Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-20
EXERCISES FOR WOMEN
Dancing Regarded as the Best Of All Form
BY an Expert
COMPETITIVE GAMES ARE OBItCUONABLI
Physical Reasons why Exercises
Suited for Men are Not Adapted
TO wOmen-Grace should he
wOman'a Aim.


American Physical Education association
and head of the department of physical
education in the public schools of New
York, repeated the question thoughtfully.
There is a woman's problem in exer-
J else as there is in many other. things
he went on. Fortunately. with reference
to exercise the differences between men
and women are more tangible and we
know. the facts upon which those differ
ences rest better than we know those in
connection with political organization,
| for example.
Years ago when 1 was beginning this
work 1 believed that the difference be-
tween men and women was caused by the
difference In their training. 1 no longer
| have any such idea. l know that the
physique of men and of women differed
in the beginning-man to be the fighter
the protector, women for motherhood.
To-day the industrial center has
changed from the home to the factory.
This elimination of industries formerly
occupying women, such as weaving cloth,
making the clothes, preparing the food,
! caring for the domestic animals, etc, is
| leaving women without suitable outlet for
their physical activities.
THE time formerly spent by a girl as
an assistant in the home is now spent
in school. She goes from school to col
lege, to business, to the factory, to the
Office, to many different occupations,
mostly sedentary.
This has decreased her physical activi-
ties and increased her mental and nervous
activities, It has delayed or deferred her
from marriage, and her home today, If
she has one is an added drain on her
mental and nervous rather than upon her
muscular system.
Purpose of Physical Training.
Physical training Should assist in ad-
justing women 10 their new environment
Business life and independence in women
tend to develop certain masculine qualities
in them Physical training should not
accentuate these qualities, but rather
should help to make girls and women
healthier and better able to bear the bur-
dens of womanhood and motherhood.
1t should develop their feminine charac-
teristics, grace in speech, dress and car
riage.
Physical directors should bear in mind
the physiological difference between men
and women and between boys and girls.
AT birth boys as a rule are taller and
heavier than girls. From the eleventh to
the sixteenth year the girls are taller and
| from the twelfth to the seventeenth year
they are the heavier From then on to
maturity the boys forge ahead in weight,
height and strength.
THAT men are bigger and heavier than
women is obvious. But are they stronger,
weight for weight?
1.-THE returns from examinations instituted
in our colleges for men and women give
a conclusive answer. Bulk for bulk, weight
for weight, men are muscularly stronger
| than women.
But this is only the beginning of the argu-
ment Women are shaped differently from
men. At an equal height and weight, a
mans shoulders are broader than a
womAns. So that in every form Of gym
nastics or athletics which depends on lew
erage and strength OF shoulders the man
will excel, even II he is not muscularly
stronger than the woman.
"A further handicap is placed on woman
! in the size OF her hips. Her trunk also is
| longer. Therefore, in all gymnastic work
in which the weight Of the body is held by
the arms, such as work on the parallels
and horizontal bars, a woman has to sup
port the bulk OF her weight farther from
the bar than does man. Her center OF
gravity is lower.
Mere Mans Advantages.
These physical facts do not differentiate
all On from all women, because there are
| exceptional men who have shoulders and
! hips such as are Usually seen on women;
and vice versa, we occasionally fnd women
who are muscularly stronger than most
men, women whose bones have the lever
age that belongs to men. But am speak
| ing OF the average.
when we come to severe tests OF endur-
ance we find that woman is not leas handi-
| capped. In proportion she has decidedly
smaller lungs. The red corpuscles in her
blood are also smaller than those of the
man, so their carrying capacity OF oxygen
] is less y
1.-THE weight of a woman's body in pro-
portion to her breathing power is much
| greater than that of a mans. For this
reason she cannot compete with him in
running. any more than she can compete
with him In feats Of muscular strength.
"a woman's legs are much shorter than
| r. mans, and for that reason she cannot
compete with him in running and jumping.
{ II a woman does muscular exercise which
! is entirely related to her power, as q mans
! munculAr exercise IL related to his power,
Bhe will be doing what she should do, but
ans will not be doing work equalling that
I &ume by man. AS far as exercise relates
10 tAe capacity Of the individual, the kind
/ OF work done by women should be far
more moderate than that done by men.
'Bug there is another side of the prob
1 lem OF exercise for women, the historical
From the beginning man has been the
hunter aad fighter. Woman has predom-
inantiy been the home keeper and the IN
dustriaI worker
During these years, when we are eX-
plotting woman, she Is developing our in
dustries, but speaking in a large sense OF
biographical history. woman originated
the industries. The physique of the man
OF today is the survival Of those men who
had to hunt and night; and the woman s
physique lie the survival Of those who
were good mothers and housekeepers.
Nearly all our athletic sports are de-
scended from the old hunting and fighting
exercises, and for that reason men are
better suited for them than women. While
men developed the qualities required in
hunting and hghting. women were develop
ing those that were related to the home
20 the arts and the industries. So II we
demand Of man those exercises which In
general have always been related 20 his
life we should also demand OF a woman
those exercises that are related TO her
historical development.