Woman and the sport fetish: modernity, consumerism and sports participation in interwar Britain

The emergence of the ‘modern woman’ in Inter-War Britain was the result of a process which began at the end of the previous century. The new modern woman was symbolic of youth and freedom; she embraced life and spent her time in the pursuit of fun and enjoyment. The female body was, in many ways, one of the central focuses of the new modernity. The way it was dressed, its hair styled and even its shape were all intrinsic symbols of a woman's conformity to modernity and its associated ideals. Sport could provide an opportunity to train and tone the body in an effort to conform to the new idealised ‘boyish’ shape, to improve posture and, it was believed, even to enhance beauty.