This Girl Can

[Yops]

Just saw this on the BBC website;

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/get-inspired/30743750

It's a campaign by Sport England to increase women's activity in sport. I loved the message - sport for everyone, regardless of prowess. What do other people think? Would it inspire you?

Also they should have included British Military Fitness class.. The ones near me are usually 2/3 women but all the activity is completely mixed and highly social. Nobody can be prissy about anything. Its all mud rain and crawling. The running compenents and body weight exercises mean that bulky men are usually disadvantaged relative to women, but nobody cares because everyone is training to their own limits and most activities are teams if there is any split.

and yes, the 'foxy' bit isn't ideal, but again, this is aimed at women for whom this might be important - perhaps not 'feminist aware', etc, brought up in UK patriarchal norm.

i assume they went with 'girl' as the tag line as its more catchy, and it also brings the 14yo+ demographic into it.

This Girl Can is much more catchy and 'catch-all' than This Woman Can.

as an overweight 30 something who is trying to lose weight/get fit, i loved it.. just wish i could find an exercise class locally thats as much fun as their zumba class looked!

Thing is, all these campaigns won't get me back into sport.

I have children in sport. I am in a massive sports centre every evening.

But, unless I want to join the gym, which I can't afford, swim or run on my own, there's nothing.

I want to join a club, with coaches, and other people. I am not built for running, I like dance, swimming, circuit training, martial arts, that sort of thing.

But do they run those activities for adults? No. If they do it's in the day or late at night- 8pm or later when my kids are finished and I need to take them home.

I did find a crossfit gym next door, but oh my god the price.

You can tell women that getting fit and playing sport is great, but they also need to provide access..

I didn't like 'fox' and 'hot' - apart from anything else it's too americanised and therefore a bit jarring. They could have refererred to feeling amazing or destressing, having fun etc. I agree a bit too much focus on boobs. Other than that I liked it. The key I think is to find an activity you really enjoy - I'll use any excuse not to go for a run but I hate to miss my karate or dance session and will do everything I can to make up the time if I do.

Micah - can you talk to your local martial arts club about sessions at fifteen times? I could attend at the same time as dd but prefer to go while the kids are with dh/cm. They have sessions at 5,6 and 7.30 as well as one daytime so I am v lucky I guess.

vinegar did you mean Kondo housekeeping? Because if not, I am really going to struggle to take care of my 3 whilst holding a wooden sword .

Fruit- the adult sessions are 8-9.30.

It's too far away to be going back and forward twice in one day, and I need to get the kids home and in bed so can't do the later session.

I've looked locally (within walking) but nothing in the day unless it's part of a gym chain (can't afford).

I've even looked into doing a dance course at the local college, but price means I can't. There's a local yoga place, but again, the price. I simply don't have a spare few hundred pounds to sign up for a course. especially as if the kids are off school etc I can't go.

I'm thinking of jumping in with the 6-8 year olds gymnastics class. Even that's £7 an hour though.

Most classes round here thinking about it are buggy fit/post natal type.

I want to learn stuff and be challenged...

And my mum said not to do sport as a career as there's no money in it...

My feeling about sport in the UK is it's a) football obsessed (which we all know is a man's sport) and b) Advertised to women as a looks benefit rather than sport as fun.

In NZ the biggest participant sport is netball. On any weekend in school grounds across the country you will see netball games going on. It's a family activity. There are women's teams, men's teams, children's teams, mixed teams. If you're crap at the game there's a team for you If you're injured you run the sausage stall. Children not on the court would form feral packs and entertain each other while their parents play.

The same is more or less true for all sports. Clubs have teams for all levels including the tragically clumsy or those just want to give it a go without committing. During my teens/20s (the age at which most women in the UK quit sport) I have memories of playing touch rugby, hurling (I had a male friend who played so I'd join in occasionally) field hockey, underwater hockey, netball, badminton, rowing, kyacking, cycling and squash. I would go to women's skateboarding sessions on a Sunday where women of all ages would be crap at it together I wind surfed and sailed occasionally. I didn't have the equipment but would just turn up and borrow stuff. Deep water aqua aerobics were a particular favourite of mine, every local swimming pool ran sessions at sensible times. I also did one never to be repeated women's triathlon where there were prizes for lactating women, mother and daughter teams and women over 80.

Admittedly there was FA else to to do in NZ and the culture is geared towards outdoors but I struggle to find the same attitude here in the UK. Everything is just so organised, regulated and damn difficult to find. You have to ring/email, pay and book. There's no just turning up, borrowing some equipment and just giving it a go to see if you like it. I tried joining a UK club so I could get back playing one of the sports i had been very good at in my youth. They wouldn't sign me up unless I promised to attend every week and training started at 9pm. There was no 'come and see if you can still hack it' session. Sod that for a game of soldiers. I have family responsibilities and a full time job. 9pm is when I start looking longingly at my bed.

I feel I have gone far off topic into one of my familiar rants. DD (aged 13) accuses me of being fitness obsessed when all I ever do is try things that look like they might be fun. I have spectacularly failed to install that attitude in her.

This is a behind the scene edited clip which gives you some more insight to the women in the ads. There are also some other 30 second or so clips about each individual on the website with more info on opportunities across other sports - bootcamp classes etc.

I do recognise that one of the barriers to women in sport is appearance but I agree with House and vinegar. I think it is better to take it out of the equation rather than keep referring to it (even as a positive). Highlighting other benefits may be better. Although of course, women aren't stupid. they see how the media report around sportswomen. Something needs to be done stop/counteract that.

Can I get any more splinters in my arse from sitting on the fence?

But the use of 'girl' and 'foxy' - just no! I've found that girl is used a lot in sport, by men. The same men who are kind of a bit patronising about women, disparaging even. It is a word used to put women's sport in its place.

Oh yes. Much of the shouting done at the TV in the slug household is at sports presenters who insist on referring to grown women as "girls"

I liked it.

It said to me - here are loads of women. some of them look like you. They are all having a whale of a time doing what they are doing.

I especially liked the woman walking into the swimming baths. Most women I see at the baths look like that - it's no reason not to go.

I think it shows the reality - that fitness doesn't just mean lycra-clad gym bunnies who are the peak of physical perfection.

Use of "girl" - agree with the PP who said that actual girls need to be included in this. So I don't mind.

I like it. But then I read the comments about "foxy" and so on, and realised I watched it without the sound on...

I assumed the 'girls can' bit is referencing 'run like a girl', 'throw like a girl' etc. Didn't mind the hot, it was playing on the double meaning, I suspect the 'sweat like a pig, feel like a fox' might have as well, the sexy meaning went over my head mind you, I've obviously been hanging out in the wrong circles because 'foxy' to me makes me think of the smell of foxy wine.

I saw it again on TV earlier - even with the sound off, I somehow missed the writing all over the middle of the screen...

Am I giving this ad too much credit? I thought the reason for the This Girl Can tagline was in direct response to all the "girls cant run", "girls cant throw" etc crap we hear every day?

It reminded me of this Always ad, and I think that's partly why it's "This Girl Can". They work well together, I think.

I liked it actually. I don't have a problem with the make-up thing - I think most women go to the gym/for a run after work or at lunchtime, so they'll be wearing make-up anyway, won't they? Certainly most of the women I see in the gym are. Not applied specially, just there because. I'd rather that that women spend even more time faffing about and feeling they have to "cleanse" before a workout lest they "clog" their skin.

yy **Amethyst- I generally am wearing make up when I go to gym classes or out running, because I've just been at work all day and can't be arsed to specifically take off my make up when I know it will all get washed off with the sweat in the shower afterwards. But if I go out on my road bike on a Saturday morning, I won't be wearing make up.

Agree that 'girl' works for the same reason it does in the Always ad- 'run like a girl', 'throw like a girl' etc.

Also agree with PPs that the level of organisation and timing involved puts me off some sports- I'd really like to have a go at triathlon but the training sessions at my local club are mostly too early for me to get to after work, and I get the impression that the people there are all super keen and super good so I'm worried about looking a prat if I turn up just to have a go and see how I get on.

Captain - go for it. I used to do triathlons a few years ago. I wasn't very good, but my club had every standard possible, from newbies to international competitors. It's a very friendly and welcoming sport. The other good thing is that most people have a discipline that they aren't much cop at, so you might come up against a top running who you can beat in the pool - very good for the ego

My club had a 50/50 mix of men and women as well, and included families - mum, dad and kids. The mixture of disciplines and training meant that I found it much less boring than just swimming, running or cycling alone.

This article points out it doesn't include older women.
www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11354566/This-Girl-Can-Sports-for-us-older-girls-too-you-know.html

I'm sure some of the ladies in the outdoor swimming shots are older, judging by the behind the scenes footage.

I liked the fox bit. The actual words were "sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox" over footage of a group of women at a Zumba class. That's a pretty good description of what a good Zumba class feels like - you feel sexy in a way that isn't about what you look like or about performing to others but it about moving your body in a way that feels good while in that trancy dance state.

It was saying that women's sport is a space where appearance isn't important but that how you feel is key. And I think that's a good thing.