Preferences in Leisure Activity As Affected By Gendered Choice

A review of the 10 year enrolment to both martial arts and dance classes was done to establish a trend. The study sought: 1) to determine  if gender gap exists, 2) evaluate students’ motivation in their leisure preferences, and 3) to establish whether gender orientation is salient in students’ choice. A questionnaire was distributed to a total of 250 students currently enrolled in martial arts and dance classes. An in-depth interview was also conducted to randomly selected  students. With regard to motive in their preferences, result showed  that ‘challenge of their body’ and ‘self protection’ ranked first for the male and female enrolees in martial arts respectively. On the other hand, the dance enrolees noted that ‘self expression’ for the female and ‘trying a different field’ by the male students were reasons in their leisure choice. In addition, the interview notes revealed that the idea of femininity and masculinity were almost identical such as soft and gentle meant feminine while masculine were rough and persistent. Now that students enrol a leisure course because they want to, would pave the way to better learning that would actually benefit the physical body and lead to wellness and  quality life.