Frailty Myth

Redefining the Physical Potential of Women and Girls

By: Colette Dowling

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Paperback | 11 September 2001 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

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352 Pages

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21 x 13 x 3

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Can women be equal to men as long as men are physically stronger? And are men, in fact, stronger?
These are key questions that Colette Dowling, author of the bestselling The Cinderella Complex, raises in her provocative new book. The myth of female frailty, with its roots in nineteenth-century medicine and misogyny, has had a damaging effect on women's health, social status, and physical safety. It is Dowling's controversial thesis that women succumb to societal pressures to appear weak in order to seem more "feminine."
The Frailty Myth presents new evidence that girls are weaned from the use of their bodies even before they begin school. By adolescence, their strength and aerobic powers have started to decline unless the girls are exercising vigorously--and most aren't. By sixteen, they have already lost bone density and turned themselves into prime candidates for osteoporosis. They have also been deprived of motor stimulation that is essential for brain growth.
Yet as breakthroughs among elite women athletes grow more and more astounding, it begins to appear that strength and physical skill--for all women--is only a matter of learning and training. Men don't have a monopoly on physical prowess; when women and men are matched in size and level of training, the strength gap closes. In some areas, women are actually equipped to outperform men, due partly to differences in body structure, and partly to the newly discovered strengthening benefits of estrogen.

Drawing on extensive research in motor development, performance assessment, sports physi-ology, and endocrinology, Dowling presents an astonishing picture of the new physical woman. And she creates a powerful argument that true equality isn't possible until women learn how to stand up for themselves--physically.

Industry Reviews

"Rich cultures value thin women, and poor cultures fat women, but all male-dominant cultures value weakness in women. That's why Colette Dowling's The Frailty Myth is radical in its well-reasoned, readable, wise exposï¿½ of the reality, importance, and future of female strength." --Gloria Steinem "Required reading . . . [a] strong argument against [the] 'weaker-sex' stereotype." --Chicago Sun-Times

"In the twenty-first century, Americans are going to have to rethink the idea of the physical inferiority of women because of books like The Frailty Myth. Dowling overturns the old Victorian idea that women are the weaker sex. . . . This is a call to arms for female athleticism among girls and women of all ages." --Joan Jacobs Brumberg, author of The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls and Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Psychology Society & Culture Social Groups Gender Studies Gender Studies: Women and Girls Family & Health Fitness & Diet Sociology & Anthropology Sociology Social Research & Statistics Sports & Recreation

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Frailty Myth	p. 3
Before Frailty	p. 6
Behold the Cult of Invalidism	p. 12
The Masculinity Crisis	p. 22
Out of Confinement	p. 26
Shattering the Menstrual Myth	p. 36
The Incredible Shrinking Woman	p. 42
Becoming Feminine: The Gender Effect	p. 44
Learned Weakness	p. 51
Throwing Like a Guy: The Mystique of Innate Ability	p. 59
Comparisons (or, Are We Fated to be Weaker?)	p. 66
Shrinking Bodies, Shrinking Brains	p. 76
Getting Them Out of the Doll Corner	p. 84
Perceived Physical Competence	p. 85
The Coaching Factor	p. 89
The Dad Factor	p. 97
Crossing the Swinging Rope Bridge: Programs for Change	p. 103
Endangered Bodies	p. 113
Shrinking Self-Image	p. 116
Adolescence: The Crisis Years	p. 121
Entering the War Zone	p. 126
Double Bind	p. 140
Can I Play?: The Struggle to Get into the Game	p. 151
Title IX, or, the Fight for a Physical Education	p. 152
Suing for the Right to Play	p. 156
Admission into the Ultimate Game: The Olympics	p. 161
Winning as We'd Never Imagined	p. 169
The Abominable Sex Tests	p. 173
Media, Marketing, and the New Female Contender	p. 180
Closing the Strength Gap	p. 190
Men's Fear of Women's Strength	p. 195
The Myth of the "Mannish" Woman	p. 198
New Ways of Assessing Performance	p. 204
The Backlash	p. 208
The Estrogen Effect	p. 212
The New Physical Woman	p. 216
Going the Distance	p. 218
Physical Equality: The Final Stage	p. 225
Physical Assault: Keeping Women Down	p. 228
Trauma: Freud's Little Detour	p. 233
Dangerous Lessons in Passive Resistance	p. 241
Fighting Back	p. 249
Unlearning Passivity	p. 253
Epilogue	p. 261
Notes	p. 267
Index	p. 305
Reader's Guide	p. 319
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Frailty Myth

Redefining the Physical Potential of Women and Girls

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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