Socio-Cultural Constraints of Female Sportsmanship in the Tunisian Society: A Category of Analysis

Abstract

This study focuses on the socio-cultural constraints in women’s access to the practice of competitive sport. Through a sociological approach, we explore the field of lived experiences from a population of twenty young Tunisian women practicing competitive sports. We have chosen this work for the qualitative method through semi-structured interview. The main objective of the research is to determine the socio-cultural constraints to women’s access to sports based on their past lived experiences in the field of sports. It comes to understand the challenges related to the issue of gender as to the sportsmanship of women in the Tunisian society. The patriarchal ideology deeply internalized by ancient traditions, is an indirect constraint that prevents access to sports by Tunisian women because it is a male issue. Stereo-types and prejudices are a source of social resistance that leads to the exclusion of women from the sporting scene indirectly and implicitly. The education received by the Tunisian girl justifies the social hierarchy between the sexes. They are under enormous pressure to respect the family traditions that are conflicting with the nature of sports. The female body is dependent to constraints imposed by the social environment. Its image is a constraint to the sportsmanship of women. The results show that gender allows us to analyze the social and cultural barriers to women’s sports.