Page 1 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 12
November 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 28
Gender Based Attitudes in Physical Activities & Sports:
Psychological & Social Effects
Naveen Sangwan, DPE
GSSS Pakasma, Rohtak (HR.)
ABSTRACT: This paper presents an overview of five topics related to gender equity and
sports. Gender equity has been an issue in society since the beginning of time. Anyone
can easily find out many accounts of where women faced issues of equity in sports, their
career, and athletic opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues that
surrounds the issues of gender equity in sport, what actions have been taken to provide
equal opportunity for women in sports, the current issues facing women in sports today,
the research surrounding the issues pertaining to gender equity in sport, and also to
discuss the findings and present recommendations for further research in this area. In
recent years, sport and physical activity as a strategy for the empowerment of girls and
women has been gaining recognition worldwide. Women Win is the first international
organization with a sole focus of providing support for innovative sport and physical
activity programmes for empowerment and creating a social movement around sport for
the advancement of women’s rights. Sport and physical activity have not yet been used
on a large scale as a strategy within women’s movements. There are, however, many
women have already very positive stories to tell in today’s world based on their
experiences. Even through which we can learn more about how participation in sport and
physical activity can empower individual girls and women. Involvement in sport and
physical activity can, for example, build life skills, confidence and body awareness and
may create social networks, which result in dramatic positive life changes for participants.
We have seen that involvement in sport and physical activity can positively change
existing gender norms and help girls and women move into public spaces. Moreover,
sport and physical activity programmes provide opportunities to bring communities
together and help realize development objectives relating to such issues as (post) conflict
management, reproductive health and gender-based violence.
Keywords: Sport participation, Physical activity, Exercise, Gender
Page 2 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 12
November 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 29
INTRODUCTION: There is an
international consensus that
participation in physical activities can
offer a great deal to individuals
Communities & Nations. Evidence
suggests that from an early age,
differences in gender-based attitudes
towards and opportunities for sports and
physical activities can have a significant
influence on children’s participation. This
may, in turn, affect later involvement in
physically active lifestyles, and the social
and health benefits that may result for
them. This report offers a summary of
research into girls’ participation in sports
and physical activities. There are
numerous reasons few of them are as
under:
Why are Girls Turned Off by Physical
Education?
Research indicates that previous
negative experiences in physical
education, particularly during elementary
school, are the number one reason girls
dislike physical education. Many girls
have found previous physical education
classes to be too competitive, and they
feel that teachers show gender bias and
make students engage in intense activity
(such as running laps or doing pushups)
as a form of punishment. They also feel
that student athletes are favoured and
that teachers have minimal expectations
for almost all girls.
Another concern often mentioned
by girls is their not being able to
participate in physical education without
wearing proper gym attire. Many girls are
discouraged by harassing comments and
critical remarks from classmates about
their performance. Male classmates, who
often feel secure in the physical
education environment, make many of
these derogatory comments. They also
do little to include girls in the planned
activities and to create a more cohesive
and friendly classroom environment.
Furthermore, there are much
more reasons behind why are girls not to
participate in sports or physical activities
viz:
Social Perspectives: Boys were more
likely to be physically active than girls.
The girls recorded significantly fewer
activities involving games (time spent
outside) than the boys did, just because
the reason boys got ample time to spent
Page 3 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 12
November 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 30
on ground whereas the girls are bounded
in social perspective, hence they cannot
have enough time to develop their skills
and further physically they did not get
much diet as compare to boys due to
unfair social boundaries of family.
Sexual Orientation: Messner (2002) in
his study says that homophobia leads
boys and men to conform to a narrow
definition of masculinity and bonds men
together as superior to women. Even
though we look forward to to see men,
but not women, take active, dominant
roles expected of athletes. Despite the
visibility of a best women athletes and
the very recent expansion of civil rights,
sexual prejudice persists. But in sports
today, is still a space of restricted
masculinity and sexual prejudice.
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment,
which has clear gender and sexuality
connotations, has received considerable
attention in psychology. The related
scholarship indicates that the sport
climate fosters sexual harassment and
abuse; that young, elite female athletes
are particularly vulnerable; that neither
athletes nor coaches have education or
training about the issues; and that both
research and professional development
are needed in sport and exercise
psychology to address the issues that
research comes from several countries
subsequently reported.
Media: Sports spectators usually
experience sports through different mass
media. To deepen our understanding of
the cultural values embedded in sports
and to explore current values and power
structures regarding men and women, it
is necessary to investigate the potential
effect that mass media may have in
influencing beliefs about gender- appropriate sport behavior. It indicated
gender differences regarding both
quantity and type of coverage. For
example, less than 10% of the total
examined sports news time covered
female athletes, and less than 2% of the
time was used to cover women athletes
in sports categorized as masculine. It
seems that televised media sports
coverage continues to reinforce
constructions of divisions along lines of
gender and to reproduce traditional
expectations regarding femininity and
masculinity.
