{"product_id":"9781666955088","title":"Mental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSport, Identity, and Culture\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eMental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGerald R. Gems\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eHistory \/ United States \/ 19th Century\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLong before therapy apps and wellness culture, Americans turned to sport to steady minds unsettled by modern life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport\u003c\/i\u003e examines the historical role of sport as both a mental and physical remedy during the late-nineteenth-century epidemic of neurasthenia, a debilitating neurological condition that gripped American society. Gerald R. Gems argues that the rapid expansion of organized sport and sport spectatorship coincided with-and responded to-the anxieties produced by an accelerating economic and social order. Activities such as baseball, boxing, cycling, and football offered psychological escape and physical discipline at a time when modern life was widely believed to exhaust the nervous system. Sports provided not only therapeutic relief but also a means to challenge rigid gender norms, domestic confinement, and restrictive fashions that reinforced female subordination. As women claimed physical autonomy through sport, athletic participation became interwoven with broader feminist currents. Tracing these developments forward, the book shows how sport emerged as a recurring prescription for both mental health crises and social change well into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Revealing sport's enduring role as both therapy and catalyst, this work reframes athletics as a central force in shaping modern ideas of health, gender, and social reform.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGerald Gems\u003c\/b\u003e is professor emeritus at North Central College and past president of the North American Society for Sport History.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e23 July 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eLexington Books\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781666955088\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e234\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51223591354508,"sku":"9781666955088","price":35.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_18406e40-e3ea-4fcc-9faf-86b4733109c7.jpg?v=1783078308","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781666955088","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}