Engagement - Gender
Physical Education: AQA GCSE, topic 7.1.1
Stereotyping by Gender
Trends in who is participating in physical activity and sport can be different for different social groups. Gender has been shown to play a part in determining sporting engagement.
Effects of stereotyping
- Stereotyping can affect women's participation in sport.
- Because women tend to have physically different builds (bodies) to men, some people may think that women lack the strength and endurance needed to play the same sports as men.
- Some people may think that competitiveness is a more masculine (male) characteristic.
Impact of traditional views
- Some people negatively stereotype muscular women. Comments on things like this may discourage some women from participating in some sports.
- Some people hold outdated views that a woman’s role is to be the carer of the family. Women exposed to these people may not have the same opportunity or time to play sport as men.
Development Differences
Some groups of people may receive less attention or development than others.
Media coverage of women in sport
- Generally, elite female performers get less media coverage than males.
- E.g. The men’s football Premier League is on television all the time, but the Women's Super League is not.
Facilities for women in sport
- Facilities for women in sport have developed more slowly than facilities for men in sport (access to training centres, stadiums to play in etc).
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Negative gender stereotypes in sport
What do we call a fixed and oversimplified opinion of a type of person?