A Qualitative Assessment of the Significance of Body Perception to Women’s Physical Activity Experiences: Revisiting Discussions of Physicalities

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa McDermott
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Body Perception ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Activity Involvement ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper builds upon an earlier exploratory discussion about the term physicality that called for conceptual clarity regarding our theoretical understanding and use of it within the context of women’s lives. In light of fieldwork conducted, physicality is suggested to be the complex interplay of body perception, agency, and self-perception. This article focuses on examining one feature of this construct by assessing the relevance of body perception to two groups of women’s experiences of their physicalities through two differently gendered activities: aerobics and wilderness canoe-tripping. Pivotal to this has been qualitatively understanding the lived-body as experienced and understood by the women. In-depth interviews and participant observation were used to explore the meaning and significance these women derived from experiencing their bodies/themselves through these activities. Of specific interest was understanding the effects of these experiences in terms of shaping their understandings of their physicalities particularly beyond that of appearance. Central to this has been apprehending the physically and socially empowering effects of these experiences, especially at the level of their identity. Through the data analysis, body perception was found to be relevant to the women’s physical activity involvement in two distinct ways: as a factor initiating activity involvement and as a perception emerging through the experience. In turn, these differing perceptions of the body were found to impact diversely upon their physicalities, either broadening them or contributing to alternative ways of understanding them.

Understanding the gendered impact of disasters on women, household dynamics and coping strategies: a case study of Bangladesh.

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-37
Author(s):  
N. Rezwana
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Household Dynamics ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Post Disaster

Abstract This chapter discusses the vulnerability of women in Bangladesh, the strategies women adopt to cope and survive in post-disaster periods, and presents firsthand accounts of these dynamics from remote and disaster-prone regions of the country. The data were obtained through household surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation in four research sites in Bangladesh during the period 2012 to 2019. This analysis recommends greater attention to gender mainstreaming in prevailing disaster management plans and policies, and suggests immediate actions to improve women's lives in the disaster-prone regions.

The Potential of Dance Art in Recovery From a Stroke: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 32-43
Author(s):  
Hanna Pohjola ◽  
Paavo Vartiainen ◽  
Pasi A Karjalainen ◽  
Vilma Hänninen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Impairment ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Personal Meanings ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract This article presents a case study on the subjective experience of recovering from a stroke. The aim was to seek personal meanings attached to the process of a solo choreography and its relationship with the subjective reconstruction of the body. The qualitative research used a stimulated recall method alongside a series of in-depth interviews. According to the findings, the ‘re-inhabiting’ of the body was enabled through body awareness and improvisation with regard to the choreographic process. The physical impairment caused by a stroke shifted towards the experience of being able-bodied while dancing, thus allowing the entire body and its current possibilities to be explored. Themes such as active agency and self-efficacy also emerged. The case study suggests that dancing not only acts as an enjoyable social and physical activity but also contributes to feelings of wholeness. Connectedness with wholeness enabled reconstructed self-trust and agency.

A Language of Their Own: An Interactionist Approach to Human-Horse Communication

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keri Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Shared Meaning ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Language System ◽  
Research Challenges ◽  
Privileged Status ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Interactionist Approach

AbstractThis paper explores the process of human-horse communication using ethnographic data of in-depth interviews and participant observation. Guided by symbolic interactionism, the paper argues that humans and horses co-create a language system by way of the body to facilitate the creation of shared meaning. This research challenges the privileged status of verbal language and suggests that non-verbal communication and language systems of the body have their own unique complexities. This investigation of humanhorse communication offers new possibilities to understand the subjective and intersubjective world of non-verbal language using beings—human and nonhuman alike.

Enhancing Women’s Physical Activity Involvement

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla A. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Physical Activities ◽  
Activity Involvement ◽  
Organizational Constraints ◽  
Women's Lives

Research reports released almost every day extol the healthful physical and mental benefits of physical activity. Many women, however, fail to participate in physical activities because of reasons that relate to personal, social, and organizational constraints. Understanding what to do to help women enhance their physical activity involvement must be considered by many people. Change in directions that will add quality to women’s lives will not happen without consciously directed effort on the part of individuals, as well as institutions, within society. A basic assumption underlying this paper is that physical activity possesses the components of leisure when it is freely chosen and found enjoyable. Therefore, I propose that change needs to occur within society, among individuals, and by activity providers if opportunities for enjoyable and beneficial physical involvement are to be enhanced for girls and women.

Physical Activity and Quality of Life Experienced by Highly Active Individuals with Physical Disabilities

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Giacobbi ◽  
Michael Stancil ◽  
Brent Hardin ◽  
Lance Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Activity Involvement ◽  
Highly Active ◽  
Activity Scale ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Physical Activity Scale

The present study examined links between physical activity and quality of life experienced by individuals with physical disabilities recruited from a wheelchair user’s basketball tournament. The participants included 12 male and 14 female adults between the ages of 18–54 (M = 31.12, SD = 10.75) who all reported one or more condition(s) that impacted their daily living. They were administered the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (Washburn, Weimo, McAuley, Frogley, & Figoni, 2002) and in-depth interviews focused on their physical activity experiences and evaluations about their quality of life. Grounded theory analyses (Charmaz, 2000, 2002) revealed that individuals who use wheelchairs perceived a number of psychological, social, and health benefits associated with physical activity involvement. The participants’ evaluations and descriptions of their physical activity experiences appeared to support self-efficacy beliefs, feelings of empowerment, and motivation for continued involvement. Firstperson descriptions are presented to demonstrate how and why physical activity behaviors were perceived to enhance the quality of the participants’ lives.

Women Yoga Practitioners’ Experiences in the Pandemic: From Collective Exhaustion to Affirmative Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Allison Jeffrey ◽  
Holly Thorpe ◽  
Nida Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Feminist Methodology ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
The Face ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Yoga Practitioners

This article engages Rosi Braidotti’s writing on COVID-19 and affirmative ethics to expand understandings of the purpose of leisure and physical activity in women’s lives during the pandemic. Utilizing a feminist methodology informed by an ethics of affirmation, care, and creativity, the authors share insights from in-depth interviews with five dedicated Yoga practitioners living in Aotearoa New Zealand. Herein, they reveal how Yoga’s physical, mental, and ethical practices supported women as they navigated numerous challenges during the pandemic. The authors discuss the women’s complex experiences of affect, including shared exhaustion and compassion. Finally, they illustrate how experiences of discomfort encouraged some women to rethink collective responsibility and experiment with communal solutions to better support others in the face of uncertain futures.

scholarly journals Phenomenology Study: Pregnancy Women Myth in Malay Community Dumai City, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 283-288
Author(s):  
Hetty Ismainar ◽  
Hertanto W. Subagio ◽  
Bagoes Widjanarko ◽  
Cahyono Hadi
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Sugar Water ◽  
Early Gestation ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
The Devil ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study aims to analyze the pregnant women myths in the Malay community of Dumai City, Indonesia. The qualitative research: Phenomenology Study. The total informants were 11 participants (Pregnant women, shaman, midwife, and Primary Health Care Heads). Data collection through in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. Data analysis uses content analysis. The results showed that three things were during pregnancy, namely: cultural tradition in pregnant, food consumption, and activities. That even for pregnant women in “Lenggang Perut” (seven months pregnant ceremony). Use porcupines, scissors, and needles in the body to avoid the devil. Cannot consume sugar water from “Tebu” (a kind of sweet plant), pineapple, and “Tape” (food from cassava fermentation) because it will cause bleeding or abortion. Prohibited activities, bathing at night, sitting in front of the door, for early gestation may not leave their homes and still visit shamans. Until now, this myth is still practiced by pregnant women in the Malay community, although there is no empirical research that proves the real impact of the myth.

Bearing Bodies: Physical Activity, Obesity Stigma, and Sexuality in the Bear Community

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun E. Edmonds ◽  
Susan G. Zieff
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Body Image ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Obesity Stigma ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
A Site ◽  
Bear Community ◽  
Depth Interviews

In recent years, individuals who do not conform to healthist body shape and weight norms are the target of an increasingly fervent moral panic about “obesity” (Gard & Wright, 2005). As a subculture within the gay male community (Wright, 1997a), the “Bear” community offers a site for examining biopolitical resistance to the pervasive body ideals (and associated fat stigma) embedded within, and perpetuated by, mainstream gay values. Utilizing in-depth interviews and participant observation, this study explores the ways in which Bears negotiate physical activity and body image within the ostensibly fat-positive Bear community. In analyzing the stories and spaces of the Bear community, I find diverse experiences that reveal a complex relationship between sexuality, body image, and engagement in physical activity.

scholarly journals Autonomous geographies of recreational running in Sofia, Bulgaria

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 944-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Barnfield
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Recreational Runners ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Ongoing Project

During the last decade, recreational running in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, has become more visible. The growing popularity of free to join recreational running clubs is a key mechanism that has promoted running and developed the burgeoning running scene in the city. The case study presented in this paper draws on in-depth interviews and participant observation from an ongoing project with recreational runners in Sofia. This paper argues that these running clubs endeavor to promote a collective ontology that aims at bringing all sorts of bodies together. As such, running clubs present an approach that foregrounds participation and movement to promote sustainable urban spaces that are defined by their openness to corporeal activity. Drawing on the work of Jean-Luc Nancy and concepts of everyday utopias and urban play this paper concludes that running clubs are suggestive of ways to develop physical activity within a pluralistic notion of bodies and space. The paper develops the evidence base of elements of running club activities that draw people into participation in Eastern Europe.

Disability Management among Women with Physical Impairments: The Contribution of Physical Activity

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Guthrie ◽  
Shirley Castelnuovo
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Disability Management ◽  
The Body ◽  
Management Process ◽  
Physical Impairments ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Physical Mobility ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the ways women with physical disabilities shape their identities and manage (i.e., cope or come to terms with) their disabilities while living in an able-bodyist culture. Particular emphasis was placed on how these women, all of whom were participating in sport or exercise, used physical activity in the management process. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 women who had physical mobility disabilities. Findings indicated three different approaches to managing disability via physical activity: (a) management by minimizing the significance of the body, (b) management by normalization of the body, and (c) management by optimizing mind-body functioning. They also indicated that having a disability does not preclude positive physical and global self-perceptions. The implications of these findings for sport and society are discussed.

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