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Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'
Let's Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman
2 reviews
jcstokes95's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
When I was in college I read Anna Kessel's Eat Sweat Play, which was the only book I had ever seen about woman and exercise that wasn't some sort of weight loss instruction manual. While I didn't agree with everything Kessel said, I found it life-changing to read a book about women, sport and joy. I've been looking for a similar piece ever since and this is that spiritual companion!
Written as part timeline, part biography of female fitness pioneers and the trends they spawned, this cover everything from Buns of Steel to Jessamyn Stanley's Underbelly classes. I loved the pacing of this; it felt like little bitesized histories with the perfect combo of social history and interesting facts about these founders. I feel like I learned a lot about workouts I know of but never dug into. It makes me curious to try new things (the same effect Kessel's book had). I think a lot of women who see the gym as a chore would enjoy looking through this lens. It makes you feel like you have a lot more fun options then running on a treadmill out of self-hatred (no shade treadmill girlies, you scare me but also #madrespect).
There are a few times I wish the author would go into more detail on some of the scummy parts of stories. While she does acknowledge racial barriers across all of these mini-histories, I feel like we could sit with them a little longer. Especially in the case of the chapter on yoga, which leaves a lot of the initial mention of the spiritual practice out by the time Indra Devi is cashing checks and telling white ladies yoga will make them smaller. Also, the final chapter, Expand, leaves some things left unexamined. I'd love to see her be more explicit on some of the influence plus size fitness instructors online have had and on weight stigma in fitness. For a lot of American women, weight stigma keeps them out of fitness environments. It could have been talked about more explicitly. The way she talks about this and race make me wonder if she's trying to avoid a third rail. But other than this, I found this an informative read with a fun, bouncy attitude.
Written as part timeline, part biography of female fitness pioneers and the trends they spawned, this cover everything from Buns of Steel to Jessamyn Stanley's Underbelly classes. I loved the pacing of this; it felt like little bitesized histories with the perfect combo of social history and interesting facts about these founders. I feel like I learned a lot about workouts I know of but never dug into. It makes me curious to try new things (the same effect Kessel's book had). I think a lot of women who see the gym as a chore would enjoy looking through this lens. It makes you feel like you have a lot more fun options then running on a treadmill out of self-hatred (no shade treadmill girlies, you scare me but also #madrespect).
There are a few times I wish the author would go into more detail on some of the scummy parts of stories. While she does acknowledge racial barriers across all of these mini-histories, I feel like we could sit with them a little longer. Especially in the case of the chapter on yoga, which leaves a lot of the initial mention of the spiritual practice out by the time Indra Devi is cashing checks and telling white ladies yoga will make them smaller. Also, the final chapter, Expand, leaves some things left unexamined. I'd love to see her be more explicit on some of the influence plus size fitness instructors online have had and on weight stigma in fitness. For a lot of American women, weight stigma keeps them out of fitness environments. It could have been talked about more explicitly. The way she talks about this and race make me wonder if she's trying to avoid a third rail. But other than this, I found this an informative read with a fun, bouncy attitude.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence
zombiezami's review
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
Truly wonderful and made me appreciate how far progress has come in terms of women feeling comfortable exercising. I suspect, however, that the history of Black people and Black women specifically in fitness is not as peripheral as the author makes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Sexism
Moderate: Eating disorder, Racism, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Addiction, Cursing, Incest, Genocide, Pregnancy, War, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia
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