When girls have no opportunities and women have neither time nor energy: the participation of Muslim female cleaners in recreational physical activity

Abstract

Statistics about the recreational physical activity (PA) of minority ethnic Muslim women reveal very low participation rates. Drawing on approaches to socialization and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and taste, the aim of this study was to investigate the (lack of) PA participation of Muslim minority ethnic women in Denmark and to identify key influences which shape(d) their PA attitudes and practices. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 female migrant cleaners from various non-Western countries. The interviews revealed that a lack of previous experience of sport and recreational PA and life circumstances constrained participation in recreational PA. In contrast, religion did not provide an explanation for the women’s lack of engagement in recreational PA.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. Throughout the article we use the term recreational PA to refer to physical activities such as running, swimming or cycling in leisure time which are not competitive.

2. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey on sport and PA in the European Union, 66% of the Danish population claim that they exercise or play sport at least once a week. In comparison, 78% of the Bulgarian population state that they never exercise. The EU-average of physically active citizens is 41% (European Commission 2014).

3. ‘Social classes’ consist of groups of people with similar socioeconomic resources that are mainly based on education, occupation and income.

4. We consider ‘ethnicity’ as an affiliation to specific social and cultural practices, tastes, attitudes and beliefs that are connected with traditions, social norms, religion and language adopted and shared by a group of people.