Email: m.windramgeddes@dundee.ac.uk

PhD Thesis

'Fit for Girls', Fit for Life? Emotive and Bodily Geographies of Scottish Secondary School Girls in the space of PE.

Summary

This work draws from a diverse collection of literature on the body in institutionalised space (school), drawing on theories from feminist work, children's geographies and health geographies. The Fit for Girls Programme, funded by the Scottish Government and sportscotland will roll out to all Scottish Secondary Schools from now until 2010. The program was prompted by a decline in participation in PE amongst girls from age 10 onwards along with rising obesity rates in Scotland. This project aims to understand girls perceptions of body and health within the space of school, and PE class, using the Fit for Girls programme as a case study. How girls negotiate the space of FfG, and the choices they make when deciding what activities to participate in (or not) are of importance particularly in understanding 'feminine' (or constructed as 'feminine') space(s). Ethnographic work involving sportscotland stakeholders as well, PE teachers, and girls from three Scottish schools (with varying demographics) are planned.

Key Words

Fit for Girls, body, children, feminine space, health geographies

Recent work

Windram-Geddes, M. (2012) ‘Reading the Researcher’s Body’ Qualitative Researcher,14: 5

Windram-Geddes, M. (2011) Book Reviews, Gender, Place & Culture, 18:2 304-306

Windram-Geddes, M (2011) Book Review, Children’s Geographies, 9:1 119-121