Kōrero: Body shape and dieting

From the 1930s exercise was promoted as an aid to health and beauty for women. These Auckland 'business girls' were taking part in physical culture classes, which included gentle, fluid dance and movement. The exercises were inspired by the British League for Health and Beauty, founded in 1930. While losing weight and building muscle was not an aim of these types of exercises, they did promote suppleness and poise – then thought of as desirable feminine attributes.