Body by Weimar

Athletes, Gender, and German Modernity

Nonfiction, History, Germany, Modern, 20th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies
Cover of the book Body by Weimar by Erik N. Jensen, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Erik N. Jensen ISBN: 9780199889587
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: October 7, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Erik N. Jensen
ISBN: 9780199889587
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: October 7, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

See the author featured in the "New Books in History" podcast: http://newbooksinhistory.com/2011/04/01/erik-jensen-body-by-weimar-athletes-gender-and-german-modernity-oxford-up-2010/ In Body by Weimar, Erik N. Jensen shows how German athletes reshaped gender roles in the turbulent decade after World War I and established the basis for a modern body and modern sensibility that remain with us to this day. The same cutting-edge techniques that engineers were using to increase the efficiency of factories and businesses in the 1920s aided athletes in boosting the productivity of their own flesh and bones. Sportswomen and men embodied modernity-quite literally-in its most streamlined, competitive, time-oriented form, and their own successes on the playing fields seemed to prove the value of economic rationalization to a skeptical public that often felt threatened by the process. Enthroned by the media as culture's trendsetters, champions in sports such as tennis, boxing, and track and field also provided models of sexual empowerment, social mobility, and self-determination. They showed their fans how to be modern, and, in the process, sparked heated debates over the aesthetics of the body, the limits of physical exertion, the obligations of citizens to the state, and the relationship between the sexes. If the images and debates in this book strike readers as familiar, it might well be because the ideal body of today-sleek, efficient, and equally available to men and women-received one of its earliest articulations in the fertile tumult of Germany's roaring twenties. After more than eighty years, we still want the Weimar body.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

See the author featured in the "New Books in History" podcast: http://newbooksinhistory.com/2011/04/01/erik-jensen-body-by-weimar-athletes-gender-and-german-modernity-oxford-up-2010/ In Body by Weimar, Erik N. Jensen shows how German athletes reshaped gender roles in the turbulent decade after World War I and established the basis for a modern body and modern sensibility that remain with us to this day. The same cutting-edge techniques that engineers were using to increase the efficiency of factories and businesses in the 1920s aided athletes in boosting the productivity of their own flesh and bones. Sportswomen and men embodied modernity-quite literally-in its most streamlined, competitive, time-oriented form, and their own successes on the playing fields seemed to prove the value of economic rationalization to a skeptical public that often felt threatened by the process. Enthroned by the media as culture's trendsetters, champions in sports such as tennis, boxing, and track and field also provided models of sexual empowerment, social mobility, and self-determination. They showed their fans how to be modern, and, in the process, sparked heated debates over the aesthetics of the body, the limits of physical exertion, the obligations of citizens to the state, and the relationship between the sexes. If the images and debates in this book strike readers as familiar, it might well be because the ideal body of today-sleek, efficient, and equally available to men and women-received one of its earliest articulations in the fertile tumult of Germany's roaring twenties. After more than eighty years, we still want the Weimar body.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Jenkins of Mexico by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Near-Death Experiences by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book America in Vietnam by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Schumann by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Building the Skyline by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book The Catonsville Nine by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Andy Clark and His Critics by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Rethinking Mahler by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book The Ideological Origins of the Dirty War by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Kharijites: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Parley P. Pratt by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Mastering Catastrophic Risk by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Talking About Troubles in Conversation by Erik N. Jensen
Cover of the book Evidence-Based Outcome Research by Erik N. Jensen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy