Examination of Body Areas Satisfaction Levels and Gender Roles of Female Wrestlers

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the Body Areas Satisfaction Levels and Gender Roles of female wrestlers. The sample of the study is constituted by 39 female wrestlers in Turkey Olympic Preparation Center in Edirne in 2017. As the data collection tool in the research; to determine the Body Areas Satisfaction Levels “Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Scale”, to determine the gender roles “BEM Gender Role Inventory” was used. In the evaluation of the data obtained, SPSS 20.0 statistics program was used. In the analysis of data, descriptive statistics; in paired comparisons, t-test; and in multiple comparisons, ANOVA test was used. As a result of statistical analysis made, it was observed that, of the female wrestlers; 15.4% had masculine, 35.9% had feminine, 17.9% had androgynous and 30.8% had unclear gender role behaviours. Significant differences were found between the score of femininity characteristics and score of masculinity characteristics and score of social acceptability characteristics (p<0.05). According to body mass index (BMI), regarding the clauses on satisfaction with body areas, there is significant difference; between the normal weight and the over weight as per the clause “I am satisfied with my lower body”; between the overweight and the thin and the normal weight as per the clause “I am satisfied with my central body”; between the weak athletes and normal weight athletes as per the clause “I am satisfied with muscle structure”; between the normal weight and over weight athletes as per the clause “I am satisfied with my weight” (P<0.05). There was no significant difference according to BMI variable in the clauses “I’m satisfied with my face”, “I’m satisfied with my hair”, “I’m satisfied with my upper body”, “I’m satisfied with my height” and “I’m satisfied with my overall appearance”.


Introduction
Today, sports is not considered apart from social life we are living in.Sports plays an important role in social, physical, mental and spiritual development of people.It has a significant influence on development of personality, of, shaping the character of, increasing self-confidence of a person, on making him/her a social person, on development of practical thinking, ensuring physical and spiritual health as well as mental health.
In western societies and culture, a well-trained and steady body is considered a very important investment in presenting oneself in the society (Lindwall & Hassmen, 2004).In today's world, the society increasingly imposes standards of physical attractiveness, attaches importance to thinness of women and brawniness of men and cultures set standards for physical attractiveness, body weight and body shape based on gender (Solomon et al., 2001;Fallon, 1990).
Women may sometimes have features of two different genders.Usually, to be successful in the workplace, However, this is not a problem for men.Because society expects men to show more masculine behaviours in every situation (Dökmen, 1997;Dökmen, 1999).
Birrel states that feminine role in those doing sports exhibit a change towards masculinity and androgynous feature might have increased due to dissolution in this femininity (Birrel, 1983).The role conflict that has begun with doing sports might have caused athletes to have new gender role features.On the other hand, for some of the researchers who have been seeking for reasons for differentiation in gender role features of athletes and non-athletes, the reason for this change is that the change in physical appearance effects gender role.Competition arising from the nature of sports and differentiation of physical appearance causes change also in gender roles of individuals (Plaited, 1995).
Body image is a part of self-perception and involves body-specific attitudes and experiences, abilities, physical strength conditions as well as feelings of masculinity and femininity.Body image is a product of social interaction (Drench, 1994).
Especially women, compared to men, are more critical about their own bodies, more concerned about their weight and appearances and more dissatisfied with their bodies (Loland, 1998).Davis and Cowles (1991) on the other hand, state that, compared to men, women are more dissatisfied with their bodies and more prone to lose weight.
High body image; is related to highly valued experiences such as feeling of effectiveness, personal determination and self-acceptance (Fox, 2000).If women are experiencing discontentment with their bodies, this may affect their thoughts, attitudes and feelings (Augestad & Flanders, 2002).On the other hand, an individual or an athlete having a positive body image and content with his/her physical appearance will experience a positive psychological development.
High level of body satisfaction is associated with well physical performance and men and women who are physically active are more content with their bodies (Philips & Drummond, 2001;Kjelsas & Augestad, 2004).Richman and Shaffer (2000) state that participation in sports activities increase body image and satisfaction and affect them positively.According to the research by Moss and Berlinger (1999), athletes attach more importance to being physically fit compared to non-athletes and they feel physically more fit; they are also more pleased with their bodies.According to the research, children and young adults who are successful in sports, gain more acceptance from their teachers and parents.There are plenty of evidences on the fact that athletes are more self-confident, extroverted and socially agreeable (Eppright et al., 1997).
Despite the fact that sports has been handled for years as a field specific to men due to its nature, change that started with tennis has spread out to other branches of sports, even if slowly.As for today, women can now compete in sports branches such as wrestling, weightlifting and football which are rather considered to be more specific to men (McPherson et al., 1983).In recent years, rate of participation of female athletes in activities both as a leisure time activity and for the purpose of competition has increased.Particularly, increase in number of women doing sports at elite level has increased competition and thus led to participation of women in heavier and intense training programs (Wells, 1991).
In the light of this information, it is aimed to investigate the body areas satisfaction levels and gender roles of female athletes engaged in wrestling which is perceived as a sports branch specific to men.

Research Model
This research is in the screening model because it is aimed to determine the relationship between female wrestlers' body perception and gender role in terms of various variables.The screening model is an approach to research which aims for describing a condition which occurred in the past or occurs in the present as it is (Büyüköztürk, 2012).

Research Group
The study group of the research is constituted by 39 female wrestlers in Turkey Olympic Preparation women wrestling center located in Edirne in 2017.The body mass index of the participants, it is seen that the majority is of Normal Weight (71.8%), some of them are thin (20.5%) and very few of them are Over Weight (7.7%).When the ages of athletes participating in the study are examined, 53.8% of them consist of female wrestlers in Cadet category whereas 46.2% are in the Junoir category.15.4% of female wrestlers who participated in the research were found to be masculine; in other words, they have some of the features which are adopted as masculine features by the society; whereas a great majority (35.9%) were found to be feminine, that is to say, having feminine characteristics adopted by the society and not having masculine features, and 17.9% were found to be androgen, in other words, the individual had his/her own gender role as well as having both feminine and masculine features adopted by the society.Undifferentiated gender role behaviour was observed with the majority of the participants (30.8%), referring to low level of feminine and masculine features.

Data Collection Tool
To determine their level of physical perception, Dogan and Dogan (1992) developed by the reliability and validity tested "Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire" (MBSRQ).In order to determine gender roles, BEM Gender Role Inventory, which was performed by Kavuncu (1987) developed was used.

Analysis of the Data
The data was analyzed with the SPSS 22 program and the reliability level was 95%.In the study, for analysis of the data, Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and the difference according to demographic varibles between physical perception and gender roles was analyzed with parametric test methods, Independent Samples Test and One Way Anova tests.

Findings
Table 3. Descriptive statistics of replies given by the participants of the research to the clauses in body areas satisfaction dimension of multidimensional body-self relations scale As seen in the Table, in analysis of descriptive statistics of replies given by the participants to the clauses in Body Areas Satisfaction dimension of Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Scale, it was found that means for Clause 1, Clause 2, Clause 3 are lower than the average of satisfaction with body areas (35.62), whereas they were found higher for Clause 4, Clause 5, Clause 6, Clause 7, Clause 8 and Clause 9.According to ANOVA results in Table 3, in terms of body mass index of the participants, it was seen that there was no significant difference between the average scores for the clauses "I'm content with my face", "I'm content with my hair", "I'm content with my upper body", "I'm content with my stature", and "I'm content with my overall appearance".
In terms of BMI of elite female wrestlers at national team level, there is a significant difference between; the normal weight and the over weight for the clause "I am content with my lower body" [F (5.885) = 0.006; P<0.05]; between the over weight and the thin and the normal weight for the clause "I am content with my central body" [F (9.325) = 0.001; P<0.05]; between the thin athletes and the normal weight athletes for the clause; "I am content with the muscle structure" [F (6.024) = 0.006; P<0.05]; between the normal weight athletes and the over weight athletes for the clause "I am content with my weight" [F (4.843) = 0.014; P<0.05].In table 6, when t-Test results regarding comparison of BEM Gender Role Inventory scores of participating athletes analysed, significant differences were discovered between the features of femininity (X=109.13)and masculinity (X=98.46)(t=3.377,p<0.05) and between the features of femininity and social acceptability (X =93.95) (t=-7.252,p<0.05).There is no significant difference between the features of masculinity and social acceptability.As seen in Table 7, in analysis of ANOVA results concerning comparison of BEM Gender Role Inventory Scores of participants as per Body Mass Index, no significant difference was found between the features of femininity, masculinity and social acceptability.

Discussion and Conclusion
This study aimed to determine the satisfaction levels of women engaged in wrestling which is known to be specific to men with their body areas and to determine their gender roles.
In analysis of Table 1, it is observed that according to body mass index, the majority of the participants are of Normal Weight (71.8%), some of them are Thin (20.5%) and very few are of Over Weight (7.7%) athletes.
Physical activity and exercising ensures people to have an ideal body structure licking their bodies into a certain shape.Physical appearance, is one of the issues to which much attention is paid by people of any ages today, especially the young generation.Physical appearance of a person may take precedence over behaviour and success in many cases.Slim appearance of women and on the other hand brawny appearance of men are among the social values accepted by the society.An ideally fit physical appearance also shows that the body is proportionate and healthy (Er, 2015).As mentioned in the literature, due to the importance of contribution of sports to physical appearance, it is of a character that supports the vast majority of female wrestlers who participated in our research in becoming normal weight athletes.
Table 2, in analysis of descriptive statistics of replies given by the participants to the clauses in Body Areas Satisfaction Dimension of Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Scale, it is seen that averages obtained for the clauses with regard to satisfaction with face (3.13), hair (3.54), lower body (3.41) are lower than the average for the satisfaction with body areas (3.56%), whereas they are higher than those obtained for the clauses with regard to satisfaction with central body (3.64), upper body (3.79), muscle structure (3.58), weight (3.56), stature (3.69) and overall appearance (3.77).
According to ANOVA results in Table 3, in terms of body mass index of the participants, it was seen that there was no significant difference between the average scores for the clauses "I'm content with my face", "I'm content with my hair", "I'm content with my upper body", "I'm content with my stature", and "I'm content with my overall appearance".In terms of BMI of female wrestlers, there is a significant difference between; the normal weight and the over weight for the clause "I am content with my lower body" [F(5.885)=0.006; P<0.05]; between the over weight and the thin and the normal weight for the clause "I am content with my central body" [F(9.325)=0.001; P<0.05]; between the thin athletes and the normal weight athletes for the clause; "I am content with the muscle structure" [F (6.024) = 0.006; P<0.05]; between the normal weight athletes and the over weight athletes for the clause "I am content with my weight" [F(4.843)=0.014; P<0.05].
In the study conducted by Baştuğ (2008) on body perception levels and gender roles of female athletes, the results obtained for clauses regarding satisfaction with body areas are respectively as follows; satisfaction with Face (3.54), Hair (3.92), Lower body (3.76), Central body (3.67), Upper body (3.81), Muscle structure (3.67), Weight (3.51), Stature (3.48) and Overall appearance (3.68).In analysis of group averages of those doing individual sports and not doing sports; of those doing team sports and not doing sports, the body areas satisfaction features of the group which is not doing sports were found to be lower, compared to female athletes.The results of this study are parallel to the results of our study.
To put it in the shortest definition, our interpretation of the image we see when we look at the mirror forms the body image.It refers to how an individual perceives his/her body shape.Individuals having a bad body image think that they are overweight, even if they are not.In other words, our perception of appearance of our bodies, our feelings hereof describe our body image (Schilder, 1950).
In Table 4, in analysis of ANOVA results regarding comparison of Body Areas Satisfaction Scores according to gender role, of female wrestlers participating in the study, a significant difference was found between the masculine athletes and feminine athletes with regard to the clause of "I'm content with the muscle structure" [F(2.599)=0.045; P<0.05].No significant difference was found between gender role groups for the other clauses of satisfaction with body areas.
15.4% of female wrestlers who participated in the research were found to be masculine; in other words, they have some of the features which are adopted as masculine features by the society; whereas a great majority (35.9%) were found to be feminine, that is to say, having feminine characteristics adopted by the society and not having masculine features, and 17.9% were found to be androgen, in other words, the individual had his/her own gender role as well as having both feminine and masculine features adopted by the society.Undifferentiated gender role behaviour was observed with the majority of the participants (30.8%), referring to low level of feminine and masculine features.Oglesby and Hill (1993), indicate that successful female athletes exhibit features that are close to personality traits of male athletes.Moreover, Temel (1991), states in a study on self-esteem and gender role that androgenous women have higher self-esteem compared to women in feminine-masculine and undifferentiated gender role groups.Our study contradicts with the said study with the results being mostly feminine but it is also parallel to that study with resulting in having high level of undifferentiated gender role.
In the study of Baştuğ (2008), the findings indicating higher androgynous and masculine gender roles for female basketball players compared to females exercising in wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, volleyball, football are parallel to findings of our study.The fact that they come from different socio-cultural and economical environment, competition within the team in basketball may be said to be effective for these findings.
In Table 5, when t-Test results regarding comparison of BEM Gender Role Inventory scores of participating athletes analysed, significant differences were discovered between the features of femininity (X=109.13)and masculinity (X=98.46)(t=3.377p<0.05) and between the features of femininity and social acceptability (X=93.95)(t=-7.252p<0.05).There is no significant difference between the features of masculinity and social acceptability.Femininity (107.80),masculinity (100.83) and social acceptability (94.80) scores of female wrestlers in the study of Baştuğ are parallel to results of our study.Koca and Aşçı (2000), in their study on gender roles, state that masculinity scores of athletes engaged in individual sports are higher than the other two groups whereas there is no difference in terms of femininity scores.Femininity and social acceptability scores in similar studies are parallel to scores in our study, masculinity score is lower in our study but it can be said that finding high scores for female athletes in other studies enhances masculinity characteristics of sports branches which are known to be specific to men.
As seen in Table 6, in analysis of ANOVA results concerning comparison of BEM Gender Role Inventory Scores of participants as per Body Mass Index, no significant difference was found between the features of femininity, masculinity and social acceptability.Baştuğ (2008) found significant difference between the femininity and masculinity features and social acceptability features of women who are involved in the branch of wrestling.It shows parallelism with statistical results of our study.
In conclusion, it was found that satisfaction of female athletes with their body areas is on the positive side.As per gender roles, the highest results were obtained in femininity dimension, followed by masculinity and finally by social acceptability with the lowest result.It may be recommended to provide necessary support in terms of learning about personality traits of athletes and directing women to sports in our society.

Table 1 .
Distribution regarding body mass index and categories of the participants of the research

Table 2 .
Distribution regarding gender role of the participants of the research

Table 4 .
ANOVA results for scores received in body areas satisfaction dimension of multidimensional body-self relations scale as per body mass ındex of athletes

Table 6 .
Comparison of BEM gender role inventory scores of participants

Table 7 .
Comparison of BEM gender role inventory scores of participants according to Body Mass Index