Article content continued

“The problem with puberty for girls is that it actually takes them further away from what the media and what society portrays as an ideal image,” McFadden said.

Hormonal changes mean girls naturally gain weight while boys’ testosterone levels mean weight loss and muscle growth is the norm. Added to that, the idea of being sweaty or flushed during physical exertion is socially frowned upon.

“They don’t want to be perceived as gross or ugly, they don’t want to be all red in the face or going purple from extreme exertion,” she said.

A campaign being launched by Always, a company owned by Procter and Gamble, is aiming to change that.

Their Like A Girl campaign is trying to reverse the idea that doing something “like a girl” is a negative thing.

“Confidence is built through competence,” said Michéle Baeten, global marketing director on the campaign. “So if they stop doing the things that they like doing, obviously they can’t build confidence and they can’t grow their confidence.”

The company has signed on 15 “ambassadors” including Labbé, who is outspoken about the benefits of building confidence in young women and keeping them active.

But a further hurdle may stand in the way of success. For starters, the game is already rigged in the favour of male competitors.

Of the 100 top athletic sponsorships in 2015, just 11 of them were women, the highest paid — tennis star Maria Sharapova — coming in at No. 12.

And of the largest deals in sport, the only ones in the top 10 that involve women are the International Olympic Committee’s $1.6-billion, eight-year deal with Toyota and the University of Texas’ 15-year, $250-million deal with Nike. None of the top 40 involves female-only sports or leagues.