Mental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport

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The book delves into the historical significance of sport as a remedy for mental and physical health issues, particularly focusing on neurasthenia in the late nineteenth century. Gerald R. Gems highlights how participation and spectatorship in sports like baseball, boxing, cycling, and football offered both physical benefits and psychological relief amid societal changes. Notably, cycling empowered women to challenge traditional gender roles and restrictive norms, positioning sport as a catalyst for feminism and a response to subsequent health epidemics in modern times.