Exploring educators' and parents' perceptions of gender as a correlate of toddlers' physical activity: two faces of the same coin?

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is an environment where binary discourses produce gendered bodies. Following a qualitative approach, this study has two major aims: (a) to analyze ECEC educators' and parents' perception regarding gender as a correlate for explaining toddlers' physical activity (PA) and (b) to discuss from a critical perspective how these perceptions could impact PA promotion from a very young age. The major findings were as follows: while some educators perceive no differences in PA patterns between girls and boys, others consider that girls are less active than boys and attribute this tendency to a greater propensity for symbolic play and biological determinants; and families perceive that their daughters are physically active and with natural predisposition to movement. In conclusion, despite the fact that some teachers' perceptions of young children continue to be encouraged into binary gendered practices, families show resistance and alternative ways to interpret the emphasized femininity.