Mental Health Issues in Women’s Sports
In today’s society, young girls grow up seeing images of photoshopped and highly edited models everywhere they look. On TV, in magazines, on social media, etc. We grow up in a society where models are idolized every day on all main internet sources. This affects young girls all over the country but, it has the biggest impact on female athletes. This also plays a role in a girls involvement in sports and affects them in a huge way. When girls are exposed to these stereotypes of a perfect woman, this can cause long and serious problems on how they view their own body. Having this issue can cause many long-term mental health problems to a female. For example, it can lead to girls not being confident and comfortable in certain environments. Not only can having these issues lead to mental struggles, it can also lead to physical struggles. Yet, there are many ways that this generation can help solve this problem and help young girls view themselves in an healthier way that won’t cause harm to them and their athletic and educational careers.
Societal beauty ideals for how a woman should look has affected millions of girls all of the world. For example, statistics show that around 70% of females, age 18–30, don’t like their bodies and that 80% of girls by the age of 10 think they’re too fat. These body image issues can cause distress in mental health and lead to depressive episodes, eating disorders, substance abuse, anxiety, and health problems. This can dramatically affect an individual’s involvement in life and sports. Having a mental health disorder can cause an individual to feel as if they are stuck and aren’t able to help themselves get better. Many cases of mental health problems can only get fixed with help from others or medicine. Even with support from others, it may be difficult to overcome challenges of this nature. For example, not feeling skinny enough or pretty enough for social standards can lead to many unhealthy habits, such as eating disorders. Some of the main types of eating disorders seen in young women are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. When an athlete develops one of these eating disorders it can lead to serious problems and dangers in their athletic career. Yet, it is also important to mention that eating disorders are still commonly seen in athletes. For example, body dysmorphia can be seen in many bodybuilders but, many athletes need to be taking different types of approaches to address complex issues of this nature. An emphasis also needs to be placed on coaches and leaders in a sports environment that encourages their players to have intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation can be defined as motivation that originations from internal motives or goals. This is essential to put an emphasis on because extrinsic motivation encourages comparing oneself to others, which contributes to the high amount of eating disorders within bodybuilders.
These types of mental health disorders can have very strong correlations with poor physical health as well. For example, if an individual thinks that she is too fat then this could result in her taking steps to change her physical appearance. If athletic females are advertised on the daily then there is a higher chance that she would take healthier steps to losing weight and become fitter. Yet on the other hand, if supermodels who are unnaturally skinny are advertised daily then this could cause her to become very unhealthy or even sick by trying to lose weight in the wrong ways. This example leads to one of the main causes of eating disorders in today’s society. This is also how this society shows off what a stereotypical perfect woman should look like. We idolize models who are skinny, extremely tall and have unusual yet very beautiful features. For example, Kendal Jenner, Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow, and Taylor Hill are all examples of what a “perfect” model should look like in the eyes of society today. Yet, this is not healthy for young girls to see and expect from themselves. Super models spend their whole lives concerned on their appearance and what they need to do to keep it. They stay on diets most of the time, get surgeries done and have their photos photoshopped and edited by multi-millionaire companies that advertise them for the world to see. Young girls see these photos and think that they need to be unusually skinny or that they need to look a certain way to be considered pretty. Having these societal expectations can damage an individual’s self-confidence permanently. These expectations are what lead to mental and physical health problems. They are what make girl athletes feel that having muscle isn’t pretty. They are also what hurt a girl’s ability to excel to her maximum potential in life.
So, what can we do to help young girls feel confident in themselves and be healthy in all aspects of their lives? Idolizing models who are unnaturally tall and extremely skinny should not be at the top of that list. Instead, we should idolize females who are strong, independent, smart,
and talented. We should idolize the female bodies that are muscular instead of skinny. We should focus on more than just a model’s looks. We should focus on their personality and accomplishments not just on how skinny and perfect they are. We should promote flaws and stop photoshopping photos because when young girls see models in newspapers, on billboards, on TV, and on social media they should feel encouraged to become fitter, eat healthier and learn more, not feel encouraged to lose weight, look prettier or be taller.
We need to teach young girls that it’s okay to not look like a “supermodel” and that every single person is born with a different body and that every single person is able to become healthy and fit in their own way; which might not always look like the same process as the next girl. These messages should be shown through people like Simone Biles, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Serena Williams, Mia Hamm and any other athletic women who have broken the societal boundaries of what a woman should look like and act like. Females athletes should be the main models for what a young girl should want to be like. If a young girl doesn’t want to be an athlete when she is older and would rather focus on a different career it is still important for them to be able to look up to a female athlete. Female athletes can be a role model for so much more than just the sport they play, they can also teach young girls how important it is to be committed to a passion, stay healthy, be brave, be a leader, be smart, and most importantly, to not be afraid to break societies standards for females all around the world.
-Holly Barney
Sources:
Cherry, Kendra. “How Does Extrinsic Motivation Influence Behavior?” Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-extrinsic-motivation-2795164.
Founder, Becky Henry, et al. “Statistics | Eating Disorders | Body Image Therapy Center | Maryland.” The Body Image Center, 16 Oct. 2018, thebodyimagecenter.com/education-awareness/eating-disorder-statistics/.
“Negative Body Image Related To Depression, Anxiety And Suicidality.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 6 June 2006, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060606224541.htm.
“Pam Writes Romance.” Free Essay Writing Help From Pam, www.pamwritesromance.com/an-excellent-essay-example-on-the-role-of-women-in-sports/.
“Physical Health and Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 27 Aug. 2018, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/physical-health-and-mental-health.
