Gender identity in female football players

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to define the relationship between gender identity, the perception of the body, depressiveness, and aggression in female football players who represent different levels of competence (playing in the premier league vs. second league) and seniority in sport.MethodsResearch was carried out on female football players (aged 16-31 years) playing in the premier league (N = 49) and second league (N = 45). Data were obtained with the use of: the Body Image Evaluation Questionnaire by Mandal, developed on the basis of Franzoi's concepts; Kuczyńska's Gender Assessment Inventory (IPP) adapted from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), which diversifies individuals in terms of their gender identity in accordance to the Gender Schema Theory by Bem; the Beck Depression Inventory, translated by Lewicka and Czapiński; and the Buss-Durkee Inventory, adapted by Kosewski with comments from Stanik. To find a relationship between the mentioned variables, statistical analysis was carried out by use of ANOVA, the t test, the χ2 test and correlation coefficients.ResultsThe obtained research results indicate that, among female football players, the following occurs: a predominance of androgynous gender identities and a deficiency of its other types, a higher level of masculinity than among non-training women, a more favorable perception of body-as-process, a higher evaluation of body-as-object, along with an increase of masculinity and a decrease in indirect aggression at higher competition levels.ConclusionsThe application of the masculinity dimension by female football players with androgynous gender identity is probably an effective strategy for survival in conditions that are unsuitable and gender-inappropriate in typical masculine sports.

Psychological Gender and Emotional Intelligence in Youth Female Soccer Players

“…The results yielded by the study presented above are similar to those obtained by other authors who investigated psychological gender of female athletes ( Soroka and Bergier, 2011 ; Wiliński, 2012 ). The androgynous female athletes formed the most numerous group.…”

“…Its members are capable of functioning effectively in different life situations and the psychological costs they pay are relatively low. This type of psychological gender may also allow the female players to be optimally feminine in the stereotypically male world ( Wiliński, 2012 ), thus, making it more probable that they will maintain their interest in sport and will continue careers as athletes ( Guillet et al, 2000 , 2006 ). To find out how female athletes can remain female, in-depth interdisciplinary studies are necessary, conducted in order to develop precise guidelines for a coaching programme addressing the needs of women practicing sports stereotypically perceived as male domains.…”

Inhabiting the Body(ies) in Female Soccer Players: The Protective Role of Positive Body Image

“…Sport can provide an opportunity to resist and challenge the hegemonic discourses on the body and the various forms of control and constraint imposed on their bodies, to negotiate the contrary demands of femininity and athleticism, to inspire selfconstructions that claim other corporealities or "somebodiness" and to subvert the dominant discourses on (hetero)sexual attractiveness. But sportswomen have to constantly articulate their body image as well as their personal and gender identity inside and outside the field (Wilinski, 2012). Many athletes, particularly those who compete in masculine sports such as soccer, find it very difficult to adjust to non-dominant forms of corporality and engage in surveillance and management practises (e.g., dieting, clothing, make-up) that serve to comply and thus perpetuate the sociocultural values of the feminine, assuming a heterosexual(ised) body and legitimising athletic participation through an emphasis on hyperfemininity (Fisher and Dennehy, 2015;Heinecken, 2015;Bennett et al, 2016;Lunde and Gattario, 2017;Cosh et al, 2019;Devonport et al, 2019;Sanders, 2020).…”

The assessment of specific physical fitness of children aged 8 and 9 years participating in tennis classes using the Jindrich Hoehm test

“…Tennis is one of the best-known and elite sports in the world, equally popular amongst the representatives of both genders. Every coach has to remember that at every stage of training they will come across the problem of gender-based differentiation [4,21,24]. Physical fitness and sexual dimorphism, has been the subject of analysis of numerous research studies [17,20,23].…”