This Girl Can has launched a new campaign – We Like the Way You Move – which redefines how women getting active looks and champions women from underrepresented groups.
Thirteen street-cast women from across England are featured moving in ways that reflect their real lives – from family bike rides, dancing in the kitchen, pregnancy yoga, wheelchair rugby, boxing and walking football.
Research consistently shows that women participate in sport less than men, with women of colour and women with disabilities being even less represented.
Sport England’s online analysis of 4,000 online images of physical activity has found that women of colour were virtually invisible. Out of 8,559 women pictured, only 117 were Black or South Asian. Almost half of these images were confined to London-based facilities, with entire regions showing next to no representation of women of colour.
Women with visible disabilities were almost entirely missing, only 14 visibly disabled women appeared nationwide. Some regions, including London, failed to show a single visibly disabled woman.
Only five visibly pregnant women were pictured.
Older women are also overlooked – just 7 per cent of the women pictured appeared over-55, most frequently playing lawn bowls.
Just 4 per cent of images showed women being active with their families, even in settings like swimming pools.
Kate Dale, director of marketing at This Girl Can and Sport England, says: “A picture is worth a thousand words and our findings are clear: some women remain underrepresented in the physical activity spaces that should welcome them. And if you don’t see yourself pictured, it’s hard to believe you belong there.
“When women are left out, they miss out on the physical, mental and social benefits of being active, which deepens health inequalities across the country. The sport and physical activity sector has made some great progress on inclusion, but our research shows there is more work to do to reach all women.
“From offering women-only sessions to creating more low-impact classes to supporting with childcare on site, we want more physical activity providers to make real changes on the ground so that women have genuine choice in how they get moving.”
The new phase of This Girl Can is rooted in research which found only one in 10 women from lower-income backgrounds feel they completely belong in the world of sport and physical activity.
For women on lower incomes from underrepresented groups – Black women, South Asian Muslim women, pregnant women, mothers with children under one-year-old and 55-74-year-old-women – the feelings of exclusion are even greater.
Representation and space to gain confidence is the way to encourage more women to exercise, says Romana Naz Khan, a personal trainer at Serco Leisure’s Fox Hollies leisure centre.
“When I first joined a gym after having my fourth child, I felt intimidated and like I didn’t belong,” she says. “As a woman in hijab, I sometimes felt judged – I’d hear comments like, “Don’t you get too hot?” or “Your scarf might get stuck. I stuck with it because I loved how training gave me strength, physically and mentally.”
Now Khan is a PT herself she wants to use her experience to help other women feel at ease in the space, she says there needs to be more female representation and more women-only spaces.
“Creating spaces where women can come together, feel supported, and grow in confidence is so important,” she says. “I’d love to see more gyms offering women-only sessions, especially things like ladies-only swimming and group classes. It really helps women from all backgrounds and fitness levels feel more at ease.”
Having more female staff is also important: “We need more women in the industry to show that fitness is for everyone. Inclusive spaces where women can connect and support each other would go a long way in showing that fitness truly is for everyone.”
Women need to be represented at all levels of the organisation. It’s encouraging to see franchising giant, Xponential Fitness, has newly appointed Rachel Lees to its board.
Discussion about this post