The Lively Intra-Actions of Athleisure: A Baradian Analysis of Fit Femininity

Somatechnics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-245
Author(s):  
Julie Brice ◽  
Holly Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Media ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Agential Realism ◽  
Materialist Theory ◽  
Female Bodies ◽  
Moving Bodies

Since the early 2000s, athleisure (clothing designed for physical activity) has been gaining popularity as both a functional and fashionable clothing trend, particularly among women. Thus far, scholars have explored the gendered nature of athleisure and the neoliberal, postfeminist, and healthism discourses present within this fitness clothing phenomenon. However, the research has yet to account for the materiality of athleisure and its impacts upon women's experiences of fitness and the construction of idealized female bodies. In this article, we use new materialist theory, specifically Karen Barad's agential realism, to explore the material-discursive dimensions of athleisure. Drawing upon a diffractive analysis of interviews conducted with 22 women in Aotearoa New Zealand, in conjunction with social media analyses, we explore two lively intra-actions of women's athleisure-clad moving bodies – the ‘muffin top’ and the ‘big booty’ – to reveal what athleisure does to/with women's bodies. We highlight how these athleisure-body intra-actions work to create boundaries around acceptable femininity and give rise to particular constructions and meanings of women's bodies.

Classroom teachers’ and administrators’ views of teaching health and physical education

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 448-464
Author(s):  
Dominique Banville ◽  
Ben Dyson ◽  
Pamela H Kulinna ◽  
Michalis Stylianou
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Health And Physical Education ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Teacher efficacy influences what and how they teach. This may be particularly important to consider in Aotearoa New Zealand contexts where primary classroom teachers teach health and physical education and use physical activity breaks with little training. It remains unclear how classroom teachers perceive this role and how to better support them. The purpose of this study was to investigate classroom teachers’ and administrators’ views of teaching health and physical education, including physical activity behaviours, in primary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants were 10 teachers and three administrators from two schools selected as a purposive sample. Data were collected through formal interviews, field notes, and photographs, and were analysed using inductive analysis and constant comparison. The findings are shared using four themes: (a) support for physical activity breaks; (b) support for curriculum content in health and physical education and ‘Kiwi’ sport culture; (c) teachers’ influence level; and (d) school environment. Overall, teachers and administrators felt very efficacious in their roles of creating healthy and active schools. These teachers also appeared to be confused regarding the difference between physical education, sport, and physical activity. They did feel, however, that instructional self-efficacy could be improved through enhanced content and pedagogy taught in teacher education programmes, and increased opportunities for professional learning and development. Potentially, this could lead to more time spent teaching the health and physical education content as well as a greater focus on the national curriculum for health and physical education being taught in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Muslim women's sporting spatialities: navigating culture, religion and moving bodies in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Holly Thorpe ◽  
Nida Ahmad ◽  
Amy Marfell ◽  
Justin Richards
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Moving Bodies

Participation in Sport, Empowerment, and Safety From Violence: Critiquing the Connections Through Women’s Experiences in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110089
Author(s):  
Lynzi Armstrong ◽  
Abby Hutchison
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Gendered Violence ◽  
Male Athletes ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Global Issue

Men’s violence against women is a global issue, and in recent decades its relationship with sport has been examined. Much research has focused on male athletes as perpetrators, seeking to understand how sport may foster misogynistic behavior. However, paradoxically, recent research has also examined women’s involvement in sport as a protective factor against gendered violence. This article explores this, drawing on the perspectives of 20 women. We argue that sport was experienced in contradictory ways, and thus, positioning women’s involvement in sport as a protective factor obscures complex experiences and reinforces the narrative that women are responsible for their safety.

Archiving Social Media at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Gillian Lee ◽  
Valerie Love ◽  
Jessica Moran
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
General Public ◽  
General Election ◽  
National Library ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Archive Project ◽  
Kaikoura Earthquake

AbstractThis article explores projects by the Alexander Turnbull Library to collect social media materials that reflect contemporary New Zealand culture and life. The article focuses on projects to harvest Twitter content relating to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and the 2017 New Zealand General election, and the ATL100 Facebook Archive project, which piloted collecting personal Facebook account archives relating to Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific from the general public.

scholarly journals A survey of social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand about their professional use of social media

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-47
Author(s):  
Deb Stanfield
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Use Of Social Media

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this article is to report findings from a survey which provides an overall beginning picture of how Aotearoa New Zealand social workers operate in their social media landscape, and an account of their opinions and attitudes about the professional social work use of social media.METHODS: A self-administered internet survey which sits within the context of a mixed methods research design, gathered broad, shallow, mainly quantitative data (QUAN-qual) from 342 Aotearoa New Zealand social workers about their professional participation in social media. Using Likert-type scales and multiple-choice questions, information was sought about the social work experience (behaviour, opinions/attitudes) of using social media for professional reasons, including motivations, limitations and challenges.FINDINGS: Fewer than half of the respondents reported using social media for professional reasons, and there was reticence amongst participants about the professional value of social media. Concerns about privacy, security and ethical issues were presented as primary limitations to the use of social media by both users and non-users—however, non-users were more likely to be prevented by their employers from using social media and, on average, maintained a more neutral stance regarding their interest in using it.CONCLUSION: The analysis of findings from this survey offer insight into areas of potential development, leadership and research regarding social worker use of social media in this country.

Women’s experiences of rugby culture in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-115
Author(s):  
Amy Wallace ◽  
Steve Jackson ◽  
Marcelle C. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

scholarly journals “We’re like the sex CPR dummies”: Young women’s understandings of (hetero)sexual pleasure in university accommodation

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Brown ◽  
Johanna Schmidt ◽  
Neville Robertson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Sexual Pleasure ◽  
Residential Setting ◽  
Sexual Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Key Issues

In this article, we explore the discourses that affect young women’s experiences of (hetero)sexual pleasure, drawing on data from focus groups with young women and young men who lived within a university residential setting in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Here we focus on the gendered understandings among the participants that prioritise men’s sexual pleasure and largely position women as the means of achieving that pleasure. The young women spoke of multiple barriers to gaining equality during (hetero)sexual experiences, with key issues being the coital imperative and women’s supposed sexual passivity. In challenging these barriers, the young women described various tactics used to resist their subordinate position. However, the women often placed the onus of responsibility for dismantling these barriers on themselves, thus bearing the burden of responsibility for not only young men’s sexual pleasure but also their own.

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.

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