PHYSICAL-EDUCATION AND FEMININITY

Educationalists have voiced concern for a number of years about the di fferentiated response of boys and girls to physical education in the s econdary school. The bulk of research has indicated that boys' attitud es towards the subject tend to be more positive and that participation (in both curricular and extra-curricular activities) is generally loo ked upon as being more readily compatible with prevailing notions of m asculinity than feminity. In this paper we present the findings of a r ecent survey which suggests that girls may now be less likely than in the recent past to perceive PE as a 'masculine' subject.'