Leisure Mapping Essay free essay sample

?The activities performed for leisure are divided into two categories; passive leisure time and active leisure time. The department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2013) defines passive leisure time as the time spent on rudimentary activities that require minimal mental and physical exertion. In contrast, active leisure time is the time spent on leisurely activities that require the use of physical or mental abilities such as playing sports or socializing. For the purpose of clarity, the term active leisure time will be referred to as recreation time in this paper as both terms encompasses similar meanings. From Sunday, January 6th to Saturday, January 12th, a large portion of my time was spent sleeping, attending classes or studying. On average, roughly eighteen hours per day were spent performing these activities this particular week. Leisure time occupied roughly twenty-two hours of the week with an average of three hours per day. This time map indicates that I am fortunate enough to have ample time for relaxation and leisure every day of the week. We will write a custom essay sample on Leisure Mapping Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Similarly, time for recreational and physical activities occupied seventeen hours of the week with an average of two and a half hours per day. The Public Health Agency of Canada (2012) suggests that adults aged from eighteen to sixty-four years old should be performing moderate to intense activities at least two and a half hours per week to achieve health benefits. According to the time map, two and a half hours were spent every single day being moderately to rigorously active, indicating that I have a fairly active lifestyle. A major sociocultural factor that allows me to have sufficient time for leisurely and recreational activities is the fact that I am male. Men tend to have more access to and have a greater participation rate in sports and physical activity in general. The Get Active Report Toronto (2013) states, fifty percent of girls are inactive compared to twenty-seven percent of boys. The report also states that girls at the Youth Summit indicated that homework and household duties such as chores prevent them from participating in extra-curricular activities after school. In my life, this is especially prevalent because I am South Asian. In the South Asian community, women are expected to learn how to be good wives essentially. They are encouraged to learn how to cook, how to take care of the house and how to attend to the needs of the men. (Jacobsen Pratap, 2004) I am expected to go to University and get great grades so that I may pursue a rewarding career in some professional field because that’s what the eldest son in a traditional South Asian family is supposed to do. It is normal for me to go out regularly to play basketball or have dinner with my friends, to my parents that is what boys do. However, my sister is expected to help out with household chores, or most of the time, does them herself. Juggling household chores and school work does not allow my sister with enough time to go to the gym or spend time with her friends very often. If my sister goes out too much, speaks a certain way or even dresses a certain way, there are major repercussions. It is extremely unfair for my sister, but my family has had these values ingrained for generations, my parents are not easily swayed from comfortable traditions. In addition to being male in a South Asian household, being a man makes it easier for me to participate in recreational sport. I play basketball twice a week as my time map indicates. Every time I go to the gymnasium, where the basketball courts are, it is filled with men. Almost every court is always occupied and there is maybe three to four women participating or even standing in the gymnasium. When I walk to the courts, I know I am going to be facing some fierce competition that is just how the guys at the courts are. I probably would not feel the same way if it were women however. At a young age, I along with other boys my age have been conditioned to play with other boys. I’ve been conditioned to believe that boys are better at sports than girls through the media and through gym class. (Carron, 1980) Contrastingly, girls are conditioned to believe that they are not as capable in sport as men are, intimidating images of men being much more skilled and aggressive in sport have been the main cause of why women shy away from competing with men. (Cohen, 2001)