Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920 Book

This is a fascinating read that examines the rise of "muscular Christianity" in America and how that shaped our ideologies, beliefs, and institutions. In particular, many of the predominant cultural ideas about masculinity we have today emerged primarily from this movement that was heavily influenced by Christianity, race theory, and American exceptionalism. Though the religious discourse and overt race theory has mostly disappeared in today's fitness and sport movements, many of these ways of thinking still dominate how we structure discourse and institutions. Reading this will give you a whole new understanding of how we construct masculinity, as well as the sport/fitness "industrial complex" that now plays major cultural and economic roles.