Looked at from a global perspective, sports are mostly male preserves. Those played by women seldom attract a large spectatorship and the numerous at-ground viewers of men’s play mostly are men. An exception is Australian Rules Football (AFL), a male sport that since the 19th century has drawn a considerable female following, with women accounting for about half of the ‘live’ crowds. From single-person and focus group interviews conducted with female AFL fans, we examine how women voice their support for a sport characterised by hyper-masculinity in players’ on-field and off-field behaviours, in the organisation and control of the sport, and in the ‘natural’ authority credited to men’s voices in commentary and interpretation of it. Given their marginalisation in AFL and in sports generally, what do women fans gain from their avid support of AFL and how does this influence the construction of their identities as women? We examine these issues from a perspective supporting the idea of multiple, fragmented identities.
History
Event
Australian Anthropological Society Conference (2007 : Canberra, A.C.T.)
Pagination
70 - 70
Publisher
Australian National University
Location
Canberra, A.C.T.
Place of publication
Canberra, A.C.T.
Start date
2007-10-30
End date
2007-11-02
Language
eng
Publication classification
E3.1 Extract of paper
Title of proceedings
AAS 2007 : Transforming Economies, Changing States : Australian Anthropological Society Annual Conference Abstracts