Women in boxing: Negotiating identity, gender, health and wellbeing

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Dominant narratives about the role of sport in influencing people's health and wellbeing tend to offer one of two polarised arguments that (1) sport participation leads to poor physical and mental health and wellbeing via processes of both exclusion and extreme bodily practices (Van Raalte et al., 2007) or (2) sport is good for physical and mental health and wellbeing by virtue of participation in an activity that can reduce the risk of identified health conditions (Jewett et al., 2014, Swann et al., 2018). Whilst there is established and compelling evidence of the physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits of physical activity, there is only a newly emerging literature on the role of sport in enhancing public health (Cavill et al., 2012). Moreover, the idea that sport is good for health tends to be assumed in its promotion and prescription (Mansfield and Malcolm, 2010; Waddington and Smith, 2013). Further examination of the complexities of the role of sport in peoples' health and wellbeing is needed and timely given the policy significance of health and wellbeing for people in the UK and internationally, and the prioritisation of public health and mental wellbeing in policy on sport (Sport England, 2012; DCMS, 2015). Although policies to encourage increased participation in physical activities by women and girls have been developed specifically to address their under-representation in a health-giving activity, historical exclusions based on 19th century medical discourse which defined female bodies as weak, fragile and in need of protection still prevail (Velija and Mansfield, 2017a). Resultant gendered assumptions concerning 'appropriate' sports for women and girls, coupled with class-based associations may contribute to barriers to female participation in certain sports that are deemed to be an inappropriate match to established ideas about femininity. This research aims to explore the issues of health and wellbeing specifically related to the development of identity and wellbeing of women in boxing.