Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].
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pelvis has several specially vulnerable points. It is normally inclined to develop the distinctive width which differentiates woman's physique from man's. But excessive development of the pelvic—and adjacent—muscles and ligaments may check this normal tendency and artificially promote the narrow pelvis which approaches the proportions of the boy ; asexual, even if not definitely masculine. There is probably a double explanation of the extremely narrow average pelvic measurements of professional women acrobats and/or sports- women. They may be and doubtless often are naturally of sexually intermediate types ; the pronounced feminine build is not suited to such violent physical exertion. And, on the other hand, the woman athlete often owes her proficiency and her particular physique to her prolonged and strenuous practice. Only prolonged observation and investigation will enable us to prove how much is inborn idiosyncrasy, and how much the result of habit and training, i.e., acquired modification. But the small amount of reliable data already available corresponds to the results which the theory of genetic physiology would lead us to expect. Therefore there is every reason to counsel moderation in pelvic exertion during the formative years. Violent and prolonged gymnastic exercises impose, a great strain on girls and women ! A strain often unperceived and forgotten until serious symptoms appear at crucial physio- logical times — during pregnancy for instance. There is frequent trouble with the circulation and cardiac symptoms abound. And there is injury to the upper genital tract, revealing itself in menstrual pains and irregularities, in troublesome and persistent discharges, and—worst of all—in the aggravation of possibly slight gynaecological lesions and anomalies, of which the woman herself may have been quite unaware. No. Athletic women are not particularly adapted for motherhood, rather the reverse. And there is every reason not to " force" this type by artificial conditions and stimulation. But there is, of course, another side to the problem of