The Amateur Body and the Middle-class Man: Work, Health and Style in Victorian Britain

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This article seeks to move the discussion of amateurism beyond the familiar themes of the public school, class distinction and professional corruption. The sporting body is the focus for a discussion of the factors behind the amateur stress on active participation. Amateurism involved more or less strenuous forms of physical exertion by those whose lives increasingly were confined by sedentary office employment. The competitive culture of Victorian work, especially in the City of London, encouraged more systematic forms of sporting contest. Also, poor air quality and new patterns of commuting prompted greater emphasis on outdoor exercise, which was increasingly seen by doctors as beneficial to health. The amateur cult of the active body was further heightened by the widespread Hellenist aesthetic of Victorian society. Hence amateurism was shaped to a greater extent than has been acknowledged by the bodily requirements of work and health as well as by a revived classical ideal of human proportion and beauty.