A fear of being judged is a reason many women and girls are not taking part in sport and physical activities as much as they want, a leading sport administrator believes.
Matthew Cooper, CEO of Sport Waikato, says for many New Zealand females concerns around ability and body image prevent them from getting active.
He says while a lack of time, financial resources, injury, illness and a lack of knowledge about how to connect are among the challenges facing females, one of the most significant reasons they are not as active as they could or would like to be "is a fear of being judged".
His comments come as Sport Waikato have released a video for their newly launched initiative 'This is ME®', which is designed to support, encourage and celebrate Kiwi females getting active – and to decrease the anxiety they experience over being judged while participating.
"There is a divide between what women and girls would like to be doing and their actual behaviour," Cooper says. "It's no surprise (they) are feeling self-conscious about getting active, particularly given the dominance of imagery of female fitness models and elite athletes with toned physiques in the media."
Rather than showcasing high profile New Zealand sportswomen, gym junkies or marathon runners, the video instead highlights everyday women and girls participating in activities like Waka Ama (outrigger canoes), hip hop dancing, social netball, jogging, home-based workouts and backyard games.
Designed to take the emphasis off competition, exercise and weight loss, the video calls on women and girls to be themselves, have fun and get moving together with confidence.
Recent research suggests New Zealand women and girls participate in sport and physical activity less than their male counterparts.
The government's strategy paper on women and girls in sport and active recreation published last month revealed females spend on average 12 per cent less time than males participating in any given week.
And Dr Toni Bruce, a professor at the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Education and Social Work said in a Newsroom article earlier this year that girls drop out of sport at much higher rates than boys.
"High school girls' participation rates are persistently about five per cent lower than boys," she said. "That trend continues among adults."
The This is ME® video, the first of its kind in New Zealand, aims to generate a positive conversation about and among Kiwi women and girls participating in physical activity at all levels.
The video's backing track, Gin Wigmore's 'Girl Gang', not only provides a catchy beat but speaks to the ideas of women and girls feeling both connected to and valued in sport.
"As well as encouraging females to band together to challenge the status quo, the song's colloquial and tongue-in-cheek use of the term 'girl' resonates with a New Zealand audience," says Sport Waikato general manager Michelle Hollands.
It also "points to the ways this term has been used to marginalise females as weak, inferior and less capable.
"The video is far removed from the imagery of females participating in sport or getting active that we usually see in the media. There are no elite athletes, no women or girls with what you might consider visibly peak athletic physiques, and certainly no abs of steel," Hollands says.
"Instead it celebrates real women and girls doing real physical activity and, importantly, the varied and unique ways they choose to engage."
# The video can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/ThisisMENZ/ and on the website www.thisisme.org.nz