‘Unladylike’ Sweat, Jazzercise and Instagram Workouts: The History of Women’s Fitness in ‘Let’s Get Physical’

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jazzercise. The Thighmaster. Jane Fonda’s Workout. These are but a few of the exercise fads that author Danielle Friedman recounts in her new book “Let’s Get Physical,” a history of women and personal fitness. For much of the 20th century, “sweating was considered unladylike and women tried to hide their muscles under sleeves,” writes Friedman. The rise of personal fitness, however, offered women a chance to be strong. Yet, along with its message of strength and individual empowerment, women’s fitness is also caught up in the burdens posed by beauty standards. We’ll talk to Friedman about these contradictions and how the industry can change to “harness exercise in ways that truly liberate all women.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:56.5	In the early 1990s, Gloria Steinem reflected on a change that she'd seen in her times on the front lines of feminism.
1:01.2	For women to enjoy physical strength is a collective revolution, she wrote.
1:07.8	I've come to believe that society's acceptance of muscular women may be one of the most intimate visceral measures of change.
1:12.9	In a new book, Let's Get Physical, Danielle Friedman explores how that change came to be,
1:18.3	how women reinvented physical fitness, and the sexism, classism, and racism that have dogged the industry from the start.
1:20.0	There's a lot more to it than Jane Fonda and today's wellness influencers, but there's
1:23.7	also Jane Fonda.
1:24.8	And today's wellness influencers, we'll talk about it all after this news.
1:35.9	Let's get physical, physical.
	...

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