Blog Article
Imran Awan, Professor of Criminology at 探花直播听explores issues of misogyny, racism听and Islamophobia in听female football, relating to his current research focus on hate crime in football.听
Written by Professor Imran Awan and Dr Irene Zempi听
The recent comments made from former professional football player Joey Barton and data from听, has sparked a heated debate about misogyny in football. In Barton鈥檚 explicit rant on X (formerly Twitter) he said:听听because in his words: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a completely different game.鈥澨�Joey Barton also stated that men who listen to women's commentary on men's football games "need their heads testing".听Such comments illustrate the systemic misogyny that exists in football and sports more generally.听The sexist听and derogatory comments made by Joey Barton about women did not occur in a vacuum. Rather, misogyny is prevalent across all social media yet it remains unchecked, whilst misogynistic online communities have听increased in the last decade.听A study led by the听听has shed听light on gender-based violence against female players on TikTok Premier League platforms.听The study found four themes:听sexism - Belittling players' skills and mocking fact that women play football professionally; Misogyny - Aggressive comments showing hatred and animosity towards the women; Sexualisation of women - diminishing them to mere sex symbols and objects of desire, and demand for male-only space - not seeing the women鈥檚 teams as part of their club.听
The social media movement #HerGameToo released the results of a听听that reveals some of the shocking abuse females have had to put up with.听Of a survey of 371 women, 91.9% have seen sexist online abuse towards a woman in football, 63.1% have experienced sexist online abuse themselves because of football and 58.4% have experienced abuse in real life at a football ground or in a pub while watching football.
Here are some of participants鈥� responses:听
"Quite often it鈥檚 the same insult - 鈥淲hat do you know听you鈥檙e a girl?鈥�, 鈥淕o cook something?鈥�, 鈥淚sn鈥檛 there some cleaning to do somewhere?鈥濃�櫶�
I鈥檝e been told a number of times that I can鈥檛 support Manchester United just because I鈥檓 a woman and 鈥淚 know nothing about the game and should just get back in the kitchen鈥濃�櫶�
Online is the worst though. I've had death and rape threats purely for sharing my opinions on football - ranging from anonymous football Twitter accounts from young lads to older men with their names in their profiles. I've been told all the usual stuff - "you only watch听football for male attention",听 "you don't know the offside rule", "get back in the kitchen."
Furthermore, a听听by the organisation听Women In Football, found that two thirds (66%) of women have experienced gender discrimination in the footballing workplace, with 34% witnessing but only 12% of incidents were reported. Furthermore, the survey indicated that when problems were reported, they were 鈥渂rushed under the carpet鈥� with the mis-used term 鈥渂anter鈥� the most common form of discrimination. Some 52% of respondents have experienced or witnessed this and a further 82% said they have faced obstacles in their football career.听
Considering this, it is important to recognise that women鈥檚 experiences in football are highly racialised and gendered听because of the complexities of intersectionalities that female football players face every day. In our recent听听we found the Muslim female football players experience, 鈥榤ultiple racisms鈥� rather a singular racism. For example,听Muslim women who wore the hijab (headscarf) reported experiencing 鈥榯riple penalty鈥� of Islamophobia, racism and misogyny.听Furthermore,听participants reported experiencing discrimination from the management in terms of career development, progression and retention. When they spoke up, participants were accused of playing the 鈥榬ace card鈥�.
Barton may not realise, but football is perceived as a 鈥榳hite experience鈥� and football stadia remain overwhelmingly white male spaces. Instead of comments that fuel misogyny and hate, Barton should focus on the research which shows that Black and Asian players experience barriers to participation in football. 鈥楾aking the knee鈥�, a powerful social and political gesture signalling resistance against racism in sports and wider society has become an enduring feature of sports since 2020. Taking the knee draws attention to racial injustice and shows听solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.听Yet, there has been ongoing controversy over fans booing players who take the knee as a gesture against racism and/or solidarity with the BLM movement.听听 听
Barton鈥檚 comments demonstrate that both misogyny and hate are intersectional, yet it is normalised and understood as 鈥榩art of the game鈥�. In our听听we found racialization, which is manifested through racial projects and racial stacking. Stacking refers to the process of consciously or unconsciously applying racially motivated stereotypes to individuals/groups, and making decisions based on their perceived abilities; these stereotypes 鈥榮tack鈥� athletes of colour within certain positions.听Along similar lines, 鈥榬acial projects鈥� occur in sports such as coach ideologies about physicality and intellectual abilities. Such stereotypes promote biological differences and racialized binaries, and influence resource allocations. There are many examples of 鈥榬acial projects鈥� whereby resources are organised and allocated according to racial lines, yet in seemingly 鈥榥atural鈥� ways. Our females听participants noted how they experienced Islamophobia, racism and misogyny from opposition fans/players because of the visibility of their Muslim identity coupled with their gender.听
听鈥淭here are some racist individuals. Some hit us quite hard, and they don鈥檛 shake hands with us. Sometimes they make Islamophobic comments. They have an attitude problem towards Muslim women in football.鈥澨�
Female participants also discussed how they were treated differently from managers and players because they wore the hijab. Female participants described how they faced certain barriers regarding wearing the hijab. In some cases, the league made it difficult for them to wear the hijab. For both Muslim men and women, these experiences forced them to change their appearance by downplaying the visibility of their Muslim identity.
鈥淚f you wear a hijab you鈥檙e told by the league that you鈥檙e only allowed to wear it in a certain way and make sure it doesn鈥檛 get in the way while you鈥檙e playing.鈥�
In this way, Barton鈥檚 comments on social media act as an amplifying听听for such hateful and misogynistic views. It reinforces the idea for some people to see football and the internet as a place where it is acceptable to post comments with sexist language, often with the caveat that they are not misogynistic, but simply expressing their opinion. As we discuss in our latest book:听听these comments on social media can also reflect wider attitudes that are endemic in the 鈥榬eal鈥� offline world.
Professor Imran Awan听is Professor of Criminology at 探花直播 and Dr Irene Zempi is Associate Professor of Criminology at Nottingham Trent University.