‘Like pulling down Durham Cathedral and building a brothel’: Women as ‘new consumer’ fans?

Abstract

The experiences of female sports fans have been largely marginalized in academic research. This article aims to bring women’s experiences as sports fans to the fore. It also explores assumptions of homogeneity which seem to underlie much research on male and female fans. This has perhaps led to a gendered binary whereby female sports fans are often depicted as ‘new consumer’ fans and are perceived as ‘inauthentic’ in their support. Drawing on Glaser and Strauss’s (2008) ‘grounded theory’ approach, 51 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female football fans in the East Midlands city of Leicester in England. This article focuses on two themes which emerged from this research: women, football and a sense of place; and women and stadium modernization. These findings begin to explore some of the complexities of female fan attachment and emphasize the need to examine the diversity of women’s experiences as sports fans. I propose that future research on sports fandom would benefit from a greater sensitivity to heterogeneity in both men’s and women’s experiences.

Exploring the experiences of female sport fans: A collaborative self-ethnography

“…Thus, it is important to systematically examine the female sport fan experience in order to make better-informed conclusions regarding what it means to be a sport fan. Recent work has provided support for specifically exploring the experiences of female sport fans (Ben-Porat, 2009;Crawford & Gosling, 2004;Gosling, 2007;Jones, 2008;Pope, 2011;Pope & Williams, 2011;Wedgwood, 2008).…”

“…This contextual distinction may be particularly relevant when exploring the experiences of marginalised spectator groups. Knowing the ambiguity surrounding what it means to be a sport fan and the traditional hegemonic masculine definition of sport fan culture (Pope, 2011;Pope & Williams, 2011), examining individual perceptions of female sport fan experiences may shed light on contemporary conceptualisations of sport fans.…”

“The Love of My Life”

“…Free and Hughson (2003, p. 152) in their critical examination of recent ethnographies of male football supporters have commented on the 'startling' absence of women in these ethnographies, and they express the hope that 'women's voices will be heard in future studies'. In order to incorporate women's experiences, certainly as football fans, researchers need to move away from the simplistic viewpoint that 'traditional' authentic fandom is likely to be working class and male, as I have argued elsewhere (Pope, 2011).…”

Cultural consumption through the epistemologies of the South: ‘Humanization’ in transnational football fan solidarities

“…A number of Brazil Reds recommended that Marila be interviewed as she was described as highly knowledgeable about LFC. As earlier argued, the literature on football fandom sees 'authentic' supporters being described as a homogenous group of white, working class and local men, and thus by emphasising Marilia's knowledge supporters were challenging the false notion that women could not be 'real' supporters (see Pope, 2011). 'working class' and local to the club (see Millward, 2011;Pope, 2011).…”