Perceptions of the African Women's Championships: female footballers as anomalies

Ogunniyi, Cassandra

doi:10.1080/17430437.2013.815516

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Despite structural impediments to the development of the women' s game, Saavedra found popular support for the sport, suggesting that claims of uniquely African cultural impediment to women' s football were overstated. Indeed, scholars who examine women' s football have found that regardless of geographical location, heteronormativity and homophobia characterize women' s experiences of the sport (Adjepong 2020;Souza and Capraro 2020;Engh and Potgieter 2018;Ogunniyi 2014;Packer 2020;Grappendorf, Hancock, and Cintron 2019). Nonetheless, the gendered inequalities that characterize football has not stopped women from playing or procuring fans (Williams 2013;Dunn 2016).…”

Section: Gender Football and Ghanaian National Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing for oman Ghana: Women’s Football and Gendered Nationalism

Adjepong¹

2022

Cont. J. Afr. Stud.

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Feminist scholars of nationalisms acknowledge the gendered character of national identity. Due to their association with heterosexual masculinity, national sports teams are one avenue through which gendered nationalisms manifest. Football (soccer) represents the peak of sporting masculinity and national identity around the world. Following the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, women’s football continues to gain global popularity, raising questions about what new forms of nationalism can take root through this sport. Recent transnational feminist research has highlighted how, despite feminist resistance, patriarchal forms of gendered nationalism persist. Using the case of Ghanaian women’s football, I examine how reactions to the national team shape and reveal understandings of gender and national identity. I find that whilst state institutions use their support of the women’s team to shore up heteropatriarchal national identity, some spectators and fans discursively advocate for a recognition of women footballers as citizens and workers. These findings have implications for how activists and scholars engage the gendered construction of national identity.

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Section: Gender Football and Ghanaian National Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing for oman Ghana: Women’s Football and Gendered Nationalism

Adjepong¹

2022

Cont. J. Afr. Stud.

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“…When they are considered, media stories tend to portray "women footballers as victims of bigger and more powerful systems of inequality, discrimination, marginalization and exclusion…[in South African media] there emerges the image of a poor, struggling, usually black, young woman facing problems of under-resourcing, poor training facilities, poor support mechanisms and so on" (Naidoo and Muholi 2010: 107-108). Saavedra (2004Saavedra ( , 2009, Pelak (2005Pelak ( , 2006Pelak ( , 2009Pelak ( , 2010, Clark (2011;Ogunniyi 2013Ogunniyi , 2015 and Engh (2010aEngh ( , 2010bEngh ( , 2011Engh and Potgieter 2015) have made important contributions to scholarship on women's football, focusing, in particular, on the development of the game, as well as historical and current challenges and experiences of marginalisation and under-funding. They have also commented on the persistence and strength of homophobic attitudes towards women footballers, and how heterosexism shapes women's participation and visibility (Ogunniyi 2013, Ogunniyi 2015Engh 2010c;Engh and Potgieter 2015).…”

Section: Sport Gender and Sexualities: Trends In South African Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Saavedra (2004Saavedra ( , 2009, Pelak (2005Pelak ( , 2006Pelak ( , 2009Pelak ( , 2010, Clark (2011;Ogunniyi 2013Ogunniyi , 2015 and Engh (2010aEngh ( , 2010bEngh ( , 2011Engh and Potgieter 2015) have made important contributions to scholarship on women's football, focusing, in particular, on the development of the game, as well as historical and current challenges and experiences of marginalisation and under-funding. They have also commented on the persistence and strength of homophobic attitudes towards women footballers, and how heterosexism shapes women's participation and visibility (Ogunniyi 2013, Ogunniyi 2015Engh 2010c;Engh and Potgieter 2015).…”

Section: Sport Gender and Sexualities: Trends In South African Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hetero-sexing the athlete: public and popular discourses on sexuality and women’s sport in South Africa

Engh¹

2018

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“…Previous studies have identified many ways in which female athletes may seek to manage these fears, and emphasize their femininity. This includes: the use of clothing, makeup, and dieting to emphasize femininity (basketball), wearing of pony tails (soccer); make up or fringes on shorts (boxing); or wearing skirts as part of a dress code for post sporting performances (cricket) (Bennett et al 2016;Caudwell 2003;Christopherson, Janning, and McConnell 2002;Cox and Thompson 2001;Halbert 1997;Ogunniyi 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered performances and identity construction among UK female soccer players and netballers: a comparative study

et al. 2018

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This paper examines the gendered performances and identity construction of UK female University soccer players and netballers (n = 31). Focus group interviews explored their sporting experiences with reference to body perceptions, and perceptions of their sporting bodies outside sporting contexts. Three themes resulted from data analysis, these being; (1) UK culture, body performances and femininity, (2) sporting culture, body performances and femininity and (3) transiency of body satisfaction across sport and nonsport contexts. Findings suggest that sport may not always provide an opportunity to challenge and resist dominant discourses. In both netball and soccer, a range of surveillance and management practices were used that served to perpetuate the value of a 'feminine' and assumed heterosexual body, and legitimize their sport participation through an emphasis on a hyper-femininity. The influence of sport subcultures on gendered performances and identity construction, along with implications for marketing sports participation to women are discussed.

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Perceptions of the African Women's Championships: female footballers as anomalies

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

Playing for oman Ghana: Women’s Football and Gendered Nationalism

Playing for oman Ghana: Women’s Football and Gendered Nationalism

Hetero-sexing the athlete: public and popular discourses on sexuality and women’s sport in South Africa

Gendered performances and identity construction among UK female soccer players and netballers: a comparative study

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