Too Much of a Good Th ing, and Th e Invention of Exercise

We all tend to experience historical amnesia; we forget the past. Or perhaps we never knew it. When I was a college student and I learned that the category of childhood was nearly non-existent during the Middle Ages, I was really surprised (see Shorter 1975). Children were viewed as miniature adults, of whom farm and then factory work was expected. We didn’t carve out a special category for needy, adorable children until the 19th century Victorian era, as we tried to convince women and children to leave the labor force to men. We thus created the whole realm of domesticity, including childhood within it.