Currently 2 million fewer women than men participate in sport and exercise regularly. Last year, Sport England found that of the 9.4 million women aged 14 to 40 in the UK, 75 per cent (7.1 million) would like to be more active.
Sport England's campaign is creating a storm, and rightly so. This Girl Can is a campaign to inspire women to feel confident and get active, whatever their size, shape, age, or fitness level... But, more importantly it's aim is to "empower women" and reduce the "significant gender gap" in sport, after research suggested that 75% of women are put off exercise for fear of what others think."
Sport England's campaign is creating a storm, and rightly so. This Girl Can is a campaign to inspire women to feel confident and get active, whatever their size, shape, age, or fitness level... But, more importantly it's aim is to "empower women" and reduce the "significant gender gap" in sport, after research suggested that 75% of women are put off exercise for fear of what others think."
Sports presenter Clare Balding, one of the many supporters of This Girl Can, says she finds it “staggering” that nothing like this has ever been done before. “We are all imperfect and let’s celebrate that, it doesn’t make us less valuable,” she says. “We all have wrinkles and bags under our eyes and cellulite and pores and all those things that you don’t normally see in images of women.”
“This ad is trying to reach women who have felt for whatever reason that exercise or sport is not for them, that it’s an exclusive club they can’t join. And I think the most powerful way of doing that is to show women who look like you doing it and don’t be afraid if you wobble. It doesn’t matter. We all wobble.”