To date, few studies have focused on the psychosexual development of female athletes and when they do, they are more interested in the development of female athletes who practice a male “gendered” activity and the repercussions on their identity as women. Nevertheless, regardless of the type of sport she practices, a highly invested sport activity can influence the identity construction of the sportswoman, since she is immersed in a social environment and codes that belong to it. Thus, the practice of a so-called “feminine” sport activity can also influence the construction of these young women. The aim of this work is to determine what influence the aesthetic dimension of “feminine” sports can have on the psychosexual development of sportswomen, taking into account the affective environment in which they evolve.
In this work, the affective environment includes the parents, but also the coach since he occupies a significant place in the practice and the life of the sportswoman. In this study, we understand feminine sports to be those in which the majority of the participants are female and in which aestheticism plays a predominant role (e.g. ballet, figure skating, synchronised swimming, gymnastics, etc.).
We hypothesise that the aesthetic dimension of women’s sports influences the construction of a libidinal body image and the investment of the gendered body differently according to the psycho-affective environment in which the athlete evolves. It would facilitate the construction of a libidinal body image and the investment of the sexual body when the athlete evolves within a supportive affective environment. On the contrary, it would hinder the construction of a libidinal body image and the investment of the sexual body when the athlete evolves within an objectifying affective environment.
A supportive environment would consist of supportive, respectful relatives who listen to the athlete and her desires regarding her practice. An objectifying environment would consist of parents or coaches who push the athlete to exceed her own limits in order to perform, who strongly encourage the athlete to practice despite her unwillingness to do so, or who project their own desire for success onto the young woman.
To conduct this exploratory study, semi-directive interviews were conducted with 20 young women who had practised this type of sport throughout their adolescence, a pivotal period in the development of genital sexuality. All of these interviews were processed through a thematic content analysis.
The analysis of these results shows a strong investment in the muscular body to the detriment of the sexual body in these young sportswomen. Although the aesthetic dimension of this type of sport seems to facilitate the construction of a libidinal body image, they express little desire and often adopt a passive position in their sexuality. The objectifying nature of their emotional environment seems to reinforce this position and hinder the construction of a libidinal body image. The main difficulty of this work was to meet sportswomen whose entourage was supportive, since all the sportswomen we met had been trained by coaches who were often demeaning and insulting towards them.
It should be remembered, however, that these results must be put into perspective in view of the limitations inherent in the work, and in particular the small number of participants we met.
Key terms : psychosexual development, aestheticism, sexuality, body image, objectification.
Mots clés : développement psychosexuel, esthétisme, sexualité, image du corps, objectification.
Words I have learned :
- to hinder : entraver
- ballet : danse classique
- figure skating : patinage artistique
- throughout : à travers
- unwillingness : réticence