Dr. Emily Matheson, from the Center for Appearance Research, highlighted two decades of research revealing that girls often abandon sports due to concerns about their appearance, fueled by societal pressures dictating how they should look …
Empowering Girls: Overcoming Body Image Shaming in Sports
Body image shaming has been a lifelong struggle for me, rooted in childhood memories of my father’s comments about my mother’s appearance. Though delivered with affection, those words have persisted in my mind, like an incessant playback of a tape recorder, with phrases like “thunder thighs” etched into my consciousness.
Despite my husband’s loving reassurances, attributing certain physical traits to inherited “Prokop genes” from my mother’s side, and his sincere declarations of love for me as I am, doubts continue to linger deep within.
Perhaps that’s why the Dove Super Bowl commercial addressing body image issues in young girls struck such a profound chord with me. Amidst the anticipation of Super Bowl commercials, one particular ad stood out – featuring young girls falling and tumbling to the tune of “It’s A Hard Luck Life.”
What truly resonated were the words overlaid on images of girls engaged in various sports: “The knocks don’t stop girls playing sports; low body confidence does.” Followed by a sobering statistic – “45 percent of girls quit sports by age 14” – and a call to action: “Together we can keep them in the game. Join the Body Confident Sport Program.”
Dr. Emily Matheson, from the Center for Appearance Research, highlighted two decades of research revealing that girls often abandon sports due to concerns about their appearance, fueled by societal pressures dictating how they should look and behave. The idealized image dictates that female athletes should be tall, slender, possess just the right amount of muscle, and confine themselves to traditionally feminine sports like dance, gymnastics, and volleyball.
Yet, the benefits of girls participating in sports are numerous – fostering positive self-esteem, enhancing mental and physical well-being, nurturing lifelong friendships, and honing leadership skills.
The Body Confident Sport program, comprising Body Confident Coaching and Body Confident Athletes initiatives, is sponsored in part by Dove and Nike.
To parents, grandparents, and coaches in our community, I implore you to take a moment to explore the program and consider how it could be integrated into the lives of all girls.
At Hands of Hope, our mission is centered on empowering choice and cultivating hope, and initiatives like this are crucial steps toward achieving that goal. Visit https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns/confident-sports.html to learn more and join us in supporting our girls’ confidence and participation in sports.
