Warning: only read this if you psychologically stable enough to read stupid comments without proper arguments.
I thought it would be interesting to hear a different voice on this subject; someone who might be able to plausibly explain why there is no such thing as sexism in football (although that would still be a lie). However, I came across this blog made by a pseudo sports journalist who writes, well, some really stupid things.
Don't read if you have high blood pressure.
http://footballspeak.com/post/2012/04/06/SEXISM-IN-FOOTBALL.aSPX
Monday, July 9, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
5 Cases of Sexism
After the airing of Gabby Logan's documentary "Sexism in Football?" Huffington Post published this article that lists 5 cases of sexism. The most intersting part though, is probably the word "supposedly" in the headline. The enumerated examples ARE sexists, yet HuffPo failed to acknoledge it - as many do.
This makes one wonder, what has to happen for people to call out an action as sexist.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/04/04/bbc-sexism-football-gabby-logan_n_1402154.html
This makes one wonder, what has to happen for people to call out an action as sexist.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/04/04/bbc-sexism-football-gabby-logan_n_1402154.html
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sexism in the American professional soccer league
When the American national women’s soccer team started out they had no ambivalent equipment, no training time and very poor travelling possibilities. A reason for this might have been the great resistance against women’s soccer, because of the male- dominated and tradition bound institutions of that time.
That women’s soccer was not as successful as men’s soccer is even visible in the number of clubs in 1981- 521 established men teams and only 77 women team, an enormous gap. Even today there are far more men clubs- 19- then there are women clubs -5.
When the women team won their first World Cup against final opponent China in a penalty shoot-out, the victory was overshadowed by another incident. The player, who shot the final penalty kick, Brandi Chastain, removed her shirt to celebrate her team’s win. What followed was a wave of articles that on one side praised her for her athletic performance, but the number of articles that criticized her act of removing her shirt were even lager. Chastain’s action that was most likely caused by an adrenaline rush after winning the game, turned into a discussion of sexually offending. Unintentionally she brought a negative view on women’s soccer and started a huge controversy. A lot of articles presented the player as eye candy and not as the great athlete she was. Instead of looking at the physical abilities of the players there were now presented as fun, wild, sexy women kicking some balls for fun and the high number of stories shows that such an opinion was widely accepted during that time.
Such a thing would not have happened if the player had been male. Everyone would have taken this incident as an outburst of emotion that it certainly had been.
As a conclusion and to end the controversy FIFA outlawed the removing of shirts in 2003. It concerned men and women. It also started a debate on the problem of sexism that many journalists had.
This problem of sexism in the professional field of soccer was not only a problem at that time, it is still a problem today.
Even officials and journalist, who work for the American soccer league, are not afraid of commenting on sexism remarks.
Simon Borg, a writer for the U.S. men's professional soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS), and panelist for "ExtraTime," the official podcast of the MLS commented on female fans:
“It's fine if you're a female and you want to be a super-fan. Clearly go for it, that's your choice. But there is something to be said for how appealing that might be to the other sex. Having a woman that's such a fan, like painting your face, tuning in to every podcast. I don't know how many males would be into that.”
“It's great that in Kansas City there are a lot of women in the stands, it's great, but for the guy who wants maybe a serious relationship...If you are following just casually, but if you're such a die-hard, I don't know, it comes a point that it is a bit of a turn-off.”
The MLS immediately reacted to it by suspending Borg for only seven days. He was not fired as many players and soccer fans demanded.
These comments by Borg were not the first sexist remarks made by the media of the MLS.
Another example was the un-moderated comments on the Facebook page of MLS. Many people commented on a sexist picture that was posted with also sexist and degrading comments and no one felt responsible of controlling the comments.
If there is also sexism in the official soccer league and there is little done about it, how can someone then expect others to fight sexism? They should set an example and not only favor it.
When the American national women’s soccer team started out they had no ambivalent equipment, no training time and very poor travelling possibilities. A reason for this might have been the great resistance against women’s soccer, because of the male- dominated and tradition bound institutions of that time.
That women’s soccer was not as successful as men’s soccer is even visible in the number of clubs in 1981- 521 established men teams and only 77 women team, an enormous gap. Even today there are far more men clubs- 19- then there are women clubs -5.
When the women team won their first World Cup against final opponent China in a penalty shoot-out, the victory was overshadowed by another incident. The player, who shot the final penalty kick, Brandi Chastain, removed her shirt to celebrate her team’s win. What followed was a wave of articles that on one side praised her for her athletic performance, but the number of articles that criticized her act of removing her shirt were even lager. Chastain’s action that was most likely caused by an adrenaline rush after winning the game, turned into a discussion of sexually offending. Unintentionally she brought a negative view on women’s soccer and started a huge controversy. A lot of articles presented the player as eye candy and not as the great athlete she was. Instead of looking at the physical abilities of the players there were now presented as fun, wild, sexy women kicking some balls for fun and the high number of stories shows that such an opinion was widely accepted during that time.
Such a thing would not have happened if the player had been male. Everyone would have taken this incident as an outburst of emotion that it certainly had been.
As a conclusion and to end the controversy FIFA outlawed the removing of shirts in 2003. It concerned men and women. It also started a debate on the problem of sexism that many journalists had.
This problem of sexism in the professional field of soccer was not only a problem at that time, it is still a problem today.
Even officials and journalist, who work for the American soccer league, are not afraid of commenting on sexism remarks.
Simon Borg, a writer for the U.S. men's professional soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS), and panelist for "ExtraTime," the official podcast of the MLS commented on female fans:
“It's fine if you're a female and you want to be a super-fan. Clearly go for it, that's your choice. But there is something to be said for how appealing that might be to the other sex. Having a woman that's such a fan, like painting your face, tuning in to every podcast. I don't know how many males would be into that.”
“It's great that in Kansas City there are a lot of women in the stands, it's great, but for the guy who wants maybe a serious relationship...If you are following just casually, but if you're such a die-hard, I don't know, it comes a point that it is a bit of a turn-off.”
The MLS immediately reacted to it by suspending Borg for only seven days. He was not fired as many players and soccer fans demanded.
These comments by Borg were not the first sexist remarks made by the media of the MLS.
Another example was the un-moderated comments on the Facebook page of MLS. Many people commented on a sexist picture that was posted with also sexist and degrading comments and no one felt responsible of controlling the comments.
If there is also sexism in the official soccer league and there is little done about it, how can someone then expect others to fight sexism? They should set an example and not only favor it.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
recording of the lecture "the construction of male identity in football"
Yesterday Jan Tölva, a journalist (writes for Jungle World, Neues Deutschland et al.), reported on the construction of male identity in football, it's connection to homophobia and possibilities of intervention.
Here is a recording of a similar lecture he held in January 2012 at the Zeckensalon St. Pauli (http://zeckensalon.blogsport.de). The lecture was held in German.
(watch out! The quality of the record depends on your computer and the program you're using. A record of monday's lecture will be acessable on the Freie Sender Kombinat Hamburg (http://fsk-hh.org/) and online here on our blog as soon as it's available)
http://zeckensalon.blogsport.de/2012/01/29/audiomitschnitt-vom-27-01/
Here is a recording of a similar lecture he held in January 2012 at the Zeckensalon St. Pauli (http://zeckensalon.blogsport.de). The lecture was held in German.
(watch out! The quality of the record depends on your computer and the program you're using. A record of monday's lecture will be acessable on the Freie Sender Kombinat Hamburg (http://fsk-hh.org/) and online here on our blog as soon as it's available)
http://zeckensalon.blogsport.de/2012/01/29/audiomitschnitt-vom-27-01/
a beard for Germany
A couple of days before the beginning of teh eropean male football championship in poland an the ukraine in june/july 2012 an advert attrackted attention in Germany. The coach of Borussia Dortmund, a sucessfull german team, Jürgen Klopp appealed German soccer fans to show their support towards the national team by growing their beard as long as the German team is in the competition.
Since women, most of the time, do not have a very pleasant beard growth this is a way of showing sympathy and patriotism for Germany exclusively for men. This sexistic, next to patriotic, action which adresses men as football fans only is definately not something we'd like to watch on tv.
Although this is really not something I'd like to advertise, I've decided to link the video to enable everyone to see this example for the excluding of female football fans.
Since women, most of the time, do not have a very pleasant beard growth this is a way of showing sympathy and patriotism for Germany exclusively for men. This sexistic, next to patriotic, action which adresses men as football fans only is definately not something we'd like to watch on tv.
Although this is really not something I'd like to advertise, I've decided to link the video to enable everyone to see this example for the excluding of female football fans.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
"EM Mich nicht voll" -two lectures about the european championship in male football
An event series organized by the AStA/Uni Hamburg (department for political education) in context of the European Championship in male football.
Two upcoming events we would like to recommend to you, dealing with different aspects of football, competitive sports and international competitions. Both lectures are held in German.
here are the announcements for both lectures (in German)
Europameisterschaften und Olympia
Spiel und Spaß und Staatenkonkurrenz: Warum sich auch im Sport die Staaten
messen und was sie davon haben?
In Deutschland fiebern zur Zeit viele der Fußballeuropameisterschaft entgegen. Es ist eine von vielen nationalen Sportwettkämpfen, dieses wie jedes Jahr.
Two upcoming events we would like to recommend to you, dealing with different aspects of football, competitive sports and international competitions. Both lectures are held in German.
here are the announcements for both lectures (in German)
EM Mich nicht voll - zwei kritische Veranstaltungen zur Fußball Europameisterschaft
Am 15. und 18. Juni findet jeweils eine Veranstaltung statt, die sich mit unterschiedlichen Aspekten im Fußball, Leistungssport und Europa-(/Welt)meisterschaften beschäftigt.
Europameisterschaften und Olympia
Spiel und Spaß und Staatenkonkurrenz: Warum sich auch im Sport die Staaten
messen und was sie davon haben?
In Deutschland fiebern zur Zeit viele der Fußballeuropameisterschaft entgegen. Es ist eine von vielen nationalen Sportwettkämpfen, dieses wie jedes Jahr.
Das scheinen erst einmal ganz harmlose Veranstaltungen zu sein und die
meisten Leute winken ab, wenn man darin etwas Politisches sieht. Aber
schon das schwarz-rot-goldene Fahnenmeer beim Public Viewing deutet auf
ein bisschen mehr hin.
Auf der Veranstaltung soll es um die Frage gehen, warum und wie Nationalismus dabei immer auch eine Rolle spielt, und außerdem wie sogar die Staatenkonkurrenz im Gegeneinander von Mannschaften, die mit Politik erstmal nichts zu tun haben scheinen, mit im Spiel ist.
Zeit: Freitag, 15. Juni / 18 Uhr
Raum: 0077 / Von-Melle-Park 5
Harte Jungs und die Angst vor einer RegenbogenfahneMännlichkeit(en) und Homophobie im Fußball
Dass im Fußball Homophobie noch immer weit verbreitet ist hat verschiedene Ursachen. Eine der wichtigsten jedoch liegt in der Tatsache, dass Fußball in Europa nach wie vor ausdrücklich als Männersport gilt und darin,dass Heterosexualität ein zwingender Bestandteil hegemonialer Männlichkeit
ist. Es wäre ja aber auch seltsam, wenn ausgerechnet im Fußball die Zustände fortschrittlicher wären als in der Gesamtgesellschaft.
Über die Konstruktion von männlicher Identität im Fußball, den Zusammenhang zur homophoben Realität im Stadion und über mögliche Interventionen werden Jan Tölve und Dirk Brüllau referieren und diskutieren.
Jan Tölve ist freier Journalist (u.a. Jungle World und Neues Deutschland) und Autor aus Berlin, der sich privat und beruflich mit Fußball und seinen Schattenseiten befasst. Dirk Brüllau ist Pressesprecher von Queer Football Fanclubs und Vertreter des schwullesbischen Fanclubs Queerpass St.Pauli.
Zeit: Montag, 18. Juni / 18 Uhr
Hörsaal H, Edmund Siemers Allee 1
Auf der Veranstaltung soll es um die Frage gehen, warum und wie Nationalismus dabei immer auch eine Rolle spielt, und außerdem wie sogar die Staatenkonkurrenz im Gegeneinander von Mannschaften, die mit Politik erstmal nichts zu tun haben scheinen, mit im Spiel ist.
Zeit: Freitag, 15. Juni / 18 Uhr
Raum: 0077 / Von-Melle-Park 5
Harte Jungs und die Angst vor einer RegenbogenfahneMännlichkeit(en) und Homophobie im Fußball
Dass im Fußball Homophobie noch immer weit verbreitet ist hat verschiedene Ursachen. Eine der wichtigsten jedoch liegt in der Tatsache, dass Fußball in Europa nach wie vor ausdrücklich als Männersport gilt und darin,dass Heterosexualität ein zwingender Bestandteil hegemonialer Männlichkeit
ist. Es wäre ja aber auch seltsam, wenn ausgerechnet im Fußball die Zustände fortschrittlicher wären als in der Gesamtgesellschaft.
Über die Konstruktion von männlicher Identität im Fußball, den Zusammenhang zur homophoben Realität im Stadion und über mögliche Interventionen werden Jan Tölve und Dirk Brüllau referieren und diskutieren.
Jan Tölve ist freier Journalist (u.a. Jungle World und Neues Deutschland) und Autor aus Berlin, der sich privat und beruflich mit Fußball und seinen Schattenseiten befasst. Dirk Brüllau ist Pressesprecher von Queer Football Fanclubs und Vertreter des schwullesbischen Fanclubs Queerpass St.Pauli.
Zeit: Montag, 18. Juni / 18 Uhr
Hörsaal H, Edmund Siemers Allee 1
male fans banned from football match
To prevent crowd violence at football games and punish perpetrators the turkish football association banned male fans from two matches of the top football club Fenerbahce Istanbul. Only women and chrildren under the age of 12 were allowed to attend the game.
Here is a video demonstrating how the exclusion of men did not influence the fan support. As well we link an article published in the huffington Post giving more details and backgroud information about the happening in Instanbul.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/turkey-soccer-ban-men-barred-stadiums_n_972085.html
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