THE ENGLISH GIRL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1024, 13 January 1911, Page 8

THE ENGLISH GIRL.

EFFECT OF ATHLETICS ON HER '...-.■ - FIGURE. The Englisl/.'oman's.fondness for athletics, despite the slight changes it-pro-duces in her .is not\ bringing about any permanent deterioration- iu the beauty-of the. feminine form, according to Mr. John Gray, secretary of the-Anthropometrical Committee of tho British Association. .-'•■-..

Mr. John- Alexander, the American portrait painter, however," 'states that unless she radically.,dhanges:her."habits the American woman'in a few years will bo indistinguishable as regards her figure from a man.

Mr. Gray says: "Although the prosent fashion of Englishwomen indulging in athletics has influenced the modern woman's figure, broadening her shoulders and waist perhaps and enlarging her hands and feet, such changes are almost as temporary as the fashions which cause them. An. athletic woman may carry theiphysical signs of her muscular prowess to the end'of her life, but the physique and form of her children will not be influenced in the least.

"Unfortunately we:'have not enough statistics and' measurements -to speak with authority as to the amount • of change'athletics have,worked on the modern "woman's figure. Roughly I should say she is about an inch taller than the woman of a generation ago, and perhaps her waist is a littla larger and her shoulders flatter.", •

Mr. Alexander declares that' the ' American woman seems determined to ' lose-what constitutes woman's greatest charm. "In no-other country do you see such masculine figures as American women have.. In France the womna is : the personification -of grace. In Ger-• many she is not as graceful, perhaps,' but she has that motherly bearing which j gives her a lbvableness not often found! in our women. ' i "In England her stateliness and? dig-' nity. dissipate the slightest suggestion! of the masculine. But the American! woman has devoted herself to such an' "extent to athletics that she has become | 'the despair of. artists,' with her flat chest, huge muscular waist', strong; .heavy arms, thick neck, small hips, and • large feet and hands." 'v " ; "" : Dr. Dudley Allen'Sargent, director of .gymnastics 'at l Harvard" J Univer"sity, ;j pr&. ;> diets that unless the 'American woman • modifies her present passion" for violent outdoor exercises "her-figure' in a few 'years-will bo-:so> manlike that she i.will-'-appear ridicukvs in female attire."

Dr. Sargent contends that the physique of American womanhood has undergone.a singular change in the last twenty years, mainly as the.result of excessive indulgence in athletics. Dr. Sargent, has in his. study a composite statue modelled,in accordance with the. actual measurements of more- than 10,000;.women-before the year .'189.0.': Since the. statue was ■ completed,.: he says',, the American woman s physique has, been revolutionised until-it now. approximates.'that of the man.'•-■Her'.' feet and hands have become larger, her hips smaller, her shoulders broader, and her neck thicker. ,-' .

Mr. Marcus Stone, the eminent artist,: considers. that the figure of the average Englishwoman has deteriorated in recent .years.. This is not due, as in the United States, to violent exercise.

- "■Few Englishwomen indulge in athletics sufficiently. to change development," . said' Mr. Marcus Stone. - "Those.-who do' are in such a minority as to be negligible. Undoubtedly ' the figures of Englishwomen have grown worse,-and it is extremely difficult for' an artist now to find an' ideal model. In . my profession we are students of anatomy almost-as much as doctors are, '; and we know how figures are corrupted.' I hold "that the corset is the reason.'for the feminine figure being worse than it was.

"You scarcely ever see a normal' length- of. neck nowadays' in a woman because/the shoulders are of necessity held so high. ■ The impression of squareness in tho shoulder given by' the modern girl is due to the unnatural holding in at the Waist-by the-corset. Younsr. women are growing flat-chested, and that also I ascribe to the corset." ■