Fan Reflections on Sexuality in Women’s Football in the United Kingdom

Jamie Cleland*, Ellis Cashmore, Kevin Dixon, Connor MacDonald

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
19 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article presents the responses of 1,432 male association football fans, collected via an online survey from March 2020 to April 2020, regarding their views on sexuality in women's football in the United Kingdom. The analysis focuses on two broad themes that emerged from the data: (1) the association of women footballers with masculinity and how they subsequently transgress the traditional characteristics of femininity; and (2) a reduced stigma surrounding sexuality in women's football given its lower profile in terms of coverage and the smaller number of fans in comparison to men's football. The article concludes by outlining how there is less homonegativity concerning sexuality in women's football in the United Kingdom, primarily because the heteromasculine position of male fans is not challenged, but fans also reaffirm the stereotypes and myths of non-heterosexual women playing a sport like football.
Original languageEnglish
Article number019372352110555
Pages (from-to)458-476
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Sport and Social Issues
Volume46
Issue number5
Early online date13 Nov 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • fans
  • femininity
  • gender
  • lesbian
  • masculinity

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