Health, Exercise and the Emergence of the Modern Girl

Abstract

In 1899 Dr Arabella Kenealy, physician, author and ‘eugenic-feminist’, regaled the readership of the literary magazine, The Nineteenth Century, with the story of Clara: ‘A year ago’, Kenealy wrote, ‘Clara could not walk more than two miles without tiring; now she can play tennis or hockey, or can bicycle all day without feeling it’.¹ Through exercise and a vigorous lifestyle, Clara had toned and honed muscles, was slimmer, stronger and more agile. However, she had bartered many qualities for a ‘mess of muscle’ and lost her subtle charms — sympathy, patience and an elusive beauty — in the process of developing an athletic body.