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Despite efforts toward equality, social rules of gender play a prominent role in leisure especially within the sport and physical activity arena. Recreational and organized sports are common leisure pursuits among children. From an early age, children show signs of recognizing "appropriate" gendered behavior and activities. The goal of this study was to assess the degree to which children are aware of social stereotypes of gender in sport and physical activity and how their awareness affects their participation choices. Results of the study indicate that in terms of gender stereotypes girls experience greater social latitude in their sport participation than boys. The findings suggest support for further investigations into the effects of gender stigmas on boys' participation and experiences in sport and physical activity.
KEYWORDS: Stigma consciousness, gender stereotypes, children's leisure.
Introduction
Sport is a common and popular leisure pursuit among children and plays an important role in how they develop their future leisure behaviors and understandings. However, children's participation in sports and activities can be bound by social constructions of gender and gender stereotypes. Individuals who grew up in the United States and attended public school or participated in after school programs are likely to have memories of playground protocol (e.g., boys play football, soccer, or baseball and girls play jump rope or four square). Research has provided supporting evidence that the childhood rules of the playground exist beyond the scope of personal memories. Children as young as two are aware of and practice gender roles (Boyle, Marshall, & Robeson, 2003). Although advances have leveled the playing field for girls and women somewhat, a subconscious yet widely held perception of boys' sports and girls' sports persists.
There are dozens of definitions of sport and sports that are used in scholarly and common vernacular. For the purposes of this study, Coakley's (2001) definition is used. According to Coakley, sports are ". . . institutionalized competitive activities that involve rigorous physical exertion or the use of relatively complex physical skills by participants motivated by personal enjoyment and external rewards" (p. 21). In his explanation, he outlines that sports are physical activities. Per this definition, activities that might not otherwise be considered sports such as dance, ballet, and cheerleading, fall under the umbrella of the term....