XIX

OUTDOOR SPORTS FOR GIRLS

What to wear—­Confidence—­Horseback riding—­Tennis—­Golf—­Camping

A generation ago the girl who joined her brother in his sports would have been considered a “tom boy,” but in recent years girls have discovered that with comparatively few exceptions they can join in the sports and recreations of their brothers and in some cases attain a remarkable degree of skill.

Girls’ schools have done much to spread this idea.  A rational outdoor costume and a desire to be physically well also has helped “the outdoor girl” to be regarded as the highest type of womanhood.  Only her grandmother sighs over tanned cheeks and muscular arms.

The girl who is not a good sport is the exception rather than the rule.  Besides, our grandmothers worked at their gardening, which is out-of-door exercise, and a preventive, as Kipling tells, of the “hump” we get from having too little to do.  He says: 

    "The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
          Or frowst with a book by the fire,
    But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
          And dig till you gently perspire."

From a feminine standpoint the first question must be, “What shall I wear?” There is no need to be handicapped by skirts, at least when one’s exercise is taken in company with a crowd of girls.  The bicycle introduced the bloomer girl and this costume is now generally regarded as proper for outdoor girls.  In camp one should in addition wear a sailor blouse, and a pair of sneakers, which though rather heating for the feet are very comfortable and very satisfactory for long tramps through the woods.  The rubber soles give a firm footing on slippery moss and dead leaves, while high heels might cause a wrenched ankle or a bad fall.  It is perfectly allowable for a girl to wear a broad-brimmed hat to avoid sunburn, which might be so serious as to spoil a vacation.  A gradually acquired coat of tan is much more desirable.  The hat prevents headaches or sunstroke, neither of which may be dared with impunity by a delicate girl, unless she wears her hair on top of her head.

In regard to hair, which is of great importance to its owner, though very much of a nuisance after the age when it may be worn boyishly short, the one word is that it must be fixed to stay without re-pinning or tucking back at frequent intervals.  For bathing, a girl must either be willing to have her hair well soaked or else to put a cap on so tightly that it cannot be loosened.  To hesitate to try a dive for fear of getting wet hair spoils much of the sport of swimming.  Each moment of hesitation makes her more convinced that perhaps, after all, she had better not try that dive, because she probably would not be able to do it anyway.  The lack of confidence is disastrous.  I have known girls who could swim perfectly well in the shallows but could not keep up at all in water out of their depth.  And yet they have not been touching the bottom in the shallow water, but they could if they wished.  Learning to swim in water that is over your head is really better, though it is more “scary” at first.  If you do learn in that way you can thereafter look upon the deepest water with confident scorn.