With the return to school, while sports clubs and cultural associations reopen their doors, the question of choice of extracurricular activities comes up again. Which ones to propose to your child? What leisure would suit him best and help him to flourish?
We can assume that the enthusiasm around the women's football World Cup in the summer of 2019 will have given rise to new vocations among budding sportswomen. Since the 2011 edition of this event, where the team of France reached the semi-finals, the number of licensees in France has increased from less than 60,000 to more than 160,000 in 2018.
The psychological and social brakes remain far from being totally lifted. This progression, although spectacular, must be nuanced. When we talk about 160,000 registrations, this represents only 7.6% of the total number of licensees, all ages combined. Football remains overwhelmingly a sport practiced by men.
Historical weight
To understand the current situation, historical lighting is welcome. At the end of the XIXe century, the sport developed in France according to two models: the one of military origin, which trains the future soldiers by activities of force and fight; the other of English origin, which educates the future elite of the country by developing the initiative and the courage in the situations of competition.
The role of sport is to reinforce models of masculinity. Women are excluded because sport is perceived as incompatible with their roles as mothers, wives and caretakers. To this social incompatibility is added a medical one. At the end of the XIXe century, women's bodies are considered naturally weak.
Most of their energy would be mobilized for the functioning of the reproductive system, which would justify avoiding any violent effort (Vertinsky, 1994). As the uterus is perceived as a fragile organ, any potentially dangerous activity for it is systematically criticized or even prohibited (Boigey, 1925).
Things have changed since, with most sports federations open to women. Yet the feminisation of sport is slowly taking place. For example, it is necessary to wait until 1984 for women to run the Olympic marathon.
Even today, at the Olympics, Greco-Roman wrestling is still prohibited for women, while the first canoe events will be organized only for Tokyo 2020.
Regulatory differences remain even in sports practiced by both sexes. In tennis, matches are played in two winning sets for women in the Grand Slam, against three for men; in athletics, they run on the heptathlon, they on the decathlon.
"Threat of the stereotype"
If feminization is slow, it is also because mentalities evolve slowly. Studies in social psychology can provide interesting insights. These show that when we form an impression of others, we tend to categorize them and apply the ambient stereotypes to them instantaneously (to realize this, you can pass this test called implicit association).
In other words, stereotypes would be deeply ingrained in our mind, more or less without our knowledge. They would lead parents, teachers or physical education to devalue girls' sports, discouraging them from engaging in activities associated with the social model of masculinity, such as football.
The influence of stereotypes can be much more insidious and lead girls to choose for themselves not to invest in sport. These ready-made ideas act as a filter through which we perceive others, but also ourselves.
From an early age, girls are confronted with the social discourse that they would not be good at football. This can lead them to feel less competent in this sport without ever having practiced it. However, our perception of our own competence is an essential lever for long-term engagement in an activity.
Moreover, even girls who feel competent in football can be affected by the ambient stereotypes, through mechanisms such as "Threat of the stereotype". When they fear that their performance will be judged by these preconceived judgments, they tend to put extra pressure on themselves. This is detrimental to their effectiveness and can eventually lead them to divest themselves of the activity in question.
New models
It is a vicious circle that is taking place. The girls do not sign up for football because they see few girls enroll. In order to stop it, proactive policies, such as the feminization plan of the French Football Federation, under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports, may prove useful.
By increasing the presence of women in football, girls are allowed to have role models to identify with, which is a particularly effective motivational lever for engaging in an activity.
For the same reason, developing the media exposure of women's sport may be particularly interesting, but the journalistic language continues to convey stubborn stereotypes. Athletes are often judged on their physique, while athletes are judged on their skills. Similarly, there is talk of football to designate that practiced by men, and women's football to refer to that practiced by women.
The question of the practice of football by girls refers to another question: should it be sporty? According to the Esteban survey (2015), only 50% of women reach the level of physical activity recommended by health organizations, for 70% of men.
Insufficient physical activity can have a significant impact on health and promote the development of chronic diseases. If medical reasons were put forward at the end of the XIXe century to justify excluding women from competitive sports, it is the same type of reason that can be advanced today to promote their practice.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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