The Frailty Myth: Redefining the Physical Potential of Women and Girls
by Colette Dowling
- Used
- Very Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0375758151
- ISBN 13
- 9780375758157
- Seller
-
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
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.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Quixotic Books (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- QB01028
- Title
- The Frailty Myth: Redefining the Physical Potential of Women and Girls
- Author
- Colette Dowling
- Format/Binding
- Softcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0375758151
- ISBN 13
- 9780375758157
- Publisher
- Random House Trade Paperbacks
- Place of Publication
- Westminster, Maryland, U.s.a
- This edition first published
- September 11, 2001
- Keywords
- Gender studies, feminism, sports, stereotypes, female athleticism, body image, gender equality, social perceptions, physical potential, empowerment.
Terms of Sale
Quixotic Books
About the Seller
Quixotic Books
About Quixotic Books
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