Available but unusable: Theorizing layered exclusions as a barrier to women's physical activity

This study examines how structural, cultural, and spatial conditions jointly restrict Arab Muslim women's participation in physical activity in Israel. Drawing on intersectionality and place theory, we introduce the concept of layered exclusions to explain how constraints across different domains reinforce one another, often neutralizing available opportunities for movement. Using a constructivist-interpretivist approach, we conducted reflexive thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with fifteen adult women residing in northern and central Israel. Three interrelated themes emerged: limited and poorly aligned built environments that shape feasibility and perceived safety of everyday movement; family roles that simultaneously enable and constrain participation by providing both moral support and intensive domestic demands; and social surveillance grounded in local norms of modesty that render women hyper-visible in public space. Across themes, participants emphasized physical activity as a vital source of emotional regulation, autonomy, and identity, even as its practice remained fragile and contingent on multiple conditions aligning. The analysis clarifies how gendered norms, minority status, and uneven municipal investment combine to restrict health-promoting behavior in predictable ways. Addressing disparities therefore requires multi-level interventions that integrate infrastructure improvements, program scheduling, and efforts to reshape community expectations in order to transform nominal access into practical, dignified, and sustainable opportunities for movement.