Introduction

Girls and women have been identified as one of the key groups to focus on in order to increase participation in SPA [1-4]. There is a large consensus with respect to one purpose for Physical Education (PE), which is the promotion of lifelong participation in SPA. The PE is a privileged educational space for girls’ experience and engages in SPA, but they are not gender neutral. Gender issues exist across societies and therefore education, and as a social construction, varies with time and culture, and Portuguese culture shows specificities we must carefully consider in educational terms. In fact, gender seems to be a complete, rigid pattern, but when we scan its essence we verify how fluid, complex and uncertain it becomes [5].SPA are identified as a place where gender is produced, and the notion of gendered PA is still prevalent in PE classes [6-10].

However the emancipatory potential of SPA lies in the opportunity it provides for girls to experience bodily power, physical skill and expertise, and in that sense, those activities can challenge passive constructions of femininity and offer possibility for the development of girls physicality [11].

In fact, SPA may help them develop a sense of ownership of their bodies and experiencing themselves physically, and having control over their bodies girls take important steps toward empowering themselves as women [12-14]. In this regard, two concepts will be particularly useful in this research - physicality and empowerment. The term physicality is a conceptual tool to assist in understanding the way girls experience their bodies in and through SPA [15]. Empowerment refers to the process through which women gain the confidence, strength, and in some contexts the information and skills, needed to make strategic choices to improve their lives. 

How a girl experiences herself physically and the potential for empowerment through the body are important opportunities to understand the translation that occurs from a physical power to social power [12, 13, 15]. PE may represent a unique opportunity for girls to learn what sufficient PA is, and develop the experience that underpins the understanding, confidence and attitudes required to be active [16, 17]. Adopting emancipatory perspective, SPA in schools can encourage girls to reconstruct the meaning of SPA and how they experience them in their bodies. This approach is essential for a meaningful and safe learning environment, and increase girls’ commitment to SPA.

This study aims to produce knowledge and understanding of how to better work with girls, to meet their individual needs in order to increase their PA levels and fulfil the current health-related PA recommendations.

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