Closer to the body. The urban female body and its perception in the Sokol and gymnastics movement in Prague and Dresden in the period prior to the First World War

Closer to the body. The urban female body and its perception in the Sokol and gymnastics movement in Prague and Dresden in the period prior to the First World War. The creation of modern cities and new urban forms brought with it new aspects of the perception of the female body. City boulevards offered women, on the one hand, greater freedom of movement and anonymity, and on the other, modified the discourse on discipline so that the moral integrity of women out on their own in the city was subject to constant scrutiny by passers-by; frequently, mere trivialities could bring a woman's image into question in the eyes of those around her. The image of women thus became strongly sexualised, wavering from that of the prostitute to that of girls on advertising boards. Photography, which developed into a mass medium in the second half of the 19th century, brought with it, too, new aspects in the perception of the female body. Photographic images, including portraits, represent an interesting avenue for discussion of the perception of the female body in historical research. Photographs allow the researcher to determine the qualities ascribed to the female body in the contemporary social discourse and how these were conveyed to viewers. This applies all the more to the gymnastics movement, in which the..