The Invention of "Athlete's foot": Lifestyle, Cleanliness, and American Leisure Classes in the Early Twentieth Century

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Other Title
  • 20世紀初頭の米国におけるathlete's footの成立
  • 20セイキ ショトウ ノ ベイコク ニ オケル athlete s foot ノ セイリツ

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Abstract

This article argues that the leisure classes of the United States in the early twentieth century "invented" the disease known as athlete's foot. The affliction came to be seen as originating in their lifestyle and leisure activities, such as sports. The name itself - athlete's foot -- served to mark the disease as belonging to the leisure class, in contrast to the lower classes that also suffered from a similar skin condition, but in whose case it was connected to poverty and wretched living conditions in urban societies. This also examines how the practice of being barefoot in moist floors at gyms, dressing rooms or pools, came to be identified as the source of the disease. The leisure classes of the 1920s often enjoyed playing sports, and in spite of identifying themselves as clean and pristine, they suffered from ringworms in their feet. Because ringworm infections were considered to be a lower class disease, it became fashionable to distance themselves by calling it "athlete's foot" or "gymnasium malady," thereby re-signifying it as having a leisure class origin and removing connections to poverty or dirtiness. This article finally focuses on the socio-cultural and psychological aspects of the stigmatization of "athlete's foot" in Japan.

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Details

  • CRID
    1390006050801201280
  • NII Article ID
    110007817339
  • NII Book ID
    AA11508760
  • DOI
    10.24528/lifology.17.0_3
  • ISSN
    24332933
  • NDL BIB ID
    10883951
  • Text Lang
    ja
  • Data Source
    • JaLC
    • NDL
    • CiNii Articles
  • Abstract License Flag
    Disallowed

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