Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Female Football Players and Fans pp 37–54Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Women, Football and European Integration: Aims, Questions, Methodological and Theoretical Approaches

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Football Research in an Enlarged Europe ((FREE))

Abstract

Pfister provides information about the FREE project (Football Research in an Enlarged Europe), a European study on fandom conducted by academics from eight countries (funded by the European Commission). This multi-disciplinary research focused on identity dynamics and perception patterns of fans in the context of cultural changes. The subproject ‘Feminization’ explored the role of women’s football and fandom in European integration processes. Based on theoretical approaches to national identity, gender and socialization and on the notion of the various intersections between gender, football and fandom, the chapter concludes that women are still outsiders in the world of football and that it is arguable that female players and fans will contribute decisively to Europeanization processes.

Chapter 3 was originally published as: Pfister, G. (2013) ‘Women, Football and European Integration. Aims and Questions, Methodological and Theoretical Approaches’, Annales Kinesiologiae, 4 (1), pp. 29–43. Available at: http://ojs.zrs.upr.si/index.php/AK/article/view/19/

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Notes

  1. 1.

    See the literature on football consumption and fans in the bibliography.

  2. 2.

    On the history of football fandom see Hargrave (2007).

  3. 3.

    http://www.free-project.eu/ with more information on the project.

  4. 4.

    http://www.free-project.eu/research/Pages/Research.aspx for an overview of research.

  5. 5.

    For theoretical approaches to nationalism see Day and Thompson (2004).

  6. 6.

    See the texts about female fans in this book. There also current literature is provided.

  7. 7.

    The webpage ‘diasbola’ is the platform of European dialogues about female football players with a specific focus on migration (http://www.diasbola.com).

References

  • Botelho, V. L., & Agergaard, S. (2011). Moving for the love of the game? International migration of female footballers into Scandinavian countries. Soccer & Society, 12(6), 806–819.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1997). ‘Die männliche Herrschaft’ [The masculine dominance]. In I. Dölling & B. Krais (Eds.), Ein alltägliches Spiel. Geschlechterkonstruktion in der sozialen Praxis [An everyday game: Gender constructions in social practice]. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (2002). Gender. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. (2000). A body of writing, 1990–1999. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, G., & Thompson, A. (2004). Theorizing nationalism. Basingstoke/Hampshire/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dunning, E. (1986). Sport as a male preserve: Notes on the social sources of masculine identity and its transformations. In N. Elias & E. Dunning (Eds.), Quest for excitement. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eley, G., & Suny, R. (1996). Becoming national: A reader. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritzsche, B. (2010) Fans and gender. In J. Roose, M. Schäfer, & T. Schmidt-Lux (Eds.), Fans: Soziologische Perspektiven [Fans: Sociological perspectives]. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J. (2010). Die Fußballerinnen. Demographisches und psychologisches Porträt [The female football players] PPT-Präsentation beim Frauenfußball-Kongress. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=510271

  • Hargrave, R. (2007). Football fans and football history: A review essay. Soccer & Society, 8, 240–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. (2005). The image problem in women’s football. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 29(2), 184–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, F., & Mangan, J. (2004). Soccer, women and sexual liberation: Kicking off a new era. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanes, R., & Kay, T. (2007). Can football be a female game? In J. Magee, J. Caudwell, K. Liston, & S. Scraton (Eds.), Women, football and Europe: Histories, equity and experiences. Oxford: Meyer and Meyer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreisky, E., & Spitaler, G. (2006). Arena der Männlichkeit: Über das Verhältnis von Fussball und Geschlecht [Arena of masculinity. On the relations between football and gender]. Frankfurt: Campus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenneis, V., & Pfister, G. (2015). Gender constructions and negotiations of female football fans. A case study in Denmark. European Journal for Sport and Society, 12(2), 157–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorber, J. (1994). Paradoxes of gender. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorber, J. (2005). Breaking the bowls: Degendering and feminist change. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maffesoli, M. (1996). The time of the tribes: The decline of individualism in mass society. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marschik, M. (2003). Frauenfussball und Maskulinität [Women’s football and masculinity]. Münster: Lit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, J. (1998). Masculinity and nationalism: Gender and sexuality in the making of nations. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(2), 242–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penn, A. (2006). Bosman: Boom or bust? An examination of the influence of the bosman ruling upon freedom of movement, player remuneration and financial affairs in the English football industry. Manchester: University of Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2006). The future of football is female!? On the past and present of women’s football in Germany. In A. Tomlinson & C. Young (Eds.), German football: History, culture, society. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2007). Watching sport – A universal phenomenon? In M. Lämmer (Ed.), New aspects of sport history. Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2008). Von Suffragetten, Megären and Mannweibern – Frauenfußballgeschichte(n) im internationalen Vergleich’ [On suffragettes, shrews and viragos: Women and football in an international comparison]. In U. Röger, C. Kugelmann, Y. Weigelt-Schlesinger, & M. Möhwald (Eds.), Frauen am Ball: Analysen and Perspektiven der Genderforschung [Women and football: Analyses and perspectives of gender studies]. Hamburg: Czwalina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2011a). Gender equality and (elite) sport, a report. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/epas/resources/texts/INF25%20Gender%20equality%20and%20elite%20sport.pdf

  • Pfister, G. (2011b). Frauen-Fußball-Geschichte(n) [Women-football-histories]. In S. Sinning (Ed.), Mädchen- und Frauenfußball – Spannende Entwicklungen einer attraktiven Sportart [Women’s football – Developments in an attractive sport]. Wiesbaden: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2013). The Women’s Football WM 2011 mirrored in the German Boulevard Press. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G. (2015). Sportswomen in the German Popular Press: A study carried out in the context of the 2011 Women’s Football World Cup. Soccer and Society, 16(5–6), 639–656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, G., Fasting, K., Scraton, S., & Vázquez, B. (1998). Women and football – A contradiction? The beginnings of women’s football in four European countries. The European Sports History Review, 1, 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, S. (2010). Female fandom in an English ‘Sports City’: A sociological study of female spectating and consumption around sport. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leicester, Leicester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakow, L. (1986). Rethinking gender research in communication. Journal of Communication, 36(4), 11–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranc, D. (2012). Foreign players and football supporters: The Old Firm, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sandvoss, C. (2005). Fans: The mirror of consumption. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selmer, N. (2004). Watching the boys play: Frauen als Fußballfans [Women as football fans]. Kassel: Agon-Sportverl.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selmer, N., & Sülzle, A. (2006). TivoliTussen und Trikotträgerinnen – Weibliche Fankulturen im Männerfußball [Women’s fan cultures in men’s football]. In E. Kreisky & G. Spitaler (Eds.), Arena der Männlichkeit: Über das Verhältnis von Fussball und Geschlecht [Arena of masculinity: On the relations between football and gender]. Frankfurt: Campus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sluga, G. (1998). Identity, gender, and the history of European nations and nationalisms. Nations and Nationalism, 4(1), 87–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonntag, A. (2008). Gefühlsausbrüche: Europas Fußball zwischen Tradition und Postmoderne [Emotional release: Football in Europe between tradition and post-modernity]. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sülzle, A. (2005). Fußball als Schutzraum für Männlichkeiten [Football as a shelter for masculinities]. In A. Hagel, N. Selmer, & A. Sülzle (Eds.), Gender kicks: Texte zu Fussball und Geschlecht [Texts on football and gender]. Frankfurt/Main: Koordinationsstelle Fanprojekte.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sülzle, A. (2007). Titten unterwegs. Weibliche Fankulturen im Männerfußball [Tits en Route. Women’s fan cultures in men’s football]. Bulletin Texte des ZtG, 33, 54–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, C., & Zimmermann, D. (1991). Doing gender. In J. Lorber & S. Farrell (Eds.), The social construction of gender. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. (2007). A beautiful game. International perspectives on women’s football. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuval-Davis, N. (1997). Gender and nation. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gertrud Pfister

Authors
  1. Gertrud Pfister
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gertrud Pfister

  2. School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom

    Stacey Pope

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Pfister, G. (2018). Women, Football and European Integration: Aims, Questions, Methodological and Theoretical Approaches. In: Pfister, G., Pope, S. (eds) Female Football Players and Fans. Football Research in an Enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59025-1_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59025-1_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59024-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59025-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation