Active women and food: from food shortages to modernity and its pathologies José Manuel Parrilla Fernández Adrián Rey Díaz Department of Sociology (University of Oviedo, Spain)

Theoretical perspectives Since the mid-1980s, Social Science studies on women and sports Observation and analysis of transformations in the habits of sports activities among the Spanish population (Survey Sports Habits) Demonstrate the explanatory power of the variable gender Demonstrate the explanatory power of the variable gender (García Ferrando, 2001):  …

Theoretical perspectives … Demonstrate the explanatory power of the variable gender Demonstrate the explanatory power of the variable gender (García Ferrando, 2001):  Two different forms (masculine & feminine) of relating to sports activities  Role of education : socialization and stereotypes  Social perception of the female body in sports  Varying relation of food to sports activities

Hypotheses and relevant questions Differentiation between male and female sports in terms of economic and symbolic acknowledgment is related to gender stereotypes and prejudices that evolve much more slowly than women’s sports achievements Differentiation between male and female sports in terms of economic and symbolic acknowledgment (money; presence in the media, social acceptance) is related to gender stereotypes and prejudices that evolve much more slowly than women’s sports achievements

Hypotheses and relevant questions Specific questions : Role that perception of the body among sportswomen plays in their choice for one sport or another Influence of food Concern for one’s health and body image Food guidelines and possible disorders  Do they explain other related variables?  when they start and retire, achievements, …  How do women come to terms with food and corporal changes?

Objectives Study the relation between Study the relation between : Sports activities Perception of own body Food guidelines … in the life course of sportswomen of different generations, as well as the transformations they have experienced in relation to these variables

Objectives Explore the impact of socio-cultural factors (moral values, aesthetic models, divergent gender norms) which condition the experiences of these Spanish sportswomen in different generations (Help to) explain sociologically the factors that determine the activities of sportswomen

Perception of the female body in sports Different codifications of male and female body Social structures in sports are characterized by typically male subculture: sportswomen are subject to role conflict Impact of values that are considered to be masculine (success, strength, competition)

Perception of the female body in sports Many women ‘dissociate’ from their own body during sports activities “moral embarrassment”  Pre-modern past : “moral embarrassment” (risk of sport for beauty and motherhood, understood as primary requirements for women) “aesthetic embarrassment”  Modernity (present) : “aesthetic embarrassment” may lead to food disorders  ‘look’ according to socially prevailing aesthetic patterns which may lead to food disorders

Investigating food Food patterns associated to women’s sports practices How do they change over time (from one generation to the next) and in the course of their personal sports career? With what objectives?  Improve their performance  Increase personal wellbeing (health)  Search for aesthetic objectives (e.g. lose weight or improve aspects of their image)  Other?

Methodology Semi-structured, open interviews, recorded, multidimensional charts, codification and treatment of data/texts with the help of specific software Sample of sportswomen of several generations

Methodology Semi-structured, open interviews … Sample of sportswomen of several generations  Generation 1: sportswomen in 1940s and 50s: postwar period, dictatorship, lack of resources.  Generation 2: sportswomen in 1960s and 70s: ‘developmentalism’, female sport hardly visible.  Generation 3: sportswomen in 1980s and 90s: Barcelona 1992 boosts female sports (though far less than male sports)  Generation 4: sportswomen today (since 2000)

Fields of investigation Social dimension : period, socio-economic determining factors, material means and sport, gender and social expectations, … Cultural and educational dimension : educational determinants, start of sports career, discourse of teachers, … Moral dimension : moral and religious determinants, shame related to type of sport, motherhood and physical activity, sentimental relations and sports, …  …

Fields of investigation Aesthetic (body) dimension : aesthetic determinants, clothes and sport, the body (perception and self-perception), sport activity and femininity, perception of the perspective of others, … Food dimension : food patterns, deficiencies, related pathologies, food norms, …

Categories emerging from analysis

Transformation process in female sports in Spain 1.From sport as a recreational activity to professionalization From sport as compensation for shortages due to scarcity (trips, friendship) … … to sport as personal and professional fulfilment (achievement of gender equality)

Transformation process in female sports in Spain 2.From subordination to prioritization of sport among women From sport as activity subordinated to motherhood, etc. … … to prioritization of sport in relation to other aspects of life (conflict sport- motherhood) Conquest of social space by sportswomen conditioned by difficulty of professionalization and lack of social visibility

Transformation process in female sports in Spain 3.Sport and food From food consumption according to possibilities in times of scarcity (post-war) … … to scientific and functional approach of food consumption among sportswomen (since 1990s) Prevention of food pathologies in sports activities

Transformation process in female sports in Spain 4.Self-perception of the body among sportswomen From the body at the service of heteronomous values (motherhood, family, beauty, aesthetic-moral norms … … to self-perception of a trained body: appreciation of the body in accordance with achievements in sport

Active women and food: from food shortages to modernity and its pathologies Thank you !

Active women and food: from food shortages to modernity and its pathologies José Manuel Parrilla Fernández Adrián Rey Díaz Department of Sociology (University of Oviedo, Spain)

Active women and food: from food shortages to modernity and its pathologies José Manuel Parrilla Fernández Adrián Rey Díaz Department of Sociology (University of Oviedo, Spain)

… …  …