Women's Leisure Time Research Articles

Young women's leisure time physical activity determinants: a mixed methods approach.

The aim of the study was to analyze the habits, motives and barriers related to Leisure Time Physical Activity (LTPA) among young women of Gipuzkoa, from a mixed approach. A total of 526 women aged 18-29 (24.60 ± 3.30 years) responded to the Gipuzkoa Women's Physical Activity Questionnaire (GWPAQ), seven of which were later interviewed. The main motives for LTPA were intrapersonal - related to health and enjoyment - and to interpersonal networks. However, the main barriers facing LTPA were mostly intrapersonal, such as lack of time, tiredness, and laziness. Contextual factors such as the availability of safe spaces, previous negative experiences, or negative self-perception of motor competence also emerged as conditioning factors in young women's LTPA habits. This study may help to promote policies aimed at incentivizing LTPA for young women based on their needs and interests, by addressing the diversity of factors.

Gender differences in consumption of leisure in Korea: Revisiting the concept of ‘cultural voraciousness’

This study explores gender differences in leisure activity, applying the concept of “cultural voraciousness”, using data from the 2014 Korean Time Use Survey. Drawing on 26,972 diaries kept by adults aged 35-64 years, we measured two aspects of leisure activity: 1) the total daily minutes spent on outdoor leisure, and 2) the sequential complexity index capturing cultural voraciousness (the variety and distribution of leisure activity) within a day. Results showed that Korean men consumed more leisure than women in terms of daily minutes spent on leisure and had more complexity in their leisure activities. The gender gap in leisure time and the complexity score remained large even in later life, when leisure time increased overall, compared with earlier life stages. Another important finding is that socioeconomic factors appear crucial in shaping the leisure consumption of men and women, but the impact of those factors on leisure differed according to gender. Men and women's leisure complexity was associated with current household income. Education was as a significant factor associated with women's leisure time and complexity for all age groups of women.

Investigating Patterns of Spending Leisure Time with Emphasize on Physical Activities and Sport (The Case Study: Female Professors, Students, and Staffs at Ilam University)

Despite the interest in sport and physical activities in Iran, its role in spending the leisure time of various groups in the society is insignificant. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study and identify the patterns of spending the leisure time with emphasize on physical activities and sport at Ilam University. This study is descriptive and a kind of field study. The statistical society includes 3888 individuals from female professors, students, and the staffs of Ilam University, from them 362 ones have been selected through stratified random sampling by using Morgan’s table. The data was collected by using a questionnaire whose cronbach’s alpha reliability was determined (Ra= 0.89). For data analysis we used descriptive statistical method (the mean, standards deviation and distribution tables), and in inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA and LSD test) (p<0 0.05). The findings show that among leisure activities, using mobile in all three groups was the most important activity in leisure time and physical activities and sport were in 7th, 8th and 9th priority among professors, students and staffs. In other words, investigation about relationship between variables indicates that there is a significant difference between income average, age and education level with the rate of sport and leisure time in all three groups. Static actions like using mobile and Chat have a major role in women leisure time, and sport doesn’t have a favorable position. Also, the existing difference in the ways of spending leisure time depends on the amount of income, age, marriage, interest, and social differences.

Using gender-based analyses to understand physical inactivity among women in Yellowstone County, Montana

Physical inactivity contributes to many health problems. Gender, the socially constructed roles and activities deemed appropriate for men and women, is an important factor in women's physical inactivity. To better understand how gender influences participation in leisure-time physical activity, a gender analysis was conducted using sex-disaggregated data from a county-wide health assessment phone survey and a qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts. From this gender analysis, several gender-based constraints emerged, including women's roles as caregivers, which left little time or energy for physical activity, women's leisure time activities and hobbies, which were less active than men's hobbies, and expectations for women's appearance that made them uncomfortable sweating in front of strangers. Gender-based opportunities included women's enjoyment of activity as a social connection, less rigid gender roles for younger women, and a sense of responsibility to set a good example for their families. The gender analysis was used to gain a deeper understanding of gender-based constraints and opportunities related to physical activity. This understanding is being used in the next step of our research to develop a gender-specific intervention to promote physical activity in women that addresses the underlying causes of physical inactivity through accommodation or transformation of those gender norms.

‘Two's up and poncing fags’: young women's smoking practices, reciprocity and friendship

Over the past decade much has been written by journalists, policy makers, and academics, about young women's leisure time pursuits. A great deal of this interest has focused around a concern that teenage girls in the UK are taking up smoking in larger numbers than their male peers. This paper draws on findings from my small‐scale doctoral research into teenage girls' use of tobacco and alcohol in a town in southern England. I examine young women's use of cigarettes as an informal social currency, and as a way of thinking about such tobacco use beyond the deficit model of the young female smoker common to many drugs education interventions. In this paper I draw upon theoretical material from the social theories of exchange to explore how young women's reciprocal networks of cigarettes operate to underpin friendships and mobilise power within girls' social networks. I explore how smoking as a reciprocal gift‐giving practice supports and maintains friendship groups and particular gendered practices. My argument is that teen girls create and sustain bonds of friendship through their use and exchange of cigarettes. I want to suggest that within the girls' friendship groups, the flow of branded cigarettes as a resource highlights alliances, inter‐group rivalries, and provides space for the production and negotiation of teenage ‘cool’ femininities.

‘Our Lady Specialists at Pikes Lane’: Female Spectators in Early English Professional Football, 1880–1914

There has been very little study of female football spectators, especially in a historical context. This paper aims to demonstrate that despite the restrictions placed on women's leisure time in this period, it is clear from evidence that a small but significant number of women could and did attend professional football matches throughout the period, and participated as consumers in this new leisure industry. Contrary to some modern readings that assume that the female football spectator is a relatively new phenomenon, patterns of leisure consumption were similar for women in this context, albeit with certain important restrictions, such as available leisure time, money, and parental and familial responsibilities. The study illustrates the potential female market for professional football, using numerous examples of women attending matches gathered from contemporary evidence, especially from the cotton area of South East Lancashire, where there was a concentration of early professional clubs within an economically developed industrialised society. It discusses issues of identity, both regional and local, and with respect to particular football clubs. It also describes female reactions to incidents, players and significant events, indicating the similarities and differences between the sexes, and addresses the issue of how far women were fans as well as spectators. There is also some discussion of the patterns of consumption of female spectators, and an attempt to establish a profile for them. The study uses local newspapers from Lancashire as its main primary source material. As there is little other direct information on the subject, such local materials are an important source for the history of this aspect of professional football, as they are for other areas of Victorian and Edwardian social history.

Pre- and Postnatal Women's Leisure Time Physical Activity Patterns

The purpose of this study was to examine women's leisure time physical activity (LTPA) before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and through the first 7 months postnatal. Pre- and postnatal women (n = 309) completed the 12-month Modifiable Activity Questionnaire and demographic information. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate a growth curve representing the average change in LTPA over time and intraindividual variations in the average growth curve over time. Growth curve estimates for the linear, quadratic, and cubic trends were significant (p < .05), indicating that LTPA declined during pregnancy but then increased following birth. The results also demonstrated that the individual trajectories of LTPA varied substantially from the average growth curve. One demographic predictor variable (having other children at home) was significant (p < .05).

Triathlon and Women's Narratives of Bodies and Sport

Women's leisure time sport participation was examined in relation to resistance, bodies and community. Fifteen interviews were conducted with participants and coaches in two all-women's triathlon training groups in Austin, Texas. Qualitative methods and grounded theory guided the interviewing and data analyses. The results indicate that all-women's leisure time sport groups are capable of providing an atmosphere for women, particularly sport novices, to recreate and reappropriate their bodies and their sport.

Women's leisure time — using time budget data to examine current trends and future predictions

Women's leisure time — using time budget data to examine current trends and future predictions