I have always been an advocate for women and their role in our societies. In 1997, I established one of the first female-only training centres in Australia in Mackay, North Queensland—The Femnasium.
The motivation was simple and based on observation.
While operating my practice – ‘Starbodies Healthy Life Centre’ within the Pioneer Valley Private Hospital, I frequently noticed that when women were performing exercises, such as dumbbell work in front of a mirror, and a male entered the space, they would often step aside, apologise, or make herself smaller. Rarely did the reverse occur.
It became apparent that many women were not fully comfortable expressing themselves physically in a male-dominated health and performance environment.
This extended further. Exercises such as the leg press or adductor work were often performed with visible inhibition—legs drawn in, towels adjusted for modesty, movements constrained. In response, we positioned certain machines against walls to provide privacy and allow women to move more freely and confidently.
The Femnasium became more than a training space—it was an environment where women could engage in health and wellbeing without inhibition, while also connecting socially in a supportive setting.
A Deeper Consideration
This brings me to the title of this post: The social grooming of women.
Over a decade ago, I became aware of heavily funded research—supported by the National Institutes of Health—aimed at reducing the disproportionately high rate of ACL injuries in young female athletes compared to males.
While preventative strategies were developed, the deeper question often remained insufficiently explored: Why does this disparity exist in the first place?
From my perspective, the answer lay in long-term behavioural conditioning.
From a young age, many females are subtly (and sometimes overtly) encouraged to sit with their knees together—to “sit properly” or “like a lady”. Over time, this becomes an ingrained, unconscious pattern.
What is rarely considered is the psycho-physiological cost of maintaining this constant muscular tension.
A Systems Perspective
Sustained contraction of the inner thigh (adductor) muscles requires continuous energy and neural input. Over time, this may influence how the broader system organises movement and stability.
From a dynamical systems perspective, the human body functions optimally as an open, adaptive system—where energy and information flow freely. Persistent, low-level tension can act as a constraint within that system.
Importantly, the rapid drawing together of the knees is also a natural protective response—something we would typically see when the system perceives threat.
This raises an important question: If a protective pattern becomes habitual, does the system begin to operate as if protection is the default state?
Observations in Movement
Observations in Movement
In simple jump-landing assessments, I’ve performed over many years with teenage female and male athletes.
- Young female athletes often demonstrate an inward movement of the knees upon landing
- Young male athletes, in contrast, tend to maintain outward knee alignment consistent with their standing posture.
Both groups begin in similar positions. The divergence appears in the female athletes during dynamic loading.
On the field of play, this inward projection under load can increase stress through the knee joint and may most certainly contribute to injury risk.
Function, Freedom, and Stability
The adductors and abductors play a central role in stabilising movement in all directions—not just forward and backward, but through the full 360° of human motion.
This is something long understood in disciplines such as classical ballet, where movements like the plié emphasise controlled outward positioning and strength through these regions to support balance, poise, and fluidity.
There is also a strong connection between these regions and protective reflexes within the nervous system. When something rapidly approaches the body, the knees instinctively come together—this is protective, appropriate, and necessary in the right context.
But outside of threat, chronic inhibition in this region may limit freedom of movement and expression.
A Broader Reflection
What we are really talking about here is not blame but awareness.
If social conditioning encourages ongoing protective positioning, then many women may be navigating their environments with an underlying layer of inhibition—physically and, potentially, emotionally.
The invitation is simple: Women should feel free to sit, move, and exist in their bodies without unnecessary constraint or judgement.
And equally, this calls for broader awareness—from everyone.
Final Thought
At any given moment, the human system tends toward one of two dominant states:
- Growth
- Protection
Both are essential. But they serve very different purposes.
Posture, movement, and muscular tone are not just physical—they are expressions of how the system is organising itself in relation to the world.
So perhaps the question becomes: Are we allowing the system the freedom to move toward growth when it is safe to do so?
So stay aware, stay relaxed, and live your best life folks.
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