page_title: 20th century women's fitness culture
section_title: 1900 to 1920
hierarchical_section_title: 20th century women's fitness culture / 1900 to 1920
caption_attribution_description: English: "Charmion" (real name Laverie Vallee, 1875 - 1949), a vaudeville strongwoman and trapeze artist who appeared at the Old Howard in the late 19th century.
context_page_description: The 20th century saw multiple trends and changes in women's fitness culture.
context_section_description: During the 19th century women participated in many forms of recreational fitness. Specific activities depended largely on the culture and social class, but some activities included horse back riding, dancing, tennis, and early versions of badminton.
  Social, commercial and scientific developments between 1900 and 1920 led to the increase of physical activities available to American women. Opportunities for women flourished as organized sports began to grow in popularity and physical education programs for girls were introduced in schools. One sport that was introduced in America at the turn of the century was basketball which quickly swept over schools and playgrounds across the nation. While initially men played the sport, it wasn't long before women too could be found playing basketball at parks, YWCA's, playgrounds, and in schools from kindergarten's through universities. However, women's basketball rules were different than men's due to fear that women may over exert themselves, or dislodge their uterus, if play became too intense.
  
  Another major achievement in the growing women's fitness movement, was when women first competed in the olympics. American physical educators, who were viewed as the experts on the topic at the time, strongly objected to women participating in the olympics. They claimed that it caused unnecessary physical strain and may create divisions among women. Despite this, after seeing what other women athletes were capable of doing, many women began to rethink their athletic limitations and capabilities.
  One social and commercial development at the turn of the 20th century was the emergence of a group of female trapeze artists known as “strong women”. They were at first criticized for opposing societal gender norms, but with the emergence of the cinema they soon became very popular icons for female health. One famous trapeze artist of this time was Laverie Vallée, better known as Charmion. Her trapeze act was filmed and produced by Thomas Edison in 1901 and is known as the Trapeze Disrobing Act. The very popular 3 minute video shows Vallée swinging through the air, undressing herself while revealing a very muscular upper body. As more strong women like Vallée performed, their images were publicized through posters and postcards throughout the United States. These images challenged the aesthetic ideal of the female body.
  
  Scientific developments of the time were spearheaded by male physical educators whose work was focused on how to create the most efficient human body, both male and female. Their focus was on the bodies weight and shape. Their research was focused on determining what the ideal, most efficient body would like.
caption: Laverie Vallée as Charmion
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