The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

shoulder, sweatbands, and Reebok’s Freestyle—the
first shoe designed specifically for aerobics—all be-
came part of a popular look that referenced exercise
culture. Films such asPersonal Best(1982),Flashdance
(1983),The Toxic Avenger(1985), andPerfect(1985),
which included dance or exercise sequences or took
place in gyms, reflected the decade’s preoccupation
with exercise and fit bodies.

Impact The proliferation of aerobics during the
1980’s added new momentum to a fitness movement
that had been growing for a decade. Because it in-
volved general movement, which could be made fun
by turning it into dance, aerobics became an exer-
cise method of choice for those who did not want to
deal with the more laborious weight-training ap-
proach, which required isolating specific muscle
groups. Moreover, because the only equipment re-
quired was a video, or even just music, aerobics was
much cheaper and easier to do at home than was
weight training. As an activity that appealed primar-
ily to women, aerobics helped bring about gender
parity in health clubs and contributed to a new physi-
cal ideal that made it acceptable for women to sweat
and develop muscle tone. The demand for qualified
aerobics instruction transformed the fitness indus-
try with the creation of new professional organiza-
tions that introduced certification standards for aer-
obics, as well as other fitness activities.

Further Reading
Glassner, Barry.Bodies: Why We Look the Way We Do
(And How We Feel About It).New York: G. P. Put-
nam, 1988. A critical look at the fitness movement
of which aerobics was a part. Argues that in-
creased attention to one’s body does not result in
improved quality of life.
Kagan, Elizabeth, and Margaret Morse. “The Body
Electronic: Aerobic Exercise on Video.”TDR: The
Drama Review32, no. 4 (1988): 164-179. A critical,
feminist analysis of aerobics videos with an em-
phasis on Jane Fonda’s videos.
Leepson, M. “Physical Fitness: Has the Fitness Boom
of the 1970’s and 1980’s Run Out of Steam?”CQ
Researcher2, no. 41 (1992): 953-976. Factual over-
view of 1980’s fitness trends with statistics and
time lines.
Luciano, Lynne. “Binging and Buffing Up.” In
Looking Good: Male Body Image in Modern America.
New York: Hill and Wang, 2001. Provides an over-
view of men’s fitness concerns during the decade.

Rader, Benjamin G. “The Quest for Self-Sufficiency

and the New Strenuosity: Reflections on the

Strenuous Life of the 1970’s and the 1980’s.”Jour-

nal of Sport Histor y18, no. 2 (Summer, 1991): 255-

266. Views interest in exercise as part of a middle-
     class quest for success and improved appearance.
     Sabol, Blair.The Body of America.New York: Arbor
     House, 1986. A first-person account of fitness
     trends of the 1980’s.
     Seid, Roberta Pollack. “Obsession Becomes Reli-
     gion: The Fitness Epidemic.” InNever Too Thin:
     Why Women Are at War with Their Bodies. New York:
     Prentice Hall, 1989. A critical overview of health
     and fitness trends during the 1980’s.
     Shelly McKenzie

See also Diets; Fashions and clothing;Flashdance;

Leg warmers; Martial arts; Simmons, Richard.

Affirmative action

Definition Programs in employment and

education that attempt to increase participation

of underrepresented minorities and women

During the 1980’s, employers, government agencies, and

competitive universities expanded the number of affirma-

tive action programs designed to benefit members of groups

that had historically been victims of discrimination.

Affirmative action programs first appeared on a

large scale in the 1970’s. Because these programs

usually included either numerical quotas or limited

preferences, critics charged that they constituted

“reverse discrimination” against white males. Legal

challenges eventually reached the U.S. Supreme

Court, which was called upon to decide whether the

programs violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s

equal protection requirement or the Civil Rights Act

of 1964. InUniversity of California v. Bakke(1978), the

Court allowed admissions policies of competitive

graduate schools to include limited preferences for

disadvantaged minorities, while disallowing abso-

lute quotas. InUnited Steelworkers v. Weber(1979), the

Court permitted employers to institute some quotas

to “eliminate manifest racial imbalance in tradition-

ally segregated job categories.”

Expansion of Programs In the case ofFullilove v.

Klutznick(1980), the Supreme Court for the first

The Eighties in America Affirmative action
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