• English
    • Welsh
  • English 
    • English
    • Welsh
  • Login
Search DSpace:
  • Home
  • Research at Cardiff Met
  • Library Services
  • Contact Us
View item 
  • DSpace home
  • Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
  • Taught Degrees (Sport and Health Sciences)
  • Undergraduate Degrees (Sport)
  • View item
  • DSpace home
  • Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
  • Taught Degrees (Sport and Health Sciences)
  • Undergraduate Degrees (Sport)
  • View item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

"Does my bum look big in this?": The impact of the pressures to adhere to the unwritten rules of feminine beauty on female trampoline-gymnasts at UWIC Academy

Thumbnail
View/open
BETHANSTRANGEST10001494.pdf (2.162Mb)
Author
Strange, Bethan
Date
2013
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Speculation suggests gymnasts are required to meet specific aesthetic requirements and take part in dramatic behavioural and lifestyle changes to meet high standards of feminine beauty. The purpose of the investigation was to deduce what impacts elite female trampoline-gymnasts experience due to the pressures to adhere to unwritten rules of femininity. Using Foucault’s Panopticon metaphor (1975) and Bourdieu’s theory of Habitus (1990b), a feminist-cultural studies framework was employed to further the knowledge behind the relationships between female trampoline-gymnasts and body ideologies. Participants [n=4] engaged in in-depth interviews regarding their eating patterns, body image, feminine ideals and competition attire. Results revealed that universally the ideal figure desired was dangerous and unrealistic: skinny with no excess fat. Due to feelings of a Panopticon gaze and imprisonment, the impacts of the pressures to appear feminine proved to be mainly negative. Disordered eating, negative body image, low self-esteem and financial anxiety due to purchasing new clothing to feel accepted within training groups were impacts experienced. The research concluded that although the gymnastics world enhances the desires and pressures to be considered ‘feminine’, they may occur naturally within Western society. Future rule changes regarding attire may improve gymnasts’ experiences within their sport and help them to feel more accepted. For a greater reflection regarding impacts experienced by trampolinegymnasts, further research needs to be conducted using a comprehensive widespread participant sample.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10369/4960
Collections
  • Undergraduate Degrees (Sport) [1420]

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.

  • Thumbnail

    COMPARISON OF LANDING KINEMATICS BETWEEN EXPERIENCED MALE AND FEMALE ARTISTIC GYMNASTS FOLLOWING A BACK TUCK DISMOUNT FROM THE HIGH BAR. 

    Straker, Rebecca (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2015)
    Non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries during dismounts have been identified as one of the most significant short and long term injuries affecting a gymnasts’ career, with females 2.4-9.7 times more ...
  • Thumbnail

    The effect of compulsory femininity in society on female participation in Rugby Union. 

    Uren, Michael (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2013)
    Compulsory femininity in society in this case is the idea that females are restricted only to participation in activities that society perceive to portray them as models of femininity. Rugby Union is generally perceived ...
  • Thumbnail

    Trampoline-gymnasts' embodied lives: an ethnographic study 

    Lord, Rhiannon (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2015)
    Gymnastic bodies have been a relatively 'absent presence' in the literature. Despite patterns of problematic body issues (e.g., weight-control behaviours, body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem) highlighted in elite ...

Browse

DSpace at Cardiff MetCommunities & CollectionsBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis collectionBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
Contact us | Send feedback | Administrator