Pleasure and the Sanctuary Paradox: Experiences of girls and women playing soccer

Abstract

Arguably, girls’ and women’s soccer in England is currently experiencing amelioration in terms of participation numbers, media coverage and general public interest. Although, lurking behind these favorable statistics and the pretence of new developmental strategies sits soccer’s cultural millstone, weighing down social progression and limiting the credibility afforded to the game. This paper seeks to unearth how girls and women negotiate their experiences of playing against this backdrop of inferiority by giving them a ‘voice’. The study is explored through a lens of ‘performative pleasure’ as a theoretical standpoint for understanding the basis of activity which involved qualitative methods enagaging with 57 female players aged between 8 and 31 years. The examination uncovered that despite barriers to participation and the management of social stereotyping, girls and women found pleasure through playing. Soccer provided the players with a ‘safe space’ to experience leisure, but ironically this refuge was often needed in response to soccer-based teasing and ‘banter’: conceptualized as the Sanctuary Paradox. The current findings have implications for the management and execution of cultural change within sporting environments.

Becoming Fans: Socialization and Motivations of Fans of the England and U.S. Women’s National Football Teams

“…The cultural, material, and organizational standing of elite women's football is both similar and different in the United States and England, making for compelling comparison (Dunn, 2016;Markovits, 2019). Gender inequality in football remains a pressing and persistent issue in both countries; women's football lags significantly behind the men's game in mainstream media coverage, contract terms, compensation, and sponsorship (Author; Pielichaty, 2020;Williams, 2007). However, it is undoubtedly also the case that the resources and status accorded to women's elite football in both these countries has grown (Author; Pfister, 2015;Pielichaty, 2020).…”

Play more, enjoy more, keep playing; rugby is a simple game

“…Thus, enjoyment is both a positive affective response and a motivating factor in determining and sustaining participation. 22,26 Within educational contexts, enjoyment has also been identified by teachers as an important outcome of planned activities, [27][28][29] with young people consistently citing 'fun' [30][31][32][33] and pleasure [34][35][36] as primary reasons to engage in sports. Furthermore, recent qualitative research has shown that un-creative sport pedagogies can further alienate young people, especially females.…”

Fotball som kjønnet mulighetsrom

“…Fotball føyer seg inn i dette bildet -til tross for endringer i nyere tid: Blant annet økte medieinteressen for kvinnefotball kraftig etter VM i 1999 (Ravel og Gareau 2016). Shugart (2003) som studerte mediedekningen av det amerikanske kvinnelandslaget i forbindelse med mesterskapet, fant imidlertid at seksualisering fortsatt var framtredende, men skjedde på mer subtile måter enn tidligere.…”

“…Det Amanda reflekterer over er ikke ukjent. Det er en rekke forskningsbidrag som har beskrevet hvordan kvinnefotball dekkes i mindre grad og annerledes enn herrefotball (Shugart 2003;Skogvang 2009; von der Lippe 2010; Ravel og Gureau 2016). Kaelberer (2019) løfter dessuten fram hvordan idrett-media-marked-dynamikken begrenser utviklingen av kvinnefotballen.…”

“…3 Hun kalte det «ekkelt» og «forkastelig» at Ronaldo hadde fått «forside på forside» i avisen, mens Hegerberg kun fikk «en bitteliten notis». Lenas kritikk kan ses som en måte for henne å ta avstand fra det som er en utbredt praksis: at mannlige fotballspillere får mer oppmerksomhet og dermed anerkjennelse enn kvinnelige fotballspillere (Shugart 2003;Pfister 2015; Ravel og Gareau 2016; Petty og Pope 2018). Lenas kritikk handler om det urettferdige i at oppmerksomheten er så skjevfordelt.…”