WDAY’ N01724:, 1921
63"":
ARE MORE STRENUOUS
Authorities in Leading American Colleges Re-
lute Findings by British Teachers That
\luscular t,Girls HaWe Dull Minds but
Some Doubt SVisdom offlGames
1140THERS and fathers the country over with daughters of school
and college age are directly concerned in the-following article. ‘
The sudden growth of strenuous sports for women has astonished
the nation.. H ow the outdoor sportsifast were developing Amazons was told
in a valuable statistical article recently, when figures were presented
from the main women ’5 colleges showing the increased stature, weight
and strength of the students.
m
Now comes news from London that a conference of women educators,
most of, them physical culture instructors or girls’ school heads, unani-
mously agreed that participation 'by girls in boys’ sports was injurious.
To ascertain the views of American educators of women on this subject
this newspaper sent leading questions to the beads of physical depart-
;ments and to the college deans and herewith presents their varied and
various replies.
' TX‘S sports for women. especially
M in the girls' schools and colleizes.
is :1. topic that now rousee inter-
national interest. particularly in the two
great Anglo-Saxon nations. Great Britain
Ind America. Great Britain has gone on
record as finding that strenuous sports are
injurious. Points of the British indictment
include: '
Strong- girls made weak; not weak
girls made strong.
Tomhoys bad tempered and sour.
lvs‘nre °encratlon endangered.
51:5. ':nscnlar women have still,
slow 1 (Vi-king brains.
l'ln Jeni training colleges prepara-
tory wimols (or nervous cases for
nerdn': homes.
Swedish exercises German props-
uzllrda to endanger the race.
for the British side. It must be
: for years the British women have
7-"»'-1'= ruling so hounds, playing the nerve-
Canadian game of lacrosse, have
l-"1:‘r1y football teams and even have
11:31.11 men in tug-of—war matches.
1111‘. golf have engrossed themguite
though neither sport figures in
of the recent London con-
€11d.11:.'ncnt
1.111 aside from the track sports.
. :renuous games played have been
:1 little baseball hockey and row—
i . VHF}; active have been
(1 t' 1. 1 1izterclass comp'fitions as a rule.
:mn to the intersclhml and even
”:1 (with France) matches of
.~-.c:,11l tug-or—war
11‘ this reason it is not surprising
majority of American educators
who red this questions
.116. 1h.-.. 5; VETS for girls are beneficial.
spnrt;
acrosse a 2'. d
.113er newspaper‘s
Divergence of Opinion Is Recorded
Even Among Our Educators
divergence of
T’ :1 1'2": here there is a
('13; 1 ".2: is most lntensrins: and of de—
,1 1 ' 1 1-3 par: 11'} of“ earls 191 school and
1.», _' 1.1.". Franc: Synge-1s 1'1V‘ersity_ for
» 111119; word 1mm Mrs. liar e
"b';3§cvell
right."
N. Y.. Her-
'.-Ec:ll educa—
is a W'Vrning
uh: 3'; Hall she
‘rstrzzctors 1113‘“:
. at Keely:
that
.1 1 ' “11.11.11 111 this :11 ..«..e. An-
1 1 ~ 1"111. cm. comm-.111: (rim. from Prof
. Young Cf L or. ell Cniveiz'wV.
' 1/1; “a moderate
; rather
nir d of gm-
shall-l
1‘ (IS. :1
«vii no!‘ El; ;1'.
lxsszns in correct
. and simple ex-
out devicts or para-
or a dance. were in
(-13 fr)“ {he bar.
cf course. the
.t season. when the
" s of the contizry. and
whole country. is
, . veg-:35 :1 rather unusual c011.-
e been observed by them: it
importance 1.3
. was given 1' 5
“4.1125 athletic in 1hr 51"?"ls‘ colleges
the men. l—‘hy cal direc-
accounting
Z: . ':8 0;
re trouble at all in
3'1”“ the girls are showing enor-
‘st in the various events toward
.. .51- work in the gymnasia have
, The contains between crack tam:
:sketball. thdr relay races. their water
matches, these have absorbed the minds of
the young women in certain colleges to the
diminution 0! their satisfaction in getting’n
B. A. or B. S. or any honorary degree. For
this year interest in athletics has had a
feminine and not a. masculine culmination.
The question is being asked it this interest
is a. naturally feminine one and will It last.
If it is and does, "What is the new woman
going to be'llke when she finally arrives?"
Recognizing the existence of such condl.
firms. this paper .has gone—as its cus-
tom is—to headquarters to find to what
rxtent Vassar VVellesley, Bryn Mawr and
other womens colleges have been willing to
go in emulating Glrton and other English
schools. By presenting unabridged the
answers, which have been returned courte-
ously in almost every instance, the facts
and what they lead to may be studied by
every reader for himself.
If a. general statement may be permitted
,‘to precede the individual expression one
:11an be made here showing the favorable
minds of the physical directors of the lead-
ing women's (Olleges toward some form of
hletics. This statement includes the opin-
ion of Miss Ballentine, who heads the de-
partment of physical education of Vassar;
\llss Ada (‘omstock dean of Smith: Miss
Roxana. H. V'l ism and )liss Mary Hemen-
way Hall of the department of hygiene of
Welleslev and Miss Elizabcth A \Vrlght c!
Radcliffe.
m scum i, ‘Nonwm' ’ (ammo Sam 1;.
flcii)<o% 19112122111113an
i
1
-...- 7'“
.- ccnfine their athletics largely to intercl
Photog: th Shows Miss Blanche S's rel :eic t
no,ol “later cury, (201111., in the high jump in a recent mee
cs 01' antel“
J h of St.
and mo‘licrs will Le
see some opir ion e5:-
us \g nus R \Vayman, physical
-.r nor rd 'Collefzc Where so many
t-llent
3. college trainiigi
1111 said tl 1:11 her
:y in need of rest
fol—
fr, 1'
séhools g0 --.
s W'ayman's a:
Chief h i been so p31}
that she had immediately left. the oil;
lowing commencement. 1
01111 letter to Miss W'ayman was duly re-
ccived but she did not consider the ques-
tions su‘ficicnlly 1mpo..ant to answer them,”
exolained the young woman.
“Did Miss ‘Wayman say so?"
"YVell, it is obvious that she thought so,
since she did not answer the letter."
Another deduction has been drawn so
gen .i-eral) from the compiled data that it
may be readily accepted: it is that far from
being detrimental to a young' woman's
standing in her studies. her interest and
active participation in athletic sports has
usually advanced her. In fact, the active.
athletic girl, far from having “a still, slow
working brain." possesses a very lively men-
tality. ,
Miss Rachel 15.. Hendinck of the physical
Wentoltheflollm'ntmberalmnot
What
Boston University puts in a. nutshell
may be termed almost universal firun
W’rites she:
‘Our department of physical education
has no Gala which leads me to bel; eve tha:
A-1e ericu'n college women‘s sport life ““713
to reduce either physical or mental alert~
mess At Boston UniV'ersiiy the major part
or” one, yearis spent at indoor gymnastics,
apparatus work, games (basketball among
them) and foil; dancing 1' find improve;
moms in health are much greater in num-
ber than otherwise. The senior girls who
win the Phi Bela Kappa are usually those
VVho have been re1'ulz1 I‘ly active in the Girls
Athletic Association. "
Dr. Skarstrom senior professor of the de-
partment of hygiene of ‘Wclicsle‘y College,
has this to say:
The contention that participation in
sports like basketball, hockey, &c., would
7 be associated with "stiff, slow working
brains" does not, seem to be in, keeping
with our experience here at Wellesley.
Quite the contrary. Many, of our most
brilliant students and graduates—Phi
, Beta. Kappas some of them-have nad
a great deal of practice. and show much, _- ,
' proficiency in such sports. Indeed. we‘l»
Required at Wellesley
requirements
sports,
(-blalning a W'elleslcy 1'3.
lecngnlze
gives lo work alongr these lines.
Bul lclin speflfics
of hygiene.
me require?
of all froslirnrn tun homs a week for a. yea',
c1:l1i<h 111111125 (111(- half 3101111 free: rd the d9.-
grce.
fall
, .ilie 1. (
Gymn.
rigs. 1 ‘
0’,
for 1
training;
following:
igbut none of whom have taken ,
strenuous athletics. the mm: W
believe that judicious training ot.thls
kind, so far from retarding mental action
and brain development, means just the
opposite.
As to the assertion that the "so—called
Swedish drill was Insidious German
propaganda to lessen the vitality of the
English race through the coming genera-
tion of young Women" ii. is obviously
absurd on the face or it. The fact that
training which might be and actually
is so designated is given as a part or
the routine of the personnel of the
British anny and navy would in itself
suggest the absurdity of the statement.
Gymnastic work of a clean cut charac-
‘ ter is intended to and undoubtedly does
11am alertness of attention and quick-
ness of reaction as well as skill in body
run-trol. These are some of the purposes,
of such work, and We have reason, to be-
lieve that such purposes are really ac-
ccznplishod more or less. whether 'he
“'Ul‘k is designated "Swedish drill" or.
in any case is of a character regi- airing
alertness and precision.
’ allege
As an Ess
“When 3011 see that there are certain
in gymnastics and
for
A. degree. you will
that Wellesley
of work
as well as in personal hygiene,
the important, e
The “'c‘lesle 3’
liter
('olltn "e,
of the (leper: me.
tie and outdoor sport.
.mle»
This il‘:
and spring: .31
(:11 11100.?
>301le
rowing. ruoni
'oor work in
Inter term—gymnnsll
"cod work in the above.
e 0r remedial work is
indoor gymnasium practice.
View; of Miss Elfin" th A, Writ:
Radcliffe College rclati i
for girl's are
ihe
incorporated
The assertions which are
have been made by. 1‘11: hea
stated to
d unstresses
of certain English schools for girls relan '
tive to the subject of sports do not seem ~
to me to be well grounded?
In regard to the effect of strenuous
sports on academic standing, I have no
accurate on extensive data. on hand, but
the following CGmparlson bearing on the
subject may be of some interest: Out
of thirty-nine young women who have
taken a prominent part in athletics this
year as captains or members of one or
more sports teams the academic rank-
ing is as follows: Poor, 4; fair, 15; good.
»9; very good, 8; excellent. 8. Out of a
similar number taken at random, some
of whom have donen gymnasium work.
tial to a Degree
The testimonv of Miss Roxana Vivian of
the same college is to the same effect.
in conclusion she so id:
and
the
. and these are afl-
V‘V'lien needed.
subsiiiuzed
htr
- to physical
in the
"POR" 3 INJURIOUSTO GIRLS?
Poor. £3; fair. 8'; good 15; Very goc‘l.
excellent, 2. The 11$ in?!” ll) t’
instance are PM Be
If)”; m '11;-
1 do}; or; 4,117; :9,
This very super
Rests though of course
'lhat there is no marked difference In :19
quality of the academic work done by
the'two groups. My experience would
bear out this-suggestion} It is also of
some interest that out of four juniors
elected. to the Phi Beta Kappa this
spring three have participated in strenu~
ous sports, one being the captain or her
basketball team for next year.
I do not believe that it is wise for
girls to attempt all sports engaged in by
boys if the same standards are to be
used. With modifications in rules, suf—
flent training and supervision, they may
‘ indulge in most of them without injury-
I can see no foundation for the assertion
in regard to the Swedish drill. An ex-
perience of many years in the use of
these exercises has only served to con-
vlnce me of their high educational and
_ corrective value.
A letter from Miss Ads, Comatook. dean
of Smith College. leaves no doubt as to the
position taken there on the question of
physical training for women. Here it is:
Please let’ me say that I do approve
of strenuous sports for girls if they are
properly supervised and regulated. so
that the health of those engaging in.
them is improved rather than damaged.
such supervision. and regulation are. I
think. entirely possible. Intercollegiate
sports I think likely to involve a strain
.which is harmful.
' In this college, as in most colleges, we
do not allow membership in teams to
students who are deficient in scholar-
,shlp. That fact, or course. removes
from all exhibition games students who
are not in good standing. I have often
observed, however, with a good deal of
interest that some of our ablest students
cistir guish themselves in games and
sports.
Certainly skill In sports and intellec-
tual ability are not inconsistent. and I
am inclined to think that a 1'1 of: mind
is as much of a help in play 1.,1 1 games
' as it is in other activities.
Umpire Attacked by a Girl
Made Hysterical in a Game
Herman J. Norton, director of physical
education in the public schools of Rochester,
advocatedyplenty' of exercise in the open
air for girls. but made a. sharp distinction
between the sort of exorcists and sports
which should be allotted to girls and to
boy” ,
"Girls' sports ugh: to be of a different
type from boys' sports," he said. "That is,
girls Ought not to be allowed in such strenu-.
ous competitions and violent exercises as
characterize boys' sports. It W0: .lld be my
judgment that such events as high jumping
and long distance endurance runs, for in-
lnsrance; ought to be barred from girls‘
sports. They should be given points in-
slead on excellence of form in accomplish-
ment rather than for extremes of effort.”
' Speaking as the. result or years of experi-
ence in the training and management of
both girls and boys in athletics and phy-
sical training work. Mr. \‘Orton declared
that he did not approve of basketball for
girls when played as boys play the game.
He asserted that girls become highly ner-
vous in keen competitive events and often
go into hysterics owing to the lover-strain
on their more delicate nervous systems. He
cited one incident of some years ago whore
he was attacked by a girl in a. basketball
con-rt while he was acting as umpire in a
game. He said that the girl was not to
blame for the incident, as she was simply
hysterical with excitement.
"In my opinion, We jeopardize not only
the health of the girls thenis'lvcs when no
allow them to enter strenuous athletic corn-
11c ilions and games bit the f.1: are child F611
of the race.
Alllmu '11 be»
from - ‘
.;n11':;'_:
11‘ —
“‘ulilzi bar (1:? strizxcr 111a
”VT-Vii;
Severe. ho“
Flirfljlr‘l 3,9 :3.
. \
10 L1... i\(""’l for
. girls.
l‘na: he could nit .mprme
:91: 1: 1mm of some inllns’ ial
allowing 1i 1.: .. sociliions
. gll‘ls’ teams 1'11"..- 31'id here 'about
the (2021111111: to compete VVil h otlwr girls”
name. He 51:51 211': res'trdcl sue-1 condxfii—
{or
and likely
lion asfl'u' too strenuous and f
the members of a.
10 haVe ingurinus effects in inusz' years. .
mee 901' Charles ‘V’. B Your of Cornell
[Inlve "s deparlment of 11h:'si2.;- educa—
tion gives the subject full treatment. lie
writes? . . ' '
‘ Replying to your inquiry relative to
fie effect upon girls of participation in
the more strenuous athletic spans. 1
would be inclined to question the Eng-
lish contention except in cases Where
Suc‘h participation is continued over a .
considerable period of time. The exact
balance between the proper 3310.11“ 0‘
training for body and mind is not al-
Wfié’s easy to determine, and varies with
the individual of both sexes or either
sex, but in general my impression is
that the girl “professional” athlete
. would. as the English teachers intimate,
the 1’
1]: grade below par on a psychological test,
, . 1 ,
sports.
letlc girls who are prominent in ”our in-
tramural sports of the kind mentioned
are apt to be above. the average in their
scholastic work and general mental
Vile—limes.
, ql by ?'.eVe‘ in athletics for girl... but on
a 1132:; strenuous basis than {or bOVS. al-
though up to the twelfth or fourteenlh
you? very little distinction need be made-
Mtgr that period I am not a. Very strong
advocate for strenuous forms of com-
petition which require a special and
long continued course of training.
Even with the college boy athlete
cases come under observation now and
then of an apparently arrested 111cntal
development as the result of a too-con-
tinuous and ovenstrenuous course of
training during the period of growth,
and it would pmbably be the same with
girls, only more so. There are some
girls, no doubt, who can do without in-
jury anything that boys can do. bufi
lhey are decidedly in the minority. and
until by a Wiser selection of ancestry
and the universal adoption of a more
complete and systematic course or train-
ing from infancy on, we are able to
produce a race of super-women, I believe
emphasis shoud'be laid upon moderate
participation in a variety of sports rather
than upon specialization in a. few.
With regard to the so-called Swedish
drill being “insidious German propa-
ganda. to lessen the vitality of the Eng-
lish race, &c.," that sounds like the ,
blunting: of some “Germanophobe." 82.
though it cannot be denied that the
work has been persistently advocated
hy a few more or less rabid adherents
of Teutonic extraction who have clung
to their preconceived notions accord.
ing to the best traditions of their racial
characteristics
Miss Palmer head of the drpaxtme n: of
physical education of \Iount Holyoke College
at South Hadley Mass, one of the noted in-
stitutions for women, “rote that minimized
sports. in her department were 39‘. in their
primary: tops, “if is hardly! 31h {cr us to
enter the controversy." 1»
Miss Converse, principal of 1311.1 Lincoln
School, one of 11m largest {35111011113136 schools
for girls in P1111. iVlcnr‘e, R. I., said 11111: the.
statement that .11iilcliv girls were slow mcn-
tally “as l‘illiuu -'
“I think that .1111; one would fii 11‘. it Vet"?
difficult to 1111111111 1~VV1 epm" sl' lenient of,
that kind," she said. "Some of my brightest
students are those who excel in arhletlc
011 the other hand, there are some
who are fond of outdoor sports who are not
such good students. and oilicrs who are
good slud<1n1swho do not care for sporls ati’
all. My experience in directing the instruc—
tion of girls, and my own college rx rienoo
as well, has been that you cam 0t g1: mxuli 23
on this matter"
bliss Alexander of the Mary C. \Vheeler
School, another of the Providence gills'
preparatory and finishing schools said that:
her experience VVas just to the contraiy of
that expressed by the London instructoss
"We have found here that the girls who,
excel in athletics are usually the .‘ocst
students. An example of this “as giVen at
the recent field day held by the 51' ncol. The
girls who “on the prizes in the field events
were the girls who the next (on were
awarded first honors in their classes.”
Mrs. Francis G. Allinson. acting (311311 of
the Woman's College of Brown [‘11 ive ersity,
was out of town and consequently could no' '
be inleviewed, but It was said .hat as 8'
general thing the leading athletes among
the col legc women a 3 also the foremost
students in their; loss 1
‘Vomen athletic inst
1C
actors in i‘Vracnso,
University, high schools and the ‘1.\". Cf
A. and heads of departments in 1?. r £11: :11-
"tulions ridicule views of London 1; : {rm tors
that "girls who are successful in r1 nuoas
sports invariably have stiff and 11.11 work-
ing; brains.” '
Some of the women (1 101a: 1-1— ::‘»s news-
palm-1’s representative 1'3}le ii _ filterncnt
“foolish.” ,
'l‘lle gi-I‘“ ’llCnl<1l\'1"S 1111» i1. :1111 at
PJ‘l'ltS. Cm) of 13114:: ' '
SV‘. immcr. tic-closed shc— (ll—11
aux-1m all m lime to Simple. (l:
'ans as active as the ms.
The geneial (mi:
Sk'Oll, l1 ., 1,1'
31:;1'1 out. College of 151111:
l'i'iivcrsltb': "I do not
London instructor says" >1
353111111118
6.; ‘
L111“
have never in all my (111111111
university had any girl slim“:
1] agility because of her 311,-:
Oftentimc-s they (Egret-:1 11- 11111 n time
to sports that they neglect their
but a girl athlete who devotes as m 1(3
to her books as the non-aililezr in
goods. standing, so I haVe fr; ,_
never found any difference in the 3
of an athletically inclined girl a:
is not. It is merely a question of 1
of time they put in on their sf
Miss May Walton of the Y. Vi
not see the London View at all. 5:11;- , f
it as nonsense. “A girl has g t to l
wilted and work her brain rapile
1111‘.
1“,.-
mfiit
i
'any kind 0! sports," she said; “‘ins’carl ctr
hampering them, it helps them.
instance, in the wesaving classes in swim-
Take, for
Jmlng This develops the mental as cell as
the physical qualities of the evident. I
certainly do not agree with him. I an
active in various branches of sports, and,
although I may not excel, yet my brain 3
just as active as the next fellow‘s. "
The one discordant note was struck b3
u" Marie Immis, chaperone at Winchell
Syracuse University, who “bellevw
the Halli-em W menses:
Norwalk Chronicler