adaptability to the use of all persons, of both sexes, and from its elasticity, presenting a series and variety of exercises unattainable by any other apparatus (Barnett, 11, See Appendix, Figure 12).

Many authors extolled this one-stop shopping model: a singular, portable apparatus was all that was required for a full-bodied workout. Readers did not need an entire gymnasium or personal

61 teacher to succeed. By following a manual‘s simple instructions and negotiating their accompanying apparatus, women gained confidence in attaining graceful and strong physiques. Beale‘s Calisthenics and Light Gymnastics includes a lengthy discussion of the proper size, material and storage for exercise equipment owned by young ladies and families. This was an important topic for readers so tuned into frugality and efficiency. Bornstein claimed that simple calisthenics props were —available at all seasons and at any time or place… they have also the advantage of being compact and portable, occupying but little space either in or out of use“ (Bornstein, 20). The personal workout and accompanying equipment could become an aesthetically appealing addition to the home. According to Barnett, easily manipulated and stored apparatus —will fit you for elegances of the ball-room or parlor“ (Barnett, 17). Exercise now served both functional and aesthetic purposes. Dumb-bells, barbells wands and Indian clubs or pins–all in varying sizes and materials–were the most common exercise devices. Tennis balls, beanbags, suspended rings, striking bags, ladders and springboards were also touted for promoting strong backs and easy shoulders. Alfred Beale applauded the dumb-bells and wand as the most comprehensive and effective apparatuses (See Appendix, Figures 13 and 14). These calisthenics props were wise consumer choices: A pair of dumb-bells can be used anywhere at any time, they take up very little room, whether in use or not and in fact constitute a whole gymnasium, provided the person using them knows how to do so thoroughly…. The best dumb-bell for the use of children and ladies is made of wood (Beale, 21).

Using a singular prop extensively and properly, one could appropriately condition target areas. Beale had confidence in the wand, a short and heavy baton usually made out of wood: —With the wand the pupil can exercise thoroughly every muscle“ (Beale, 22). Dio Lewis departed from conventional instruments to advance his —Gymnastic Crown,“ an iron hat that he claimed, if worn during exercise, would improve round shoulders, weak backs and balance (Lewis, 100, See Appendix, Figure 15). Some authors even promoted creation of one‘s own exercise apparatus, using such mundane, household items as brooms, soap cans, tables, corn bags or curtain rods (See Appendix, Figure 16 and Figure 17). Beale described the popular —Broom Drill,“ an aggressive lunging series with broom in hand. Although the Broom Drill was powerful, it also maintained an element of elegance: —There is not exercise more graceful for women, or more pleasing to onlookers than the —Broom Drill“ (Beale, 71, See

62 Appendix, Figure 18). From simple to more extensive homemade equipment, authors provided readers with both skeletal and complex movement series. It was up to them to determine which, if any, apparatus to introduce to their home. Lewis, especially, asserted the need for —model home gymnastics,“ a healthy environment where Americans could conveniently take care for themselves. Translated by Lewis, —The PanGymnastikon,“ by D.G.M. Schreber, introduced a prototype that most Americans could easily reproduce: —For clergymen, ladies and many others, who would carry on the work at home, this invention is the most complete means imaginable… it will everywhere prove a source of unlimited interest in private houses“ (Schreber in Lewis, 173). Bringing self-cultivation home saved time and money, while affording privacy. For those women anxious about their increased sense of mobility, home calisthenics was a safe choice: When a lady is done with her morning cares, and would dress for dinner, she slips on her Zouave, and stepping to the Pangymnastikon, devotes a few minutes to its exercises. It may be put up in almost any bed-room, and thus she may enjoy the strictest privacy. In putting it up in a parlor, study or bed-room, the walls need not be marred, while it can be taken down and removed out of sight in a single moment, nothing remaining but several comely hooks“ (Schreber in Lewis, 256, See Appendix, Figure 19).

This almost covert method of physical cultivation was an effective, do-it-yourself model for late nineteenth-century women. Simple, indoor apparatuses that could be quickly concealed, yet entirely effectual, were hot commodities. Manual authors banked on this marketability: Here is a gymnasium, then, under cover, rent free, exactly at hand, when one is lightly clad on rising or just before retiring, which takes up but little room, can hardly get out of order, which will last a dozen years. With these few bits of apparatus every muscle of the trunk, nearly all those of the legs, and all those of the arms, can, by a few exercises so simple that they can be learned at a single trying, be brought into active play (Blaikie, 96).

Rejecting expensive, formal equipment, many women embraced low maintenance parlor calisthenics that emphasized simple and varied uses of apparatuses. Integration of exercise apparatus into the home was a small revolution for many women and reflected the growing influence of technology on the private sphere. By the 1890's, changes in American economic life were deeply affecting the nature of work and home life. New production methods relied heavily on the rigid assembly line, where workers repetitively executed mundane tasks. These assembly lines, imbued with technology, brought new products into the middle and upper class home. This culture of efficient production and consumption

63 forced a drastic adjustment in Americans' sense of self, community and nation. The body was an important part of this redefinition. Women, in their search for a new corporeal identity, took advantage of these changing patterns of consumption. This is especially true for those callisthenic practitioners who co-opted equipment-based exercise systems. As author Maria Ward states in her 1896 manual Bicycling for Ladies: —I hold that any woman who is able to use a needle or scissors can use other tools equally as well“ (Ward,112). Although she was referring specifically to the appropriateness of bicycle riding for women, Ward‘s remarks demonstrate an overall optimism for women‘s role in a rapidly industrializing country. Instead of shying away from technological inventions, women could use such tools for their own benefit. Natural instincts, no longer confined solely to housekeeping, included physical cultivation and hands-on manipulation. Turn-of-the-century exercise equipment provided the instruments for such experimentation. Women could use their harmonious, natural influence to soften a seemingly harsh technological world.

The Body as a Machine Although housewives were employing new equipment such as the Indian Clubs, dumbbells, and Gymnastic Crown, they were also treating their own bodies as mechanisms for improvement. Several manual authors wrote eloquent passages on the similarities between man and machine. Author Russell Trall acknowledges varied physical activity as the most suitable treatment for the impressive human form: The human being, the most complex of all creatures in his structures and functions, requires hence the greatest diversity of motions, actions, or exercises to develop properly his whole nature, and to sustain all of his complicated machinery in its full vigor and integrity (Trall, 1).

Training the body fully was similar to oiling all the parts of a complicated machine. Proper, systematic care was the only way to guarantee a fully functioning product. Home calisthenics, emphasizing simple, but disciplined movement–with or without the use of apparatus–exercised all areas of the body for optimal functionality. Total physical conditioning was the responsibility and destiny of every human being, according to most physical culture advocates. They believed that training the mind and body for life‘s challenges was a god-given duty. Author Simon Kehoe outlines this dual responsibility, equating the human body, again, to a machine:

The organized system of man constitutes the machinery with which alone his mind operates during their connection as soul and body. Improve the apparatus, then, and you facilitate and improve the work which the mind performs with it, precisely as you facilitate steam operation, and enhance its product, by improving the machinery with which it is executed. In one case, steam, and in the other, spirit, continue unchanged; and each works and produces with a degree of perfection corresponding to that of the instrument it employs (Kehoe, 11).

Kehoe argues that complete cultivation of the body (or product) hinged on the active work of the spirit (or steam). Rather than relying on muscle-bound systems that further aggravated stiff, partial development, Kehoe and others argued for full cultivation of body and mind. For Kehoe, it was the beauty and full execution of his Indian Club series (See Appendix, Figure 20); for others, it was graceful and natural movement created by simple wand exercises (See Appendix, Figure 13). And still others, such as the Delsartean converts, celebrated the power of pure movement, without accompanying props. Regardless of preference, mindful exercise was the best way to handle deteriorating health, and concurrently the wisest means of managing technological advances. Women adhered to this advice, cultivating their bodies through conscious manipulation of exercise equipment. In this sense, they made technology less threatening by bringing it into the private sphere.

Lessons in Breath Once guidebook authors had laid the foundation for their physical culture system– discussing the value of exercise, its health benefits and cautions, its accompanying equipment, its relative accessibility, and the importance of progressive, disciplined technique–they could begin their detailed movement instructions. Many books began with simple breathing exercises to adequately warm-up the body for heavier exertion. The main message was that Americans did not pay attention or know how to breath. This would inevitably lead to deteriorated health and had to be addressed immediately. Guttman, declaring the importance of oxygen for mental and physical development, discussed Americans‘ respiratory failings: Diseases of all sorts result, in great measure, from defective breathing, as very many, and hysterical persons in particular, breathe only with the upper half of the lungs, thus injuring the lower half through lack of expansion. This frequently leads to consumption in youth, and to asthma in old age (Guttman, 27).

65 Fourmen also boasts respiration as the key to maintaining good health: —Proper breathing and breathing exercises are among the most important of curative measures“ (Fourmen, 45). Celebrating the lungs as the most powerful muscles in the human body, Fourmen notes the internal and external benefits of breathing fully: The most immediate result is an increase in the general vitality and a sense of strength and well-being. Soon, the color of the skin and eyes take on purer, deeper tints. At the same time the voice increases in power, quality and compass, the figure straightens up and expands, and all the movements show a new energy and decision (Fourmen, 46).

This profound revitalization did not arise from heavy exertion with a mechanical apparatus, but deeper, more conscious work. Author Harvey suggested that —the enlarging and strengthening of the lungs [could] only be thoroughly accomplished by special exercises for those organs themselves“ (Harvey, 138). From the inside out, women invested time into these breathing exercises. Manuals instructed women in the science of breathing–its anatomical landmarks, expansions and contractions, as well as proper timing. Watson recommended that —the action of the chest, the diaphragm, and the abdominal muscles be free and unrestrained“ (Watson, 28). This relaxed state would allow for full circulation. Again, slow and deliberate movement was privileged over frantic exertion: —Breath slowly. Rapid, insufficient breaths betoken weakness. Slow, deep breathing is the habit of animals noted for their strength and longevity…“ (Harvey, 140). Again, manual authors successfully associated human physicality with natural process. Breathing exercises included —deep breathing,“ —explosive breathing,“ and —panting,“ amongst others (Watson, 28). These conditioning methods would not only improve lung capacity and vitality, but also tone other areas of the body: "During exercise… draw the air slowly and in deep draughts in to the lungs, and expel it just as slowly, not forgetting to contract the abdominal muscles" (Guttmann, 28). In most cases, essential breathing practices laid the foundation for the rest of the manual exercises.

Lessons in Walking Posture and walking were often the next areas to address. Desk, kitchen or factory labor often left Americans with rounded shoulders and lower back pain, in addition to —one-sidedness“ described earlier. Without proper posture, walking from an aligned place was next to impossible. Many chapters begin their discussion of walking with critical observations on common street behavior. Incorrect alignment included "walking with stiff legs, too rapid

66 uplifting of the toes or heels, a decidedly forward inclination of the upper part of the body, a tripping gait, a dancing/skipping gait, as if upon india-rubber soles, a creeping, or slipping, or too rapid gait, too heavy a step, etc." (Guttman, 73). Many manual authors believed that proper gait was a natural art lost amongst late nineteenth-century women. In order to regain walking ability, one had to commit to serious training methods. Guttman suggested that all ladies should practice walking in different robes, with different train styles. Lifting of the skirt to prevent —catching“ required coached skill; manuals were there to provide necessary instruction. The basic locomotion of sitting, standing, and walking revealed a great deal about an individual woman. Guttman advises that —whether upon the stage or in the salon, a lady should seem to be perfectly at home and in her own sphere" (Guttman, 75). Women could participate in different callisthenic drills to refine their abilities. Figure marching, a popular introductory exercise, taught practitioners how to walk with the whole foot, without heaviness. Walking toe-to-heel, women traced simple and complex patterns within the comfort of their homes. These figures were named for their respective floor blueprint: —The Square,“ —The Circle, The Spiral,“ —The Wreath,“ —The Star“ and —The Bower“ (Smart, 56, See Appendix, Figure 21). Such sweeping exercises, either arranged for a group of twenty or performed, properly divided, by any number, gave women the opportunity to exercise alone or collectively within the salon.

Selling the Exercises After basic breathing and walking exercises, most manuals would plunge into their main series, but not without demonstrating adequate anatomical —expertise.“ Usually a chapter or two was devoted to underlying anatomical and physiological principles. Here, authors would supply necessary background information on skeletal structure and muscular endurance. Whether these kinesiological lessons were well-read by the average customer is unknown, but the need they felt to provide such knowledge is most revealing. In line with light calisthenics‘ progressive philosophy, simplicity of action was sufficient for a good workout. Author Watson makes this clear: —The elementary movements are sufficiently numerous and varied to secure the requisite simultaneous activity of the mental and physical powers, and call into play all the joints, sinews, and muscles" (Watson, 3). A popular structure for most manuals was to break the body up into manageable parts, or chapters, to focus

67 conditioning efforts. Watson‘s Manual of Calisthenics serves as a good model for a guidebook‘s typical organization. After an explanation on proper alignment, this 1889 book guides the female reader through seven progressive sets of head/neck, chest, shoulder, elbow, arm/hand, trunk/waist, knee, and leg/foot movements. Author Beale, in the 1888 Calisthenics and Light Gymnastics for Home or School, starts with a basic run-through of proper posture, and then proceeds with exercises for the head, arms, trunk, and legs. The manual concludes with challenges for the balance. Regardless of the exact structure, manuals always demonstrated their comprehensive content through logical progression. Authors Fourmen and Guttman offer the reader an extensive breakdown of alignment and the appropriate stature. To discourage rounded shoulders and protruding abdomens, Fourmen provided instructions on the simple act of standing: —To stand correctly is to have the lips, chin, chest and toes come upon one line, with the feet turned at an angle of sixty degrees. This gives ease, endurance and readiness to the body, and makes the muscles do the work that was intended they should do“ (Fourmen, 41). This —ready stance,“ was disciplined, but not overly tense, as Guttman suggests: The posture must be in no way stiff, forced or artificial, but free and unrestrained. The body, from crown to sole, must form a perpendicular line (women may incline the head slightly forward); the line of gravity, whether the feet be in contact or sep[arated], passing as nearly as possible through the centre of the base (Guttman, 58).

Shoulders were to be drawn backward, abdomen drawn in slightly, and arms —hanging lightly and gracefully“ by one‘s side (Guttman, 61). This ease was just as important in other cultural pastimes, as it was in ordinary life. In the art of dancing, a popular entertainment of the time, body carriage connoted social status as well as health: A carriage erect but without stiffness, an easy, unembarrassed bearing of the arms, a pleasing and agreeable position of the hands and fingers are indispensably essential. We attain these by expanding the chest, throwing back the shoulders, and letting the head set lightly and easily upon the shoulders (Guttman, 139).

Posture was believed to affect all aspects of feminine beauty and functionality. According to Guttman, —The most beautiful head, especially in woman, will be marred by an ungraceful carriage, as the finest foot, through a bad position, will lose the greater part of its beauty"(Guttmann, 59). Without conscious attention to alignment, outward beauty would dissolve.

68 Author Mary Eddy encouraged her readers to spend adequate time on warm-up. Through breath practice and rituals performed with a partner, the practitioner would slowly make her way into the workout. Women would rub their hands together, generating enough heat to give their workout partner an invigorating massage (Eddy, 24, See Appendix, Figure 22). Once the respiratory and circulatory systems were stimulated, manuals would attack the core of the conditioning program. Beginning with the head, guidebooks ran through a progressive series of strengthening and stretching exercises. Head circles would be followed by smooth shoulder lifts and releases. Torso movements were introduced next, usually involving easy bends at the waistline, forward and back, and side to side. These exercises worked simultaneously the abdominal and back muscles. Training the fingers, wrists and arms for a full range of movement was of utmost importance. All such movements involving the spreading out of the arms were, according to Guttman, —based upon the port de bras of the art of dancing“ (Guttman, 62). Arm circles and swings required grace, but also stamina: —These movements should be performed gently by persons with weak chests, and vigorously by strong persons (Eddy, 20, See Appendix, Figure 23). All conditioning manuals continuously reminded practitioners to execute everything in moderation, paying special attention to one‘s unique body needs. Cultivating the lower limbs was the next logical advancement. Designed to target larger muscle groups, ankle, knee, and full leg exercises all involved energetic swinging, circling, turning, bending, and stretching. Squats built raw strength while quick stepping and jumping exercises encouraged dexterity and agility in the limbs. Moving in pretty circles and loops, skipping, and practicing kneeling and falling, ladies worked every joint and muscle to healthy exhaustion. Yet this freedom was always tempered by an attention to technique and discipline. Eddy‘s balancing exercise —Rising upon the toes,“ cultivated control, without tension. —It is well to remember the difference between stiffness and firmness“ (Eddy, 29, See Appendix, Figure 24). Creating harmony between discipline and release, light calisthenics afforded women empowerment and relaxation.

Summary During the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century, a new form of physical culture shook previously accepted notions of Victorian womanhood and its corporeal possibilities. Late nineteenth-century women, now active participants and leaders of Progressive Era health

69 consciousness, had successfully reinvented physical cultivation. Home calisthenics, valuing accessible, progressive, disciplined and most importantly conscious movement, provided women with a soft, yet empowering system of transformation. As arbitrators between the opposing worlds of market production and nature, women used commercial products and jargon in their search for a harmonious existence. The myth of female frailty, as well as the separate spheres philosophy, began to crumble under the weight of this communal journey. Delsartism, alongside home calisthenics, afforded another physical mechanism for revolutionizing female corporeality.

70 CHAPTER 4: DELSARTEAN MANUALS ADVOCATE NATURAL, IMAGINATIVE OVER MECHANICAL MOVEMENT

American Delsartism, pioneered by physical culture advocate and philosopher Genevieve Stebbins, grew in popularity amongst middle and upper-class women already participating in the world of light calisthenics. This system offered them another means of asserting their physicality and spirituality within the home and amongst their peers. Closely paralleling calisthenics in its philosophy and technique, Delsartism encouraged soft, transitional movement. This chapter will highlight the structural and technical intersections of these systems. Delsartism, with its focus on organic, relaxed technique, taught natural over mechanical motion–letting the body, not equipment, do the work. This approach provided well-off, late nineteenth-century women a stepping stone for reinventing the personal fitness routine; creating a more mobile existence both inside and outside of the home. The codified technique served personal, political, and social desires. A fashionable exercise modality, it also promised —rebirth“ of individual and collective identities. The end of this chapter will discuss how fitness regimes such as Delsartism served such a variety of purposes. Albeit a history of silencing women‘s corporeal needs over that of the patriarchy, Delsartism was one such modality that insisted on satisfying feminine desires.

History of Delsarte System of Expression Before investigating the language and practice of Delsartism, it is important to briefly outline the movement system‘s history. Only a select few academics have delved into this important lineage; it is rarely focused on in dance history or leisure studies courses. Scholars Judy Burns, Richard Meckel, and more recently Nancy Ruyter have contributed a great deal to our understanding of Americans' infatuation with Delsartism. Yet the history of the system, and its effects on women's self-cultivation and image building, are still rich and largely untapped research topics. In the early 1830's, Francois Delsarte, a French teacher of acting and singing, developed a supplemental system for elocutionary education. Formulating certain principles that connected voice with gesture, he legitimized the body as a site for creative communication and agency. As Nancy Ruyter states, —Delsarte promoted physical presence and consciousness on

71 the part of the individual–an awareness of weight, space, rhythm, dynamics… a state in which the body has credibility and agency“ (Ruyter, 78). Orators, sculptors, actors, clergymen, and scholars were attracted to his knowledge of the laws of motion and dramatic expression. An innate observer of everyday movement and performance, Delsarte encouraged his students to also consider individual differences in speech and meaningful gesture. Delsarte was interested in developing graceful gestures to accompany public speech. This would lead to optimal vocal performance. His followers, however, wanted to celebrate movement for its own sake. Steele MacKaye, an American dramatist and student of Delsarte, organized Delsarte's original principles into physical exercises that focused on strength, flexibility and coordination (Ruyter, 87). His codified technique of esthetic gymnastics, established by the early 1870's, applied Delsarte's principles of time, force, space and motion. Transforming Delsartism into an accessible exercise system, MacKaye was an important transitional figure in the American physical culture movement. As fitness evolved into a fashionable endeavor, women became more visible participants. Out of previously male-dominated Delsartism emerged female advocates such as Henrietta Hovey (or her married name, Henrietta Russell) and Genevieve Stebbins. Hovey, the mentor of modern dancer Ted Shawn, spread Delsartism even further. Advertising her services in popular physical culture magazines like Werner‘s Voice Magazine, Hovey, and her husband Edmund Russell, developed a trendy clientele that preferred a discrete, home-based exercise system. From lessons in graceful movement to advice on fashion, housekeeping, and —… the notorious and apparently highly enjoyable act of falling,“ Henrietta and Edmund became known as —the high priest and priestess of Delsarte,“ as quoted in the Delsartean Scrapbook of 1890 (Ruyter, 39). Although Henrietta wrote little on her theory or teaching methods, high society journalism romanticized her classes enough to make her the darling of the wealthy. Hovey extended the principles of Delsarte, and even MacKaye, past professional training to human development and self-improvement. A role model for her middle-class and more well- off clientele, Hovey demonstrated a considerable knowledge base in not only exercise, but also etiquette and artistic enterprises. Catering to fairly conservative, elite women, Hovey became one of the first highly successful and visible female physical culture advocates. As Nancy Ruyter aptly summarizes, —She had public visibility and a kind of agency, albeit in a female world“ (Ruyter, 41). Hovey extended her public visibility after the turn-of-the-century,

72 participating in suffrage debates. Led by such an advocate, late nineteenth-century women were able to train their bodies without social disapproval. Genevieve Stebbins, whose theatrical training brought her in contact with MacKaye, worked concurrently with the Russells. Rather than exploit the commercial potential of the Delsarte system, Stebbins sought to document the practice so that individuals could clearly understand and implement its principles. Between 1885 and 1898, Stebbins wrote four important books that elucidated her approach to American Delsatism. Her characteristic name dropping and self-serving writing both acknowledged and dismissed MacKaye and Delsarte. Despite somewhat flippant language, Stebbins offered women clear directives for their own physical cultivation. Her extensive research in existing physical culture systems (particularly Henrik Ling‘s gymnastic technique), and dedication to spiritual mindfulness lead her to establish what she called —psycho-physical“ training. This version adopted Delsarte's gestural classifications and MacKaye's ideas on relaxation and equilibrium, yet also offered an unique approach to more energetic exercises. "Psycho-Physical" training was devised to serve varied constituencies and their unique needs: school children for physical conditioning and grace, middle-aged ladies seeking cultural self-improvement and some form of physical activity, and young adults training to become professional actors, elocutionists, or teachers of physical culture and expression (Ruyter, 103). Teaching in fashionable girls‘ schools, private drawing rooms and public universities, Stebbins proposed that the conditioned, spiritually connected body was the best conduit for increasing —personal magnetic power“ (as quoted in Ruyter, 108). Stebbins, collaborating with husband Norman Astley, taught and performed at the New York School for Expression and later at Wellesley College. Invited to serve on the Advisory Council of Physical Culture in 1893, as part of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Stebbins had already gained substantial leverage in the world of purposeful exercise. Other fitness advocates of the time appropriated her influential philosophies on conscious cultivation of body, mind and spirit. Between 1870 and 1900, more than 400 American teachers and performers across the country either identified themselves as Delsarteans or acknowledged the system‘s influence on their work. Roughly eighty-five percent of this group were middle-class, well-educated women who regularly participated in produced tableaux mouvants, pantomimes, statue poses and dances either within the private home or salon society (Rutyer, 58). They wrote inspired articles, sent inquisitive letters-to-the-editor of Werner‘s magazines and other health

73 publications, and shared know-how on proper Delsartean technique and theory. No longer a strict form of training for actors and other public speakers, Delsartism had evolved into a popular pastime for nonprofessional women (Ruyter, 60). The new leisure opportunity taught disciplined physicality and the power of spiritual and artistic expression through the body. Nancy Rutyer summarizes its impact: Through Delsartean training, a considerable number of late nineteenth-century white middle and upper-class American women and children were able to pay attention to their bodies in a socially acceptable manner, to undergo training in physical and expressive techniques, and even to present themselves to selected audiences in public performances (Rutyer, xvii).

Inspired by Delsarte, organized by MacKaye, popularized by Hovey, and philosophized by Stebbins, this system of expression had tremendous influence on gender constructions and body images of the late nineteenth century.

Labor and Dress Quells True Expression: A Call for Conscious Exercise Stebbins and other physical culture advocates were strong proponents for conscious and natural exercise, a strong reflection of the times. The industrial age had forced Americans into a crowded and unnatural urban existence. Changes in economic policy and production had effectually swallowed up green space, overcrowded neighborhoods and lengthened the average work day. A highly individualized, production-happy and competitive ideology left little room for rest and relaxation. Either Americans were busy trying to make a dime in the factories, or they were busy eagerly buying up whatever exciting food product or appliance that was storming the national market. Physical culture manuals of the time depicted women as anxious shoppers, nervous home entertainers and overworked secretaries. People rushed from one place to the next, consumed by their busy work and social lives. Many physical culture advocates argued this systematic removal of nature and the depersonalized nature of the work and play had left Americans without control of their bodies. The cosmopolitan, machine- driven climate deeply affected their physical and metaphysical awareness (Greenhalgh, 14). Stiffened by labor and limited by mundane, repetitive tasks, many American men and women were not living in their full range of motion and emotion: —The real him is hiding behind the useless and uncomfortable framework, afraid to come out“ (Stebbins, 9). In Stebbins‘ opinion, their bodies took on machine-like qualities, leaving the —real self“ struggling in vain for

74 expression. Instead of full, graceful and genuine (i.e. —natural“) movement, they were limited to specialized, cramped duties that dulled the spirit. Americans–short of breath, mechanical, nervous and broken-down–were in desperate need of natural forms of expression. Modern dress had also robbed women of their full, expressive selves. Stebbins portrays them as prisoners of sorts whose spirits are —cabined, cribbed, confined in such a wretched shell“ (Stebbins, 67). Privileged housewives–squeezed into tight-fitting corsets and shoes–cared more for their social image than their bodily health: Rich ladies, beautifully dressed and in elegant rooms, may be seen entertaining with shoulders up to their ears, chests hollowed into furrows, contracted brows, spasmodic face motions, incessant lacing of the fingers, and nodding and hunching of the head and shoulders (Stebbins, 78).

Stiff-ankled and wobbly kneed, women were at the mercy of high fashion. Proper alignment and normal walking gait were sacrificed in the name of contemporary social trends. Stebbins and other physical culturists shunned this negligence of the body; it was against nature‘s precepts: —The fact is, that in admiring such distorted forms as the constricted waist and symmetrically pointed foot we are opposing our judgment to that of the Maker of our bodies; we are neglecting the criterion afforded by nature; we are departing from the highest standard of classical antiquity…“ (Stebbins, 149). Other physical culture publications mirrored this concern. In a 1892 edition of the London Homeopathic World, a magazine circulated in the United States, a letter-to-the-editor states: It is of the greatest importance that men and women should show their true front to the world, and not make themselves out to be less noble than they really are. They will never be able to be true to themselves so long as they squeeze in their ribs, round their back, and practically break their bodies into two pieces, with a narrow isthmus between (as quoted in Watson, 70).

Stebbins and others believed that by going against the creator's intentions and disrupting natural curves with harsh dress, Americans were rejecting full expression. Lower and middle-class women were worn down by increasing labor demands. Upper- class women were busy buying or showing off the latest fashions. In either case, material concerns left many late nineteenth-century women blind to basic bodily needs. People were stiffening, literally, in the face of mass production and consumption. Genevieve Stebbins expressed reserved optimism about the situation: —… In a mechanical methodical age, the laws of harmony, the sense of art, the language of line and curve, in the expression of beauty are only

75 slowly recovered, if at all, by careful and conscious study“ (Stebbins, v). Yet, through her psycho-physical culture exercises, women could get back in control of their bodies and surroundings. Rather than move as automata, subject to the whims of fashion or production needs, Americans could rediscover their individual power. Stebbins articulates this transformation quite eloquently: Delsartean development introduces a person to himself. As the avenues of expression are freed from restriction and our bodies become responsive instruments, latent talents and possibilities are often awakened. Most people are capable of more than they think they are. Lack of physical self-knowledge handicaps many people; they think their bodies are angular, clumsy, out of proportion, even deformed, when in truth the bodies are symmetrical, but are unnaturally, inharmoniously used (Stebbins, 27).

Invigorating the weary and instilling confidence in corporeal possibilities, Delsartism, under Stebbins‘ leadership, had liberating possibilities. Stebbins certainly had confidence in the system‘s transformative potential: —I believe this awakening search for beauty to be but a part of another movement–a rising wave on the earth of aspiration for a fuller, freer, more humane, sympathetic and beautiful, if simple, life“ (Stebbins, vii). This transcendentalist ideology, so similar to Isadora Duncan‘s 1903 manifesto —Dancer of the Future,“ advocates an aesthetic of perfection unique to this time (Duncan, 80). Simplicity, beauty and natural lines were just a few of the elements that distinguished Stebbins‘ Delsartism from existing exercise systems.

Distinguishing Delsartism from the Rest In each of Stebbins‘ manuscripts, she follows a similar structure to callisthenic manuals of the time. The preface or introduction was dedicated to rationalizing home-based exercise for women; purposeful movement was essential for their deteriorating health and spirit. After such rationalization, Stebbins extolled the health benefits, accessibility and efficiency of the system. Much like her contemporary authors who marketed light calisthenics, she distinguished her exercise system from muscle-inducing fitness fads. Slow, progressive and disciplined exercise– movement that enlisted both mind and body–would lead to harmonious development in all aspects of women‘s lives. In her 1893 Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics: A Complete System of Psychical, Aesthetic, and Physical Culture, Stebbins makes such distinctions perfectly clear, elucidating any confusion surrounding Delsartean principles. Speaking to the opposition, she states: —In this intellectual battle between the defenders of artistic grace, on the

76 one hand, and the advocates of muscle on the other, good is certain to result. When the present frothy scum has subsided, the pure elixir of truth will rise to the surface“ (Stebbins, v). Her avid defense of Delsartean principles continues, hinging on the argument that educated, more well-off Americans should chose exercise that reflected their socio-economic status. Although revolutionary in the context of women‘s reforms, Stebbins revealed her class-based prejudices and the potential inaccessibility of her exercise methods. She also believed that existing gymnastics systems were not comprehensive enough to —save“ American women‘s health. Promoting one-sidedness or stiff exercises that were —unrelated to any requirement of actual life,“ these modalities rarely addressed functionality (Stebbins, 39). She mused over old-fashioned callisthenic routines that privileged force over utility: —…to extend the arm straight out from the shoulder with fist doubled up, and movement made with great force and precision, gave an excellent preparation for knocking a man down, but it could hardly be considered effective in any other situation“ (Stebbins, 40) Although, to a certain extent, she supported the development of strength and muscularity, she did so from a place of higher aesthetic and spiritual goals. Insisting that women move with grace, efficiency and thoughtfulness, Stebbins promoted a highly self-conscious and therapeutic exercise form. She set a professional standard for future work in purposeful fitness and creative movement. Stebbins first and foremost was an advocate of all things natural. Encouraging organic movement and breath, she sought to bring her readers closer to both physical and spiritual awakening. Stebbins and her contemporary callisthenic practitioners were similar in this respect, demonstrating —borrowings“ across text and readership. Yet Stebbins took this appreciation to another level. Delsartean manuals written by Stebbins do not include the use of separate apparatus. The body, working for itself, was enough for complete cultivation. Following verbose instructions on breathing, walking, falling and moving through the space, Stebbins‘ followers had no choice but to gain confidence in their physical capacities. The body was their instrument of change–a malleable machine that could be trained to respond energetically and efficiently. It was less about brawn and more about empowering the mind, body and spirit through self-conscious movement.

77 The Trinity: A Holistic and Harmonic Philosophy Fusing together the mind, body and spirit into what Delsarte named the —Trinity“ would offer Americans a more harmonic and efficient existence:

… By the term psycho-physical culture we mean a completely rounded system for the development of body, brain and soul; a system of training which shall bring this grand trinity of the human microcosm into one continuous, interacting unison, so that nothing shall be useless, nothing thoughtless, and consequently, nothing that is vital wasted (Stebbins, 57).

Three basic principles guided this development: the —mental“ being intellectual, the —moral“ emotional, and the —vital“ physical. Formulating connections between all three was the key to striking a harmonious, happy and healthy existence. Survival in an urban climate required not only a healthy intellect and responsive corporeality, but the seamless interaction of the two. Other physical culture systems, Stebbins believed, fell short of this —thinking body“ model. She even considered Ling Gymnastics too limiting in the realms of muscular and spiritual development. Psycho-Physical culture emphasized all three components, inspiring the body, brain and soul to higher standards. Using brainpower and mental imagery while exercising was a requirement. Physicality, infused with the creative power of thought, was a powerful tool. In Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics, Stebbins commends —the utility of mental imagery… without such power we should be incapable of progress“ (Stebbins, 32). As stated above, conscious and enlightened exercise was most easily realized by those with substantial social privilege. Stebbins‘ targeted audience was middle to upper-class women; those with the education and time to devote to more intellectual physicality. She curtly acknowledges this class-based variation in movement quality and body awareness: —The only real difference between the delicate refinement of graceful poise and motion, and coarse, ill-bred strutting and awkward lounging, is what is found intellectually between the carefully educated gentleman and the ignorant clown“ (Stebbins, 33). Her psycho- physical culture system required commitment to both mind and body cultivation, something only a select few women could afford. Training the mind, body and spirit was the only path to holistic health. Delsarte‘s Law of

Correspondence taught such a blending of intellectual, physical and spiritual. Another rule

78 governing the Trinity–the Law of Harmony–insisted on balanced, successive, and efficient movement:

The aim of the Delsartean gymnastics is to give symmetrical physical development, and to take out the angles and discords, to reduce the body to a natural, passive state, and from that point to train it to move in harmony with nature‘s laws. The movements are without nervous tension, and all feats and exertions are discouraged. The practical eye of the teacher quickly sees if a joint is stiffened, or if a motion is made in nervous rhythm, and a special gymnastic is given until the whole body works together, and as an instrument is in tune (Stebbins, 6).

Training the whole body, not just the muscular system, would result in an articulate and natural instrument for expression. No longer a mechanical, labored and inarticulate person, the Delsartean practitioner could take advantage of her creative potential.

Delsartean Philosophy Realized The Breath of Life Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics begins with a soliloquy on the importance of breath, similar to that of the contemporary callisthenic manuals discussed in Chapter 3. Stebbins celebrated the wonders of the human lungs as a vital component in overall health. Training oneself to breath properly would elevate the entire body: —The more perfect the organism the more perfect do we find the organs and functions of respiration“ (Stebbins, 4). Stebbins‘ —Breath of Life,“ as she deemed it, had spiritual connotations–oxygen was a charged and powerful conduit. A universal, yet mysterious substance that could stimulate mind, body and spirit, oxygen was perceived as a commodity of sorts. A deeper and more versatile breath would do wonders for both functional and spiritual well-being. For Stebbins and her followers, connection to breath was religious. Making contact with the —in breathing and out breathing of the Gods“ demonstrated the interrelated, rhythmic nature of our world (Stebbins, 5). The popular notion that electricity, magnetism and —celestial ether“ were healthful, airborne elements to indulge, in must have had considerable influence on this spiritualization of breath (Stebbins, 9). According to Stebbins, Americans were failing to take advantage of the rich environment around them. Echoing Stebbins‘ concerns, the Russells expressed their dismay at Americans‘ stuttered, respiratory existence:

79 They gasp and catch and push along in a nervous way, taking short, puny breaths like the forced puffs of a locomotive when the steam is low. Life is a hard journey; no one can hold out any length of time with spasmodic action. If one wishes to get the best from one‘s self it must be by steady work and gradual development and growth (as quoted in Sanburn, Delsartean Scrapbook, 53).

Another excerpt from the 1891 Delsartean Scrapbook (a compilation of different articles, tributes and manuals from the time) preaches on the ill health of Americans‘ respiratory systems: People forget how to breath–Simply stop; go back to the ABC and learn how to breathe. Why! The men and women in the rush of life never think seriously of what they ask of their bodies, particularly their lungs. They distort, compress, misuse, devitalize them with every breath. What stands in the way of changing this? Want of time, want of thought, want of knowledge. People think ”it doesn‘t matter.‘ They get on ”somehow.‘ Some day when organs, weakened by long misuse, give warning of their flagging, they waken to find that they have wasted the force of a grand machine–they are not the men and women they might have been (as quoted in Sanburn, Delsartean Scrapbook, 53).

This disinterested abuse called for a canonized system that valued breath-filled movement. Stebbins‘ Delsartism, even more so than light calisthenics, fulfilled this need. As part of her —health benefits“ discussion, Stebbins credits breathing for stimulating new tissue growth, muscular strength, and sharper brain activity. She associated different mental conditions (hope, courage, danger) with different breathing techniques: —Every change of mental state is accompanied with a corresponding change in the power, force and rhythm of respiration…“ (Stebbins, 13). Teaching her readership the power of breath was one of Stebbins‘ first priorities–if her students did not understand respiration from a physiological and spiritual standpoint, they would not succeed through the rest of her psycho-physical exercises (Stebbins, 49). Breath, as foundation of all movement, was important to master. The goal was to generate as much —vital energy“ as possible through the respiration. Stebbins divided her exercises into series that taught a variety of breathing skills: —normal rhythmic breathing,“ —deep rhythmic breathing,“ —dispersive breathing,“ —yoga breathing,“ —inspirational breathing“ and even —aspirational breathing,“ to name a few. Each one had its own therapeutic benefits. Stebbins‘ instructions around respiration were sequential and easy to follow. She requested that participating women stand in a —normal position,“ with legs slightly apart. She then asked for hands to be placed —while gripping the body with the index-finger and thumb, the index-finger pressing slightly upon the region of the ovaries.“ Stebbins instructed women to inhale for four

80 beats and then to —press the breath with the chest-muscles down to the pelvic region while the finger presses tightly upon the ovaries….“ Then, she advises to —exhale with a long breath, relaxing the finger at once,“ and slowly progress to holding the inhalation for thirty seconds“ (Stebbins, 30). Connecting to the breath was a prerequisite for cultivation of one‘s body.

Posture and Gesture Posture, or what Stebbins called the —Harmonic Poise of Bearing,“ was another essential lesson for her eager readers to learn. Even with a full breath, Stebbins warned participants to engage the belly and avoid any protruding of the abdomen (Stebbins, 208). Good posture, like that in calisthenics, could be both gentle and strong: —The rule for soldierly bearing–hold the abdomen in, the shoulders back and the chin in–is good as far as it goes; but military rigidity is not our idea of graceful carriage, and therefore, this rule must be supplemented by the laws of the beautiful“ (Stebbins, 114). Delsartean practitioners should be aware of their stance, but not harden into it, as other exercise systems instructed. Stability could be found in relaxation and selective effort. Paying special attention to shifting centers of gravity would improve balance, while keeping the shoulders down and —lifting up the chest like a Greek statue“ would promote calmness and serenity (Stebbins, 54). With these abilities, women could hopefully deal with the chaos of urban life in a more effective way. Stebbins, in adherence with the original intentions of Francois Delsarte, also spends a significant amount of time addressing the use of gestures. Yet instead of concentrating on their use in strict oratory practice, as Delsarte did, she studied them with expressive dance in mind. Stebbins categorized gestures by movement quality first, deciding which ones conveyed inward, versus outward expression, for example. She instructed students to perform certain —attitudes“– vulgarity, confidence, passion, retreat, or indecision, to name a few (See Appendix, Figures 25 and 26). Focus was paramount to successful execution. Lessons in posture and gestural language were powerful for women previously unaware of their stationary power.

Walking and Running For Stebbins, walking was also a spiritual act. Once proper alignment and carriage was accomplished, a woman could easily move with graceful strength. Disapproving of those that wore ruinous fashion, Stebbins encouraged flexible clothing to suit an increasingly active

81 lifestyle. Comfortably clothed, women could aspire to a healthy, rhythmic stride. Walking was also codified: And now, you ask, which should touch first, the ball or the heel of the foot? Strictly speaking, the ball, if we all were virtuous and restored the foot to the proportions of a bare foot; but, alas! The stern mandate of fashion decrees a heel on the shoe; so ordinary mortals must yield, and in planting the foot the heel will first touch mother earth. The bare foot is fashioned to grasp the ground… The torso and head should sway in harmonic sympathy with every motion of the legs; this is the walk of animated attention, emotions that are vital (Stebbins, The New Gymanstic, 157).

With attention to deep breathing, open chest and eyes, supple arm swings (always from the shoulders) and a controlled center, women could experience a liberating, yet grounded gait. This new approach to everyday locomotion could advance to the sport of running. In Stebbins‘ manuals, she encourages her clients to race one another in the open air. A description of a private lesson in Central Park demonstrates her impudence to disapproving glances: Central Park! A good arena for our race. Let us try a run. Here is a bypath, no one observing but those two black swans with crimson beaks, sailing majestically on that tree-encircled lake. Catch me if you can. Ah! I outdistance you, for, like all women, you roll instead of run. Recall the attitude of the fighting gladiator… Shall we race again? We cannot; a gray-coated policeman appears. He eyes us with suspicion. He thinks us ”children of too large a growth‘ for such games (Stebbins, The New Gymnastic, 165).

Stebbins‘ playful, but disciplined mentorship allowed women to push themselves physically in ways that society was just beginning to accommodate. Her lessons on breath, posture and simple locomotion were infused with a powerful artistic and political voice. Her readership listened.

Relaxation Exercises and the Art of Decomposing Similar to other physical culture advocates of the time, Stebbins placed a great deal of emphasis on relaxation. Letting go of unnecessary tension, letting oneself be vulnerable, was a vital part of the physical conditioning process. Too long had Americans suffered from overworked, stressful conditions; their primary need was repose, not muscle-bound exercise: The system we advocate is not presented to the weary, worn-out brain as a gymnastic panacea for the ills which arise from mental overwork. On the contrary, the exhausted brain first needs a perfect relaxation, free from all active thought, This must be physical as well as mental (Stebbins, 69).

82 Relaxation could refresh American health by undoing bad postural habits, calming the over- stimulated, and —unclogging“ the muscle-bound athlete. Stebbins argued that, as a prerequisite for successful physical conditioning, it allowed for recuperation, as well as self-control. Contrary to many of the pre-existing exercise systems, Psycho-Physical Culture was less interested in rigidity and more interested in a relaxed, yet responsive body. Easing nervous energy and returning to —slow, regulated, relaxing rhythms“ was all part of Stebbins‘ campaign for embracing the natural (Stebbins, 17). Stebbins and other Delsartean instructors insisted that this celebration of relaxation was not a —doctrine of limpness“ (Stebbins, 401). Relaxation, or decomposing, exercises were actually preparatory rests for greater muscular work. Stebbins clears up this misinterpretation:

Relaxation has been mistaken for inertia, but this is a very false conception and has given rise to the habit of doing things in a semi-lifeless, easy way in those who do not comprehend its real nature. Relaxation does not mean acting in a relaxed, lazy manner. It means rest after effort; perfect rest after perfect effort. It means the conscious transfer of energy from one department of nature to another, with perfect ease and grace, after an extreme tension of body or brain…. This transfer of energy by voluntary action and involuntary reaction produces the necessary equilibrium for the renewal of strength (Stebbins, 77).

Conscious transfer of energy was integral to the self-cultivation process. Instead of moving quickly from one strengthening exercise to the next, Stebbins‘ Delsartean movement was about perfectly executed transitions: —… the slow change by well-defined, magnetic motion from one position to another…“ (Stebbins, 77). Emphasis on rest and transition demonstrates Stebbins‘ commitment to efficient movement. Conservation of energy was a fundamental principle behind Psycho-Physical Culture, revealed in Stebbins‘ constant reminders to —unstring the bow when it is not in use“ and —use just as much as is needed for the occasion; no more, no less“ (Stebbins, 29 and 4). Throughout her manuals, Stebbins describes the decomposing exercises in detail. Organized by specific body part, the lessons guided practitioners into full body relaxation. First the eyelids would hang lifeless, then the lower jaw, and then the whole torso. This sequential repose either resulted from a full withdrawal of effort, or a vigorous shaking of body parts to release unwanted tension. Stebbins illustrates the first method:

… The pupil is taught to lie upon the floor, and to withdraw all voluntary nerve- force from the extremities and thinking part of the brain, and to simulate death. This is strongly recommended as the beginning of all control of the body, and is illustrated by a picture of a man lying limp and helpless (Stebbins, 79).

In contrast, women could divest oneself of negative energy through agitation:

Relaxing movements consist in shaking the whole arm and hand until the joints are loosened, the muscles gently put in action, and a tingling, magnetic feeling passes up and down the arm, which is then allowed to hang for some time quietly by the side as if dead. The arm hangs naturally relaxed at the side when not in use, not stuck out at the elbows like the dude, or tightened at the side in the manner of the conventional lady (Stebbins, 10).

Regardless of the chosen technique, decomposing produced elastic muscles, flexible joints and soft, serpentine moments of transition. In line with Stebbins‘ cherished Trinity, physical relaxation also came hand in hand with mental and spiritual peace. Practitioners were instructed to relax the body to a limp and lifeless state, —as though it was no part of you“ (Stebbins, 92). This physical withdrawal had to be accompanied by an alteration in mental state, similar to yogic philosophy and asana practice: —The mental idea to be used is a calm and perfect consciousness of your separate existence apart from and superior to the body or part undergoing the exercise. This must also be accompanied with the normal rhythmic breathing, while the imagination seeks unaided a pleasing but dreamy kind of rapport with the natural surroundings…“ (Stebbins, 92). Again, physical well-being and mental health were inextricably tied together, and both depend on a felt connection to the natural environment.

Energizing Exercises and the Spiral Curve Stebbins believed that mastering the skill of relaxation was imperative to building a powerful body, mind and spirit. Noting Americans‘ common misinterpretation of physical fitness, she declares that —Men try to do too much, to express too much. Reservation is strength“ (Stebbins, 57). Conserving energy would increase a person‘s powers of endurance and the capacity to live boldly. Made elastic and susceptible through an undoing process, the human body could then proceed to an —up-building“ process (Stebbins, 31). Fine tuning the body to perform a series of complex, yet efficient movements was only possible with such mastery. Relaxation exercises had to come before what Stebbins called, the

84 energizing exercises: —The first exercises reduce the body to a condition of natural freedom and flexibility; the second steps are to learn how to make use of this greater mechanical compass“ (Stebbins, 11). Spiral movement was this articulate next step. The human body, executing the rhythmic curve of a spiral, was profoundly powerful. Stebbins believed that human movement should reflect the sweeping curves existing in the natural world. Energetic expression was best transmitted through this aesthetic: —…We must first clearly realize that every form of creative dynamic energy, be it that of intellectual effort, of spiritual aspiration, or of physical life, is transmitted by a spiral wave-motion. There is no such thing as a straight line in the nascent life of nature“ (Stebbins, 61). Light gymnastics and other conscious exercise systems, privileging graceful curvature over muscle-bound strength, were true to our natural movement quality. The spiral curve, the basis for most of Stebbins‘ relaxation and energizing exercises and later, Isadora Duncan‘s technique, hints at the aesthetic revolution beginning to percolate in America. Art Nouveau, with its European beginnings in the 1870‘s, had brought natural, exotic and folk-inspired symbols to American architecture, furniture design and other visual arts by 1900. A reaction to industrialism, Art Nouveau sought to soften angular, urban environments with sweeping lines and natural imagery. As scholar Paul Greenhalgh states, they wanted —to give the world meaning through decoration“ (Greehhalgh, 21). Callisthenic and Delsartean advocates anticipated this aesthetic phase, introducing smooth physicality against rough industrialism. Stebbins constantly compared her system against other athletic training approaches: —The real fact is, muscle is not vitality. It is simply an accumulated mass of tissue which enables the possessor to exert great strength for a short time; but it does not increase the sum total of life- force which we possess, unless accompanied with a corresponding development of lung and brain“ (Stebbins, 62). In order to fulfill nature‘s intentions, humans must cultivate themselves with grace and easy succession in mind. Movement should flow from the eyes to the feet like a wave; controlled at the center, but with freedom at the extremities (Stebbins, 5). This evolution in motion was best realized when practitioners followed Delsarte‘s Law of Opposition, constantly transferring from action to repose and back again. Stebbins also followed Delsarte‘s nine governing laws of motion: altitude, force, motion, sequence, direction, form, velocity, reaction and extension. To warm-up for the energizing series, Stebbins recommended simple toe raises to strengthen the ankle, or leg swings (similar to the ballet dancer‘s routine) to circulate

85 breath and blood through the joints. The energizing exercises were broken into two sets, as Stebbins aptly describes, with some added commentary on the importance of refined strength:

The first set involve the slow increase of tension upon a held breath, and are to be used in all psycho-physical culture, because they increase the personal magnetic power… The second set are purely aesthetic, giving a graceful control of the body. The flexible action, in lines of changing curve, is what distinguishes the beautiful from the merely strong. Strongly-developed athletes are never beautiful and seldom graceful. We, on the contrary, insist on the beautiful in strength and the graceful action of every voluntary muscle; because nature, in her natural development, is first angular, then circular, and, finally, spiral; consequently, always beautiful (Stebbins, 97).

Movements such as —spiral flight“ combined waving arms with a circular sway of the torso, creating the image of weightlessness. Flowing from one movement to the next, without pause, participants executed each exercise with precision, energy, and an omnipresent attention to breath.

Importance of Disciplined Practice Stebbins readership performed these breathing, postural, relaxation and energizing exercises with arduous commitment. Diligent, self-conscious rehearsal was the only route to healthier minds, bodies and spirits. Stebbins encouraged this discipline: —I wish you to buy a mirror large enough to reflect your entire figure, and faithfully to practice any hours a day if you wish rapid results“ (Stebbins, 83). Once these women mastered Stebbins‘ philosophy and movement fundamentals, they could delve deeper into the practice. Laziness, ailments or other complaints were not tolerated. In The New Gymanstic, Stebbins included part of a dialogue she had with a rather clumsy client, apt to fall when practicing the falling and decomposing exercises: —Oh, did you hurt yourself? Not much. That bruise will remind you to stand correctly“ (Stebbins, 93). Considering the human body an instrument, she believed consistent practice the key to success. Perfecting one‘s —tools,“ much like an actress or pianist would, meant caring equally for every part of the sacred human form. Rehearsing the relaxation and energizing exercises until —every joint [was] flexible, every muscle alive, and the body under control,“ women realized the freedom that could come from a supple, yet strong corporeality (Stebbins, 10). And with this, Stebbins believed, came genuine self-expression. Free from work,

86 family or household anxieties, women could spend time articulating identities through their own bodies:

The system of culture we bring before you is not play. It is the hard work–the necessary training which will result in a great art, namely, the art of being able to always express the true self… to concentrate the whole vital energy at a moment‘s notice to any portion of the body for the immediate execution of the behests of the will (Stebbins, 70).

Women took this disciplined cultivation into other aspects of their lives, as we will see at the end of this chapter.

Delsartism in Industrial America: The Natural over the Mechanical Some physical culture proponents, often those interested in weight training and quick results, criticized Stebbins for her apparently contradictory stance. Stebbins shunned any system not in line with nature‘s creative, liberating essence, yet she created a system that followed distinctive rules and laws. Adversaries found her practice incongruous with her philosophy, dubbing psycho-physical culture —mechanical“ because of its high degree of codification. Stebbins responded to these accusations with resolution: …How can one call the system of Delsarte mechanical? Do we consider the blossoming into beauty of a rose mechanical because we soften and sod the hard soil through which it must force itself into being? We make the ground flexible for the tender rootlets, as we aim to make the clay of which we are made plastic to the inner emotion, revelatory of the soul (Stebbins, 138)

Graceful, beautiful physicality required regimented work. Freedom of expression, similarly, did not come without self-conscious knowledge of the body and clearly defined training. This did not have to translate into mechanical behavior. A physical conditioning system, Stebbins believed, should reflect a balance between imagination and discipline:

We ought to oppose anything purely mechanical, or that tends toward affectation. Individual creativeness and natural spontaneity are, above all things, most necessary in the art of dramatic expression; but, at the same time, a clearly defined system of training and correct knowledge of gesture and its natural symbolism are almost as important in art as a true perception of right and wrong in morals (Stebbins, 443).

87 Stebbins‘ commitment to natural, free-flowing movement softened her fitness system. I would also suggest that her popularity, along with that of other fashionable callisthenic proponents of the late nineteenth century, reflects society‘s preoccupation with the natural. Returning to Art Nouveau aesthetic, late nineteenth century Americans celebrated earthy images and magnetic, ethereal energy. To combat climates of extreme industrialization and mechanization, they embraced organic, healthy choices–a trend that shows up again in the virtual world of the late twentieth century, and that will be discussed in the epilogue. During the Progressive Era, physical cultivation–honoring one‘s natural beauty and strength–provided a sense of identity and certainty in a nameless, harsh and uncertain world. Anxiety over extreme automation prompted this highly conscious and natural approach to the individual body. Fordist production lines and the implementation of Frederick Taylor‘s scientific management lead to —a discourse of necessity for the self“ (Thomas, 54). Stebbins and other advocates, with their emphasis on easy, expressive movement, profited from this social trend. Technological advancements were met with purposeful physicality, codified practices that promoted self-improvement, spiritual transcendence and fine-tuned intellectualism. As American women took up these highly self-conscious regiments, they not only brought themselves closer to natural expression, but also a more defined and powerful social identity.

Physical Culture and the Formulation of Individual, Communal and Artistic Identity The impact of industrialization on American society propelled women to seek a more conspicuous and mobile existence in and outside of the home. As they spent time cultivating their bodies, new notions and iconographies surrounding the female body arose. Emily Bishop, a major disseminator of Delsartean philosophy at the time, commented on this curious redefinition:

When twenty or thirty earnest women assemble for their first lesson in what they vaguely term ”Delsarte,‘ I always feel inclined… to ask them why they are there, what incentive leads them to make such an investment of their time and money. Back of all answers there is one general motive, namely: a desire for health. Occasionally, a bright- faced girl says, ”I want to be graceful,‘ …or a woman says, ”I want to get possession of myself; my body is really an encumbrance, I never know what to do with it.‘ (as quoted in Rutyer, xiii)

88 Stebbins wrote that —beauty is power“ (Stebbins, 92). Presenting nature‘s line of beauty and engaging in both spiritual and philosophical inquiry, women discovered an embodied authority. Finding more quotes like the one above, expressing women‘s desire to feel ownership of their physical selves, would have been valuable. With more personal evidence such as this, one could derive concrete conclusions about female consciousness of the time. Without this supportive data, however, it is only possible to hypothesize as to what degree women were cognizant of exercise as a potentially transgressive behavior. The simultaneous emergence of women‘s rights movements (as physically performed through suffrage picket lines, street pageants and merchandising campaigns) parallels or trails behind such physical culture revolutions, confirming women‘s recognition of the power of movement to enact social change. Wives and mothers were looking for avenues for greater expression and autonomy; breaking with acceptable notions of physicality may have seemed like the most direct and clear strategy. Women wanted the opportunity to cultivate their own bodies for pleasure and without apology. Conscious, underlying motives for socioeconomic and political liberation followed this more immediate corporeal desire. Again, this question of how conscious women were of using their influential fitness practices to exert their agency in diverse social and political arenas calls for additional research. This will be discussed in the conclusion. Another question is whether highly choreographed workouts were transgressive (they certainly were transformative). Middle-to-upper class homes were now sites for personal renovation; private places where women could cultivate a defiantly healthy awareness of their bodies and minds. The practices challenged popular notions of strength and fragility, unlocking new definitions of feminine identity and power. Directing women, as Stebbins often did, to get on their hands and knees and stretch their backs —like a dog stretching after a nap,“ was a wildly new physical experience (as quoted in Ruyter, 111). Bringing awareness to parts of the body that nice, middle class ladies rarely mentioned or discussed was a radical departure from the staidness of earlier etiquette and physical culture manuals. Indeed, physical exploration and cultivation could foster a profoundly different sense of self–individually, politically and socially. Women were now legitimate players in America‘s search for renewed health and self- improvement. This search was both a personal and communal experience. Stebbins and other proponents encouraged women to not only practice in their own bedrooms, but share their newfound confidence with others. The turn-of-the-century women‘s club movement provided

89 well-off ladies the opportunity to move as a collective. These privileged societies often hired a Delsartean expert or dance master to teach graceful movement lessons. It was a chance for the —New Woman“ to display personal power, while affirming class status within her group. In this sense, it was both a liberating and conservative outlet. The all-female clubs, or salons, were also performative by nature. In addition to individual display and social exhibition, elite women concerned themselves with aesthetic virtue. Supporting new talent in theater, music and dance, they produced artistic concerts within their homes–also known as parlor theatricals. Delsartean practitioners and early concert dance choreographers such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis were given opportunities and space to experiment. Duncan was adopted by Newport society women who declared her work —poetry done into dance.“ St. Denis‘ New York City spectators privately enjoyed the exotic spirituality of her dance dramas (as quoted in Tomko, 73). As a kind of domestic arbitrator of the avant- garde, these cultural patrons exercised their discretionary taste while —trying on“ new movement experiences. Establishing their powerful physicality and artistic elitism–as both individuals and as a group–salon-goers reinvented themselves. As long as they maintained their class rank, these well-to-do women felt free to dive into the world of experimental exercise drills, dance, pantomime and even statue posing. Ironically, the salon as a transgressive site relied on a certain conservatism of its members and teachers. Many health reformers used physiognomy and phrenology to legitimize social stratifications in movement quality. Stebbins, referencing Francois Delsarte‘s postural philosophies, clearly exhibited this attitude. She refers to the human shoulder as a —thermometer of sensibility“ and describes class-based differences in posture (Stebbins, 124): People of the higher classes have a gamut of expression subtler than those of the lower; still, in a degree, the shoulder rises even with them when they are under the influence of real emotion. With them it is the law of infinitesimal quantities. There must be a difference between the swift and flexible movements of an elegant organism and those evolutions clumsily executed by the torpid limbs hardened by constant labor (Stebbins, 124).

The popular discourses of transformation, although revolutionary in rethinking the female body, were still infused with rigid class stereotypes. Only the most well-to-do could afford home visits from movement experts such as Hovey or Stebbins; only those with privilege could spend their time at the communal salon.

90 Although these salon communities were conventional in some respects, they allowed for a communal consciousness that empowered women‘s public selves. This consciousness manifested itself in various women‘s rights reforms and in a new consumer culture where women had powers of decision. Stebbins, interestingly, foretold this political and economic assertiveness:

At the present time women as a class have more leisure than men for self- improvement, and we must look to them to help on the higher evolution of mind and body, not only in perfecting themselves, but in helping to perfect others…. When the young women throughout the land shall have felt the influence of this new religion, and become thoroughly aroused to the importance of making the most of themselves in body as well as in mind, we shall not only elevate the average mental and physical condition of the masses, and so raise the athletic standard, but we shall be much more likely than at the present time to produce a few of the intellectual giants that are needed to grapple with the great problems of our complex civilization (Stebbins, 63).

Cultivating their own physical, spiritual and intellectual lives, women were setting the bar for American self-care. With deteriorating industrial conditions taking hold, women, with their newfound self-confidence and body knowledge, were in a powerful position. They took advantage of this position, promoting themselves in the public sphere while caring for themselves in the private sphere. They bought, read and followed instructional exercise manuals that promoted natural over mechanical movement. They also participated in salon communities that advocated new artistic and leadership endeavors. These were not acts of passive consumption, but active creations of personal and public identity. Scholar Linda Tomko‘s work supports this thesis. Tomko, in her investigation of Progressive-era politics, makes a strong argument for how socio-economic conditions deeply affect society‘s perceptions of the human body and, in turn, open up opportunities for more restricted or more liberal movement. She calls these opportunities —danced embodiments“ (Tomko, 7). Out of American industrialism emerged new means of corporeal expression– ballroom and more liberal cabaret dancing, barefoot theatrical dancing, and various physical culture systems. This physicality, as Tomko argues and this thesis contends, translated into identity negotiation and assertive, politically-imbued social work (Tomko, 33). Delsartism and calisthenics were two disciplines functioning within the private home, yet they were very much a part of a larger physical and political landscape.

91 The popularization of self-reflective physical culture systems also influenced women‘s artistic participation. The women‘s club movement, as it was performed in late nineteenth century households, afforded space and time to present experimental endeavors in visual art, music, and creative movement. The latter is the most pertinent connection to explore. Early American concert dance had its beginnings within women‘s communal salons. Delsartean- inspired lessons taught women to express their —true selves“ through graceful, harmonic movement. This refined, highly self-conscious exercise form can be seen as a subgenre to early modern dance technique. Its precepts were quite similar: attention to breath, proper alignment, soft transitions, control at the center for freedom and efficiency elsewhere. Delsartism‘s emphasis on natural, full integration of mind, body and spirit shares uncanny similarities with the philosophical tenets behind early concert dance. Stebbins, in her 1891 Delsarte System of Expression, hinted at this relationship between the physical culture movement and early concert dance: —The physical culture of the future–and this future is not very remote–will be along the lines I have indicated. It may or it may not be labeled with the name of Delsarte or of Ling, but whatever the name by which it shall be known, it will be a system different from either of them…“ (Stebbins, 406). An astute and foretelling observation by Stebbins, it nicely introduces a series of creative movement pioneers. Between 1890 and 1920, there was a predominance of women immersed in physical culture reform and dance. Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Isadora Duncan were three of the most influential leaders in this emerging field. Fuller, with her flowering silk images; St. Denis, with her incorporation of —ethnic,“ natural gestures; and Duncan, with her earthy, yet spiritual movement qualities, all took from the legacy of the physical culture movement. These women relied on earlier lessons in breath, gait, relaxation, and efficient exertion to formulate their own distinct techniques. And as they forged new paths in the artistic world, stepping beyond the worlds of aesthetic gymnastics, show dance, and ballet, they provided women with novel forms of expression. Ruth St. Denis (whose early home schooling included Delsartean texts) and her partner Ted Shawn extended this influence to an even broader audience base. Using Henrietta Hovey‘s teachings, they used Delsartean principles of circularity and natural evolution to create the emerging aesthetic and pedagogy of their company Denishawn. St. Denis speaks of these influences in her autobiography An Unfinished Life. Shawn also authored an extensive book,

92 Every Little Movement, which pays tribute to Francois Delsarte as a man of science, aesthetics and ultimately dance. This acknowledgment and direct application of Delsartean movement theory is significant not only in dance history, but also in the sheer number of people it must have influenced. Denishawn‘s troupe gave numerous national and international performances while maintaining an active, pre-professional school for young men and women (Shawn, 85). Scholar Deborah Jowitt has also highlighted this physical culture and dance connection: —They [Denishawn‘s dancers] could use the Delsarte training Denishawn had provided, not as a ”system of expression,‘ but as an aid to understanding and analyzing how the body responds to emotion“ (Jowitt, 161). Middle-class housewives and pre-professional dancers alike were using Delsartean theories to fashion ritualized performances of their own. Isadora Duncan also had a deep connection to Delsarte and other physical culture techniques. She gave tribute to the Frenchman in a 1898 New York Herald Sun interview: —Delsarte, the master of all principles of flexibility, and lightness of body, should receive universal thanks for the bonds he has removed from our constrained members…“ (as quoted in Jowitt, 78). Her spatial philosophies, as well as exercises that incorporated rise and fall, attraction and repulsion, and tension and relaxation, all resemble Stebbins‘ drills. Duncan might have referenced Delsartean texts to learn how various parts of the body express emotion, resulting in her legendary Greek statue posing and free-spirited dancing (Jowitt, 81). Both worshipped nature and celebrated physical beauty derived from earthy elements. Isadora Duncan also shared Stebbins‘ hopes for the female dancing body. In her 1903 lecture entitled —Dance of the Future“ in Berlin, she anticipated the coming of an introspective and powerful New Woman:

The dancer of the future will be one whose body and soul have grown so harmoniously together that the natural language of that soul will have become the movement of the human body. The dancer will not belong to any nation but to all humanity (Duncan, 80).

The similarities in philosophy, technique and form–to numerous to mention–demonstrate women‘s connected worlds of physical and artistic endeavor. Late nineteenth-century women were now voicing their concerns on such highly politicized topics as suffrage, housing and labor reform. Alongside these more well-known social advocates of the time, salon patrons fought similar battles against a backdrop of burgeoning technology. These women, highly artistic and physical in their pursuits, reinvented

93 the way people think about the body, and more specifically the dancing body. They used dance–enlivened by the well-established techniques of light calisthenics and Delsartism–to perform gender. As scholar Linda Tomko states, dance is —a cultural practice through which participants have kinetically constructed social, political, and gendered identities and ways of being in the world“ (Tomko, xiii). This certainly translates to earlier physical culture explorations. Physical culture advocates opened up expressive possibilities for future generations of women–opportunities that interwove individual with communal; private with public.

Summary Physical systems shape people‘s relationships to the world–whether political, intellectual or economic. As a marker of individual age, socioeconomic status, race, or sexuality, the body is a social entity with powerful communicative potential. During the physical culture revolution of the late nineteenth century, Americans were reacting to their surrounding environment: industrialism fostered a return to conscious self-care. Women were key players in this reciprocal relationship between the social body and the physical body, each one informing the other.

94 CONCLUSION: SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This thesis has traced the brief but unremitting history of women‘s physical needs as they were rebuffed by American patriarchy. Housewives‘ desires for corporeal self-knowledge and recreation were often dismissed in favor of a more —democratic“ project. Their self-care was only justified if it fulfilled a greater social need. Women, imaged as potential saviors of an industrializing nation, were expected to put personal pursuits aside to ensure their family and country‘s wellbeing. Their leisure time was already restricted by domestic work rhythms (Peiss, 22). While men could enjoy new forms of physical exercise outside of the home, women had to find ways inside the home to manage their health. Whether conscious or not, both sides of this struggle recognized that the woman‘s body could be a powerful source of agency. In order to assert this agency, however, women had to fight against antiquated Victorian ideology surrounding the body, as well as an unrelenting patriarch. These restrictions were not met with total subservience. Many middle and upper-class women reinvented their domestic existence to include daily physical activity–whether alone or within a salon community. This inclusion meant an active relationship with America‘s consumer culture and specifically the exercise guidebook market. Women‘s health was an untapped and profitable market from which early physical culture industrialists took advantage. Yet women appropriated this market to serve their own purposes. The rise of prescriptive literature, in addition to ailing national health and urban unrest, all supported a revolution in women‘s corporeality. This inclusion also demonstrated their commitment to transforming bodies, minds and spirits through consistent exercise. Women‘s devotion to self-cultivation was a simple, but readable act of feminist social reform. The commercialized practice of home calisthenics and Delsartism, however, was still problematic. As women usurped physical exercise and made it their own, they increased its appropriateness and accessibility. Yet as they gendered specific exercises and health benefits, they also reproduced pre-existing gender ideology. Advocating and practicing calisthenics and Delsartism, as softer versions of male physical culture, implied women‘s separate physical needs and abilities. Although home regiments liberated many turn-of-the-century women, they also allowed advocates and participants alike to hold tight to conventional gender roles and

95 expectations. This demonstrates the omnipresent notion that national needs took precedence over women‘s self-interest. Women‘s bodies were kept under constant surveillance in order to perpetuate gender codes thought to be so crucial to American livelihood. Women‘s physical culture efforts were not futile, however. In spite of this misappropriation, they translated their more mobile domestic existence into an increased public presence. An investigation of how women‘s private body practices continued to affect the emerging social and political reforms of the late Progressive era is just one area of further scholarship to endorse.6 Feminist theory supports this thesis‘ assertion that turn-of-the-century women, despite compelling commercialism, were in control of their bodies.7 The body, although a potential site for commercial exploitation, has expressive powers. They negotiated their homosocial and heterosocial worlds, seeking movement opportunities while maintaining a certain degree of propriety and self-surveillance. Their defiant body awareness and new physicality was performed with caution and convention. A fundamental purpose of this thesis was to better understand how women felt about their everyday physical practices within the home. Using physical culture manuals as my primary sources, this was indeed a formidable task. The strong relationship between reader and advice writer has been demonstrated by a number of scholars working in women‘s studies and cultural theory. With this said, there are inherent problems in translating prescriptive rhetoric to actual practice (Verbrugge, 5). Instructions and advice discourse, although enthusiastic on paper, did not always transform into realized movement. Although women relied a great deal on experts‘ disposable advice, they also demonstrated autonomy in the creation of their own home exercise regiment. Further research could include a thorough inventory and analysis of more personal documents–women‘s diary entries, letters to the editor, or articles from popular health reform and ladies magazines of the time. Journal of Health, Advocate of Physiological Reform, and even more consumer driven periodicals such as Ladies Home Journal

6 For a specific example of public expressivity, see Margaret Finnegan, Selling Suffrage (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).

7 See Margaret Finnegan, Selling Suffrage (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999); Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar: The Making of America‘s Beauty Culture (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1998); Ellen Garvey, The Adman in the Parlor: Magazines and the Gendering of Consumer Culture, 1880s to 1910s (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996); Sheila Rothman, Woman‘s Proper Place: A History of Changing Ideals and Practices, 1870 to the Present (New York: Basic, 1978).

96 and Harper‘s Weekly, are loaded with personal editorials, advertisements and powerful advocacy language. Analyzing diaries and consumer periodicals, in conjunction with prescriptive literature, would paint a more complex picture of how directional language and instructional illustration informed women‘s bodily perceptions and actions.

97 EPILOGUE: ANOTHER TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY PERSPECTIVE

During the Progressive Era, women were just beginning to assert an alternative corporeality outside of the limiting expectations of housework. Their strained relationship to industrialism and consumerism found relief in creative physical practices that promoted natural, healthy living. There are compelling parallels between female wellness pursuits of this time and the burgeoning fitness regimes of the last two decades of the twentieth century. History has duplicated itself in the most recent infatuation with the exercise industry. Comparative historical analysis reveals profound similarities: the inspired attention to renewed health, self- improvement, and creative expression within industrializing climates. Even the ritualistic spaces where such renewal occurred have similar characteristics. The continued significance of private fitness regimes to women‘s changing perceptions of self-care and physical mobility is striking. It reflects modern day modalities within the context of a new kind of industrialism–the information technology age. With the rise of information technology, many turn-of-the-century Americans settled into a sedentary lifestyle. Computers individualized work and leisure lives to the point of communal disintegration and immobility. The driving goal of efficiency, in conjunction with contemporary, sensory overload, led to disillusionment and imbalance among many Americans. Analogous to the previous century‘s fitness reforms, modern women crafted new physical practices in response to disembodying surroundings. Rebelling against their office desk existence, they embraced yoga, Pilates and other commercial regimes that would exercise both mind and body. Scholar Jill Green addresses this coincidence of industry and physical cultivation: —With feelings of loss and isolation, which are perhaps perpetuated by a technological culture that results in a focus on virtual experience and artistic activities that move away from the body, it may be crucial that we bring learning back to the body in somatically significant ways“ (Green, 118). This turn-of-the-century —body project,“ one that seeks to revitalize citizens by bringing the body back into everyday consciousness, was greatly influenced by the health crazes of the 1960‘s and 1970‘s. Healthy lifestyle choices–natural foods, therapeutic bodywork, and liberating social dance–served as symbols against wartime and other social devastations. Somatics, a field that uses movement and sensation to improve functional living and artistry,

98 became a popular physical endeavor. Alexander Technique, Laban/Bartinieff fundamentals, Feldenkrais, Body/Mind Centering and Rolfing, among others, all offered opportunities for attentive self-expression and efficient physicality. The —right“ amount of relaxation and tension is the goal here. Postmodern choreographers of this time also infused their teaching and choreographic work with these modalities, ultimately leading to the release technique so popular in New York City and other dance communities. Women were active contributors to this movement, although men also took advantage of this chance to explore feelings through their own bodies (Thomas, 18). Influenced by Buddhist philosophies of mind/body unity, practitioners sought organic and holistic ways of living. Creating wholeness and ease within a disjointed environment were principal goals for these innovators–not so dissimilar to the ambitions of Genevieve Stebbins and other physical culture advocates of the late nineteenth century. In the late 1970‘s and through the next decade, many Americans moved away from this mindful physicality in favor of a more rigorous approach to fitness. Taking time to exercise was evolving into a societal expectation: the ideal American would take either take their lunch break or their —happy hour“ to hit the gym before heading home. Physical exercise was constructed as a necessary break from desk job monotony, as well as a source of pleasure. The emerging virtual world had left its workers slumped over computer screens with tense hip flexors, necks and shoulders. A trip to the gym was the easiest way to regain one‘s balance (Schulze, 199). At the health club, Americans could get the exercise they need while also acting out socio-economic and aesthetic identities separate from work. Achieving ideal tone, strength and line with heavy equipment took precedence over more embodied somatic methods. The 1980‘s gym culture revolved around transformation–creating the perfect exterior body for visual display and overall health. Scholar Helen Thomas discusses the emergence of the —flexible body,“ a physical specimen with balanced strength and elasticity who could be continuously altered or —worked on“ (Thomas, 53). Thomas describes this commodified and idealized body which is still present today among women. The majority of women may no longer wear corsets but there are more ways of containing the body than by using objects to hold it in. Now we use our own muscles to hold our bodies in and diet to flatten the bulge. If this does not work, then surgery may offer the desired effect. The requisite ”natural‘ form celebrated by consumer culture is achieved through constant surveillance and control (Thomas, 55).

99 Ironically, attaining the —natural look“ was tied to consumerism. Self-management of both the inner and outer body, maintaining control over one‘s capacities, was now a cultural ideal. —Letting the body go“ was viewed as a sign of moral and physical slackness (Thomas, 55). This valuation of self-surveillance and cultivation was inscribed within the prescriptive literature of the decade. Popular health journals and women‘s magazines, with their transformational rhetoric, advocated a daily fitness regime to combat sedentary surroundings. Magazines promised (and still do) significant changes with minimal effort or devoted time. These guarantees extended beyond obvious physical benefits to subtler shifts in social, moral, spiritual and intellectual prowess. Cover stories and weekly advice columns assured readers that taking control of one‘s body would quickly improve appearance, mental health and even sexual expression (Thomas, 55). Treating the body as an —object of exchange,“ watered-down fitness and beauty magazines of the 1980‘s endorsed self-cultivation primarily through consumerism (Thomas, 55). This instructional literature, of course, resonates with the ten cent ladies‘ magazines and exercise manuals so popular during the last turn-of-the-century. Even though they span one hundred years, each literature pool capitalized on promotional advertisements and —quick fix“ language in order to sell this —body of exchange.“ Do-it-yourself exercise columns, as well as commercialized fitness videos, were just an extension of this liturgy of glamorous self- cultivation. For the woman seeking speedy physical regeneration, these seemed like wise investments. If you could achieve the same physical benefits without going to the gym, why not stay at home and get —coached“ through your own private routine? Between 1980 and 2000, sales on exercise videos and accompanying props and equipment skyrocketed. Americans created miniature gyms within their homes. This trend made sense: home exercise afforded convenience and privacy. Much like the late nineteenth- century housewife used Dio Lewis‘ —Pangymanstikon“ or practiced Delsartean drills within her own parlor, women of the 1980‘s and 1990‘s relied on home-based fitness to cultivate their bodies. The idea of disciplining yourself through a demanding home workout was appealing; it fit the machine-like regimentation of the rest of Americans‘ everyday lives. Many middle and upper-class women, as the most targeted consumer group, devoted themselves to regular manipulation of home equipment and other products that would aid in their rebirth.

100 The health club and home gym were popular escapes from work and other responsibilities. Fitness dance classes, either offered at the gym or neighborhood wellness studios, were another trendy means for getting in shape. Much as musical accompaniment and interesting rhythms were an important part of calisthenics or Delsartean drills, these fitness classes relied on contemporary music to motivate participants. In all of these spaces, whether public or private, exercise-inspired fashion served as an important signifier of physical prowess. Wellness had evolved into a successful commercial industry. Health trends of the last two decades have returned to a more balanced embrace of natural, holistic methods. Although prescriptive literature still promotes beauty products and systematic exercise, their emphasis has moved away from relentless self-perfection to a more realistic self-acceptance. Creating equilibrium of home, work and leisure pursuits is the amended ideal. Quieter, more self-conscious exercise forms have found their way back into the marketplace. Pilates, yoga and other somatic methods promote relaxation and —undoing“ before heavy exertion–a movement philosophy similar to the exercise practices popular among women over a century ago. The emphasis is internal cultivation over external application. Yet, this new philosophy does not hark back to indoctrinated inactivity–the image of the Victorian woman languishing on her chaise. Although softer in its intention, contemporary fitness trends still promote conscious exertion and balanced muscular development. Americans, when faced with synthetic, unhealthy environments, have continuously turned to mindful, yet powerful physicality for both protection and empowerment. Industrialism provides a window for articulating these evolving exercise regimes. As scholar Michael Foucault argues, booming industry disassociated labor from corporeality, disembodying and immobilizing workers. This freed up the body for other forms of physical expression and creativity (—Body/Power“ interview, 1975). During the late nineteenth century, the female body, liberated from all-day household chores, transformed itself into a self-conscious and mobile being. Against their industrialist climate, women used natural metaphors and mystical language to justify their regenerative behavior. They were desexualized flowers, innate saviors and figures concerned with process over assembled product. Flowing movement was a tranquil, harmonious way to reconnect to nature. This approach to self-cultivation has played out similarly in exercise trends of the late twentieth century.

101 Theories on —special time and place“ support my arguments on simultaneous industrial and corporeal revolutions. Specific environmental circumstances allow for a resurgence of bodily awareness and cultivation (Schechner, 32). Scholar Victor Turner analyzed those —betwixt and between“ moments that permit transgressive behavior. His philosophy on ritual applies to our discussion of the physical ceremonies of late nineteenth-century women. The home acted as a liminal space where housewives could cross the borders between private and public life. Following a guide and directional language, callisthenic and Delsartean initiates detached from everyday routine to perform physical and spiritual exercises within salons. These mindful, ritualized practices gave women newfound optimism in the body–an attitude that translated into more rigorous social reforms. Communal creations and safe havens, salons encouraged not only physical investigation and personal pilgrimage, but also collective expression. Turner‘s theories provide a clear structure for interpreting these layered transformations. In language, technique and purpose, calisthenics, Delsartism, early concert dance, and even more contemporary exercise forms celebrated mobile, conscious living. This comparison demonstrates women‘s continuous interest, especially during industrializing periods, in physical and spiritual improvement. In ritualistic spaces, they cared for their bodies, and in doing so, elevated individual and communal consciousness. Whether in salons, private homes, dance venues, yoga and Pilates studios, or the urban commercial gym, women asserted new relationships to physical and social mobility. In doing so, they demonstrated their obsession with restoration and uplift of the human body–sometimes moving towards, and at other times straying away from naturalism.

102 APPENDIX

Figure 1: Figure 2: Normal Pose/Psycho-Physical Pose (Thomas, 30) Incorrect Pose (Thomas, 30)

103

Figure 3: —Spinning,“ an exercise inspired by household chores (Thomas, 84-85)

Figure 4: —Cobweb,“ another exercise inspired by household chores (Thomas, 74-75)

104

Figure 5: Dio Lewis‘ military drills with dumbbells (Lewis, 38-39)

105

Figure 6: Dumbbell exercise for scoliosis (Eddy, 51)

106

Figure 7: Typical parlor gymnastic dress for women (Advertisement in Watson, 24)

107

Figure 8: Backward, Forward and Sideways Torso Bends (Eddy, 16-17)

108

Figure 9: Front cover of Home Calisthenics, showing women holding dumbbells and wand (Eddy)

109

Figure 10: Advertisement for Gymnasium Apparatus (Watson, 145)

110

Figure 11: Advertisement for Horizontal Bars (Watson, 146)

111

Figure 12: Advertisement for the Chest Expander (Barnett, 11)

112

Figure 13: Simple dumbbell exercises (Beale, 26-27)

113

Figure 14: Simple wand exercises (Beale, 42-44)

114

Figure 15: Iron (Gymnastic) Crown, as conceived by Dio Lewis (Lewis, 99)

115

Figure 16: Exercises with soup cans, tied together with rope (Eddy, 38)

116

Figure 17: Push-up exercise using a table (Grover, 153)

117

Figure 18: Broom drill series (Beale, 78-82)

118

Figure 19: Appropriate dress for exercise on the Pangymnastikon (Schreber in Lewis, 256)

119

Figure 20: Indian club series (Kehoe, 72-78)

120

Figure 21: Callisthenic figures performed on the floor (Smart, 56-57)

121

Figure 22: Partner massage prior to exercise (Eddy, 24)

122

Figure 23: Instructions for performing arm swings and circles (Eddy, 20-21)

Figure 24: —Rising upon the toes“ (Eddy, 29)

123

Figure 25: Delsartean attitudes with the hand (Stebbins, 181)

124

Figure 26: Delsartean attitudes of the head (Stebbins, 223)

125

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SECONDARY SOURCES

Books

Banner, Lois W. American Beauty: A Social History through Two Centuries of the American Idea, Ideal, and Image of the Beautiful Woman. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.

Burt, Ramsay. The Male Dancer. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Cott, Nancy. The Bonds of Womanhood: —Woman‘s Sphere“ in New England, 1780-1835. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Desmond, Jane C., ed. Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance. Durham: Duke University, 1997.

Ehrenreich, Barbara and Deirdre English. For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts‘ Advice to Women. New York: Anchor Books, 2005.

Finnegan, Margaret. Selling Suffrage: Popular Culture, Everyday Lives. Columbia University Press: New York, 1999.

Foster, Susan L. Corporealities: Dancing Knowledge, Culture and Power. New York: Routledge, 1996.

Fox, Richard Wightman and T.J. Jackson Lears, ed. The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History, 1880-1980. New York: Random House, 1983.

Gordon, Colin, ed. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972- 1977/Michale Foucault. Brighton: Harvester Press, 1980.

Green, Harvey. Fit for America: Health, Fitness, Sport, and American Society. New York: Pantheon Books: New York, 1986.

Greenhalgh, Paul. The Essence of Art Nouveau. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.

Grover, Kathryn, ed. Fitness in American Culture: Images of Health, Sport, and the Body, 1830-1940. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989.

Haley, Bruce. The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978.

Hanna, Judith Lynne. Dance, Sex and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988.

126

Hunt, William. Body Love: The Amazing Career of Bernarr MacFadden. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1989.

Johnson, Don Hanlon, ed. Bone, Breath, and Gesture: Practices of Embodiment. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1995.

Jowitt, Deborah. Time and the Dancing Image. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1988.

Kendall, Elizabeth. Where She Danced. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.

Kitch, Carolyn. The Girl on the Magazine Cover: The Origins of Visual Stereotypes in American Mass Media. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Lears, Jackson. Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America. New York: Basic Books, 1994.

Marks, Joseph E, III. America Learns to Dance: A Historical Study of Dance Education in America Before 1900. New York: Exposition Press, 1957.

Mrozek, Donald. Sport in American Life: From National Health to Personal Fulfillment, 1880- 1910. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983.

Norris, James. D. Advertising and the Transformation of American Society, 1865-1920. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1990.

Peiss, Kathy. Hope in a Jar: The Making of America‘s Beauty Culture. New York: Metropolitan Books, 1998.

Phegley, Jennifer. Educating the Proper Woman Reader: Victorian Family Literary Magazines and the Cultural Health of the Nation. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004.

Rosenberg, Charles, ed. Right Living: An Anglo-American Tradition of Self-Help Medicine and Hygiene. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Ruyter, Nancy Lee Chalfa. Reformers and Visionaries: The Americanization of the Art of Dance. New York: Dance Horizons, 1979.

Schechner, Richard. Environmental Theater. New York: Applause Books, 2000.

Sivulka, Juliann. Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998.

127 Stanley, Gregory Kent. Rise and Fall of the Sportswoman: Women‘s Health, Fitness, and Athletics, 1860-1940. New York: Peter Lang, 1996.

Thomas, Helen. Dance, Gender and Culture. New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 1993.

Todd, Jan. Physical Culture and the Body Beautiful: Purposive Exercise in the Lives of American Women, 1800-1870. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1998.

Todd, Mabel. The Thinking Body. Trenton: Princeton Book Company, 1980.

Tomko, Linda. Dancing Class: Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Divides in American Dance, 1890-1920. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, .

Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1969.

Verbrugge, Martha. Able-Bodied Womanhood: Personal Health and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Boston. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Vertinsky, Patricia. The Eternally Wounded Woman: Women, Doctors and Exercise in Late Nineteenth Century. New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 1990.

Whorton, James C. Crusaders for Fitness: The History of American Health Reformers. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1982.

Articles

Bialeschki, Deborah. —The Feminist Movement and Women‘s Participation in Physical Education.“ Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. January, 1990, 61 (1): 44-47.

Burt, Ramsay. —Katherine Dunham‘s Rites de Passage: Censorship and Sexuality“ in Embodying Liberation: The Black Body in American Dance, edited by Dorothea Fischer-Horning and Alison Goeller. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 2001, 79-88.

Foster, Susan Leigh. —Closets Full of Dances: Modern Dance‘s Performance of Masculinity and Sexuality“ in Dancing Desires: Choreographing Sexualities on and off Stage, edited by Jane Desmond. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997, 147-207.

Park, Roberta J. —Physiology and Anatomy are Destiny? Brains, Bodies and Exercise in Nineteenth Century American Thought.“ Journal of Sport History, 1991, 18 (1): 31-63.

128 Park, Roberta J. —A Decade of the Body: Researching and Writing about the History of Health, Fitness, Exercise and Sport, 1983-1993.“ Journal of Sport History, 1994, 21 (1): 59-82.

Ruyter, Nancy Lee Chalfa. —Antique Longings: Genevieve Stebbins and American Delsartean Performance“ in Corporealities: Dancing Knowledge, Culture, Power, edited by Susan Leigh Foster. New York: Routledge, 1995, 70-89.

Vertinsky, Patricia. —Feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Pursuit of Health and Physical Fitness as a Strategy for Emancipation.“ Journal of Sport History, 1989, 16 (1): 5-26.

Wolff, Janet. —Reinstating Corporeality: Feminism and Body Politics“ in Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies in Dance, edited by Jane Desmond. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997.

Dissertations

Arend, Mary Kate. —The Full Bloom of Rosy Health: Fitness and Feminism in Nineteenth- Century American Fiction.“ University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, 1999.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Bailey, Mrs. John. Physical Culture. 1892.

Barnett, S.M. The Gymnasium at Home: Barnett‘s Patent Parlor Gymnasium and Chest Expander, for Schools and Families. New York: J. Becker and Company, 1871.

Beecher, Catharine. Letters to the People on Health and Happiness. 1855.

Beale, Alfred. Calisthenics and Light Gymnastics for Home and School. New York: Excelsior Publishing House, 1888.

Beecher, Catharine. Physiology and Calisthenics for Schools and Families. 1856.

Bell, Dr. John. Health and Beauty: An Explanation of the Laws of Growth and Exercise. 1838.

Blaikie, William. How to Get Strong and How to Stay So. New York: Harper, 1884.

Bornstein, M. Manual of Instruction in the use of Dumbbells, Indian Clubs and Other Exercises. New York, 1880.

129 Brown, Susan. Home Topics: A Book of Practical Papers on House and Home Matters. 1881.

Dumat, E.R. Physical Culture Classics. New York, 1909.

Curwen, Maud. Simple Health Rules and Health Exercises for Busy Women and Girls. 1912.

Duncan, Isadora. Isadora Speaks: Writings and Speeches of Isadora Duncan. New York: Charles H. Kerr, 1994.

Eddy, Mary. Ladies Home Calisthenics: A Guide to Health for Women and Children. 1888.

Erskine, F.J. Bicycling for Ladies. London, 1886.

Fourmen, Professor. Ladies' Home Calisthenics; A Guide to Health for Women and Children. 1890.

Guttmann, Oska. Aesthetic Physical Culture: A Self-Instructor for All-Cultured Circles and Especially for Oratorical and Dramatic Artists. New York: E.S. Werner, 1884.

Harvey, F.J. Physical Exercises and Gymnastics for Girls and Women: Arranged for Use of Teachers in High School. 1896.

Kehoe, Simon. The Indian Club Exercises with Explanatory Figures and Positions Photographed from Life. New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, c1866.

Lewis, Dio. The New Gymanstics for Men, Women and Children. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1864.

Napheys, George. The Physical Life of Woman, Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother. 1870.

Neesen, Victor. Dr. Neesen‘s Book on Wheeling: Hints and Advice to Men and Women from the Physical Standpoint. 1899.

Sanburn, Frederic, ed. Delsartean Scrapbook of 1890: Health, Personality, Beauty, House- Decoration, Dress, etc. New York: John W. Lovell Company, 1890.

Smart, James. A Manual of Free Gymanstic and Dumb-bell Exercises for Schools and the Parlor. 1894.

Stebbins, Genevieve. Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics: A Complete System of Psychical, Aesthetic and Physical Culture. New York: E.S. Werner, 1892.

Thomas, Julia and Anne. Psycho-Physical Culture. New York: E.S. Werner, 1892.

130 Trall, Russell. The Illustrated Family Gymnasium. New York: Fowler and Wells, 1857.

Voarino, Signor. A Treatise on Callisthenic Exercises: Arranged for the Private Tuition of Ladies. 1829.

Walker, Donald. Exercise for Ladies. 1836.

Ward, Marie E. The Common Sense of Bicycling: Bicycling for Ladies. New York: Brentano‘s, c1896.

Warren, John E. Physical Education and the Preservation of Health. 1846.

Watson, J. Madison. Watson‘s Manual of Calisthenics: A Systematic Drill-Book without Apparatus, for Schools, Families and Gymnasiums, with Music to Accompany the Exercises. New York: E.S. Werner, 1889.

131 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

EDUCATION

Florida State University, Department of Dance, Tallahassee, FL 2007 M.A. American Dance Studies Concentrations: History of women‘s fitness, dance conditioning and kinesiology under the direction of Dr. John Perpener, Dr. Sally Sommer, and Dr. Thomas Welsh.

Bates College, Lewiston, ME 2001 B.A. American Cultural Studies, Magna Cum Laude Secondary concentration in dance Honors Senior Thesis: —Contested Terrain: Black Vernacular Dance and Urban Nightlife in Early 20th Century Harlem.“ Investigated the social and aesthetic implications of white —tourist“ slumming within New York City dance halls as part of a year-long thesis.

Smith College, Department of Dance, Northampton, MA 2000 Visiting Scholar Coursework in dance technique, choreography, anatomy, lighting design and community-based arts.

ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Florida State University 2007 One of ninety nominees selected to receive distinguished teaching award.

Friends of Dance Summer Scholarship, Florida State University 2006

Phi Beta Kappa, Bates College 2001 Dean‘s List all four years, GPA 3.78/4.00

Marcy Plavin Dance Award, Bates College 2001 Outstanding senior dance student

Dana Scholar Award, Bates College 1998 Chosen as one of twenty first-year students, for leadership promise, community service and academic excellence.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE/POSITIONS HELD

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 2007 Teaching —Introduction to Dance,“ a comprehensive dance appreciation course designed for liberal studies and writing intensive requirements.

132 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. 2006 Taught two semesters (Fall and Spring) of —Introduction to Pilates Mat“ for general studies students and dance majors.

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Florida State University. Tallahassee, FL. 2006 Assisted Dr. Thomas Welsh with instruction, evaluation and curriculum development for —Conditioning for Dancers.“ Graded study guides, organized and conducted review sessions. Assisted in the design and administration of measurement protocols for annual injury risk screening. Collected and analyzed screening information to generate targeted training programs for first-year dance majors.

CERTIFICATIONS

Pilates Mat Certification, Kane School for Core Integration, New York, NY. 2005

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Delegate, International Association for Dance Medicine & Science Conference 2006 Attended dance medicine presentations and workshops as part of the annual IADMS convention in West Palm Beach, FL.

Dancer Turnout Study, Florida State University 2006 Helped develop methods for accurately measuring passive and active turnout for all first-year dance majors.

Conditioning for Dancers, Research Assistantship, Florida State University 2006 Edited, provided feedback on content development, and modeled exercise photos for Dr. Thomas Welsh‘s conditioning text, designed for first-year dance majors.

Dance Kinesiology Teachers‘ Survey, Florida State University 2006 Collaborated with a task force of dance kinesiology teachers around the country to build an on-line survey of curricular content and professional activities within university dance departments.

—Wellness in Aging Populations,“ New York, NY. 2005 Developed survey and collected qualitative data from active older adults as part of a curriculum-based internship in conjunction with the Kane School for Core Integration.

—Marcy Plavin and 35 Years of Bates Modern Dance,“ Lewiston, ME. 2001 Interviewed dance alumni and current students and co-produced a half hour documentary designed not only as a tribute, but also as a future tool for Bates College‘s fundraising efforts. Video aired statewide on Maine Public Television and during her retirement celebration and new studio dedication.

133