Athletics and the Girl

Ladies' Mirror, Volume V, Issue 6, 1 December 1926, Page 50

Athletics and the Girl

'"The emancipation of women has progressed far during the present generation, and the once-styled "weaker sex" nowadays claim most of the privileges of their "lords and masters.'' But it is when we turn to girlhood we find the erstwhile "tom-boys" of the Victoria era were mild and docile creatures com-

pared with the “flappers” as we know them now. The exubrance of youth is to-day as strongly manifest in the female as in the male, and the former now enters into the field of athletics with as much vim as do our young men, and vie with one another for the laurels in all branches of strenuous sport. There are many people who deplore this modern craze of women participating in all forms of sport. They would have girls stick to tennis in the summer and go! f in the winter. It is certainly true that there must be a limit to the exertion undertaken by women, and that that limit must bo placed well within their powers of endurance.

The woman footballer is an odious sight, and does neither herself nor the game she travesties credit. The girl cricketer is in better case, but it is doubtful whether the strain of bowling is good for her, and certainly her batting lacks the grace and ease that we associate with that art. The art of running obvi-

she has to do these things in a feminine way, for grace and charm counts for far more than the beating of records. So the advice we offer to girls of New Zealand is the same we should offer to boys. Play games for fun and enjoy them. The minute they become as arduous as work, it is time to cry, “Hold, enough!” TO*

When not to Bathe (By Dr. Frederick Craves) Tpo the city worker, wearied with hot and dusty pavements, stuffy offices, and the smell of petrol, there is a thrill in the very thought of plunging into the cool summer waves, cleaving one’s way through their salt freshness, lying on the golden sands, and inhaling the scents of the ocean. Apart, however from the actual physical

dangers of accident, of cramp, of currents, and even of drowning, there are minor risks; and there are certain points that arc worth remembering by those who go into the sea.

The best time to enter the water is mid-morning or afternoon. The body temperature and vitality have then reached their normal, and the water is warmer. Early-morning bathing is not always a good tiling even for the strong person, and has its dangers for the delicate; for the system is then more susceptible to the shock of chilling, and its nerve ganglia are more easily upset. Moreover, the body has been fortified by a meal which should be well on its way to full digestion before bathing. It is always risky to go into the water just after taking a full meal. TAKING IN OZONE gca bathing does us good in many ways. The action of the flow of salt water over the skin is stimulating and a tonic. Swimming is a splendid exercise that brings into play all the muscles. It encourages forced respiration, and so expands the lungs and air cells fully, and expels some of what the physiologist calls the “residual air." More than this, there is a reason to believe that our system, by means of the skin pores, the mucous membranes, etc., absorbs a certain amount of ozonised and iodised constituents of sea air and sea water that arc most valuable to us, especially in the case of delicate people. Many a troublesome eruption or glandular swelling that has resisted treatment at home goes at the sea. One danger of bathing is that one is often tempted to indulge too much, to stay in the water too long. One should be guided largely by inclination and the effect the exercise is having. It is better to underdo rather than overdo it.

Many visitors to the seaside, in their anxiety to make the utmost of a short holiday, go in too often, or stay in too long, with the result that they return home tired and lose the benefits of the change.

ously ought to be encouraged, for if left to her own devices, the average woman, when she tries to run. flops along like a wounded bird, turns her feet out. and gets over the ground as awkwardly and as slowly as a street-vendor’s toy. but good can come from the encouragement of all girls to run easily from their hips, on their toes, and with their feet turning slightly inwards. On the other hand, in spite of the fact that some girls run better than men over broken ground, it is hardly wise for women to race for distances greater than a mile. There can be no possible benefit to a woman in having huge leg muscles or stomach muscles as hard as iron. There is, too, the danger of a girl turning into a pot-hunter,. and any man would prefer to have as a wife the. early Victorian demure miss who fainted at the sight of a mouse rather than the masculine muscular giantess who talks forever in terms of handicaps and times, and would think a day wasted when she missed her skipping exercises and punch-ball before breakfast. Every man likes a girl to swim well, dive neatly, hold a racquet, drive a golf ball, ride a horse, and, if possible, run easily and without getting too easily fatigued. ' But