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Book Review: The Feminization of Sports Fandom: A Sociological

StudyPopeStacey, The Feminization of Sports Fandom: A Sociological Study,
Routledge: London, 2017; 274 pp., ISBN: 978...

Article in International Review for the Sociology of Sport · September 2017

DOI: 10.1177/1012690217728098

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IRS0010.1177/1012690217728098International Review for the Sociology of SportBook review

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Book review Sociology of Sport

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DOI: 10.1177/1012690217728098
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Stacey Pope, The Feminization of Sports Fandom: A Sociological Study, Routledge: London, 2017;
274 pp., ISBN: 9781317425373.

Reviewed by: Rory Magrath, Southampton Solent University, UK

A substantial body of sociological research has focused on the phenomena of British

sports fandom, and the issues and challenges that it has faced or brought (Cashmore and
Cleland, 2014; King, 2002; Rookwood and Pearson, 2010). Given that combative team
sports like football and rugby emerged at a cultural moment when boys and men in the
Western world were continually forced to establish and (re)prove their masculinity
(Mrozek, 1983), this is hardly surprising. Few studies have focused on the experiences
of female sports fans (see Dixon, 2015; Dunn, 2014 for notable exceptions), nor on the
experiences of rugby union fans of either sex. Critical of the existing framework of
sports fandom, Peterson-Wagner (2015) argues that most research has constructed fans
as a homogenous group of White, working-class men. However, Stacey Pope’s ground-
breaking monograph, The Feminization of Sports Fandom, is a timely contribution, and
provides an important and valuable extension to our understanding of fandom.
Pope’s central contention focuses on the ‘increased opportunities for women to
become involved in sport as fans’ (p. 8) – what she terms as the feminization of sports
fandom thesis (p. 73). This, she argues, has become possible for two reasons: first,
major transformations in women’s lives, stemming from the 1960s and the rise of sec-
ond-wave feminism, have ‘reoriented the balance of power between the sexes’ (p. 74).
This has become increasingly evident in changes to work and employment, increasing
access to education, and greater access to contraceptives. These factors have, in turn,
Pope argues, therefore facilitated a greater range of opportunities for women’s leisure
– including engaging as sports fans.
Second, structural changes to sport in the UK have created a more welcoming envi-
ronment for women. Pope specifically refers to the ‘new era’ of football; the creation of
English football’s Premier League in 1992 has created a more civilized environment at
football matches (Elliott, 2017), a seismic shift away from the large-scale disorder, such
as violence/hooliganism (Rookwood and Pearson, 2010) and racism (Back et al., 2001),
which came to characterize English football in the two previous decades. Unlike the
previous (and limited) research on female fans (Dixon, 2015; Dunn, 2014), Pope extends
her focus beyond just football, also incorporating rugby union’s move to embrace profes-
sionalization in 1995. As a consequence of this shift, many rugby union clubs began to
ground-share with football clubs with better facilities.
2 International Review for the Sociology of Sport 00(0)

According to Pope, these two major cultural changes combined to make English
sports more inviting and welcoming for female sports fans. The contention is convinc-
ingly articulated, and is strengthened by the increased number of female fans at football
and rugby union matches. Particularly evident in Leicester, UK, where the research was
conducted and a city whose recent sporting success1 makes for illuminating findings, the
increase is prominent. Overall, women made up 26% of all Premier League football fans
in the 2014–2015 season and, as of 2013, 18% of rugby union’s Premiership season-
ticket holders were women. And in Leicester, research has shown that both the city’s
football and rugby union clubs ‘have a strong female fan base in comparison to other
clubs…, almost one in five season ticket holders were female’ (pp. 76–77).
This thesis is broadly evident in her first results chapter. Pope interviews 85 female
sports fans, which are broadly separated into three age cohorts,2 allowing for genera-
tional differences to emerge. She documents how the majority of participants had fairly
limited opportunities to participate in organized football and/or rugby union, had been
largely discouraged from pursuing an interest (either participating or spectating) in the
two sports, and had been regulated by a strong ‘culture of femininity’, in which contact
sports were deemed inappropriate for female consumption. While one might expect this
to be the case among the older age cohort, it was also strongly evident among the younger
group of fans, too. Nevertheless, a significant number of these female sports fans also
make explicit reference to ‘wider societal changes’ (p. 125) and the ‘new “family-ori-
ented”… “female-friendly” atmosphere at football’ (p. 134) – thus supporting her femini-
zation of sports fandom thesis.
Next, Pope outlines the role of sport in fostering a sense of place for female fans.
Focusing specifically on the city of Leicester, she draws on Giulianotti’s (2002) taxon-
omy of supporter identities to outline how these sports fans prioritized the local over the
global, the authentic over the ‘glory-hunting’ fans of ‘bigger’ clubs. The ‘local’ element
was also significant for the local area and for sharing a ‘common bond’, as two success-
ful sports clubs allowed the city greater recognition. This local dimension is equally
evident in the second part of the chapter, which discusses stadia modernization and/or
relocation. These fans discussed a strong emotional attachment with Leicester City’s old
stadium, Filbert Street – likely a familiar feeling for readers who are also football fans
– yet a large number also declared their liking for the ‘new’ stadium (which opened in
2002). Similar sentiment is further apparent in the opposition to the football and rugby
union teams ‘ground-sharing’, an idea muted over a decade ago. Finally, Pope discusses
how, despite numerous improvements, contemporary stadia remain an ‘unfriendly female
landscape for women…men’s spatial interest had been prioritized in the building of the
sports stadium’ (p. 169).
The third results chapter then employs a Bourdieusian analysis to examine the rivalry
and class distinction between female football and rugby union fans – a sub-discipline
with limited previous research. There has, traditionally and contemporarily, been a class
divide between the two sports, with football widely associated with a working-class
demographic (although the ‘new era’ of football has facilitated a more middle-class
shift), whereas rugby union has been largely recognized as a middle- and upper-class
sport. While Pope cites a large amount of research which documents the reduced impor-
tance of social class, her research illustrates its centrality in sport. Indeed, ‘…rugby
Book review 3

union tended to be followed by those women with higher levels of… “economic” and
“cultural” capital’ (p. 190), with only three of her sample attending both sports. There is
also evidence of a class hierarchy between the two sports, with rugby union fans espous-
ing a degree of superiority over football fans, who were characterized as ‘“thuggish”…
“violent”…[and] “aggressive”,’ (p. 193) thus ‘generating friction and general hostility’
(p. 193) between both sets of fans.
Her final results chapter then focuses on the significance of sport in the lives of female
fans. Here, she again loosely draws on Giulianotti’s (2002) taxonomy of football fan-
dom, extending it further to incorporate the lives of female sports fans. Importantly, Pope
argues that there are numerous complexities in the ‘performance’ of gender and that
female sport fans are not a homogenous group. Indeed, for the women in the ‘hot’ cate-
gory, ‘sport was clearly an important facet of their identity’ (p. 211), while cool fans ‘do
not spend much time watching or thinking about sport in the week and are not typically
affected by match results’ (p. 216). These findings lead Pope to dismiss previous research
that claims sport is not an important factor in women’s lives. The second half of the
chapter focuses on the types of gender performance which connote female fan types:

‘Masculine’ femininities (those characterized by ‘doing girl’ and ‘resisting girl’ approaches to
presentation of self, more typically displayed by ‘hot’ fans), and

‘Feminine’ femininities (those characterized by ‘doing girl’ and ‘being girl’ approaches, more
typically expressed by ‘cool’ fans). (p. 220)

Although there was a considerable blurring between these two categories, numerous
examples were provided – ranging from taking enforced or unenforced ‘fan breaks’ due
to personal circumstances, to attending sports events with a male partner in order to
spend time with him – and this was useful in that it provided a preliminary basis for
future research on female sports fans.
Pope concludes her important work by providing several recommendations for future
research, including: an extension of this work to less popular sports; testing the feminiza-
tion thesis internationally; an extended focus to women’s sports fans; an historical inves-
tigation of female fans’ experiences in sport; and broadening the sample’s demographic.
The book also closes by arguing that it has ‘made a useful contribution towards the previ-
ously neglected area of female sports fandom’ (p. 248): this is undeniable, and will,
absolutely, influence a greater quantity of research in this area.
If Pope’s work has weaknesses, they are minimal. Although focusing on the experi-
ences of a significant range of female sports fans, its demographics are restricted to
White, heterosexual fans. Extending the focus beyond this sample is beyond the scope of
this analysis, yet given sport’s fractious relationship with issues of ‘race’, ethnicity and
sexuality in the past (Cashmore and Cleland, 2014), this is still an important focus, as is
acknowledged in the concluding chapter. I was also intrigued by female fans’ recounting
of their experiences of men’s sport, in lieu of virtually no discussion on women’s sport
(aside from participants’ own participation). The Football Association’s (FA) 50-year
ban on women’s football undoubtedly impinged on the development of the game for
which women are still paying the price – despite recent gains. While a feminization of
4 International Review for the Sociology of Sport 00(0)

sports fandom has undoubtedly occurred – it is convincingly evidenced in this book – the
dominance of men’s sport (at least in terms of participatory dominance) sadly still exists.
Pope also addresses this by calling for ‘future research to explore female fans of women’s
sports’ (p. 243, original emphasis).
Nevertheless, this book – and the research within it – is long overdue. Its accessible
format and interdisciplinary approach – foci on gender inequality, sport’s class divide and
the impact of globalization on professional sport – mean that it will be of significant inter-
est to social scientists, particularly those with an interest in gender studies. It will also be of
significant interest to football fans completely unconnected to the Academy – regardless of
their gender – who will undoubtedly feel empathy with many of the examples provided by
Pope’s participants. The growth of female sports fans, which is argued by Pope throughout
the duration of her book, mean that their experiences are becoming increasingly important
for contemporary sport, and should be ignored and overlooked no more.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

Notes
1. This primarily refers to Leicester City FC’s unlikely success of winning the Premier League
in 2016. However, Leicester Tigers’ recent progress also commands significant sporting inter-
est and success in professional rugby union.
2. Fifty-one football fans consisting of: 20–27 (10 fans); 28–59 (25 fans); 60+ (16 fans). Thirty-
four rugby union fans consisting of: 19–35 (12 fans); 36–55 (10 fans); 56+ (12 fans).

References
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Multiculture in the English Game. Oxford: Berg.
Cashmore E and Cleland J (2014) Football’s Dark Side: Corruption, Homophobia, Violence and
Racism in the Beautiful Game. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Dixon K (2015) A women’s place recurring: Structuration, football fandom and sub-cultural sub-
servience. Sport and Society 16(6): 636–651.
Dunn C (2014) Female Football Fans: Community, Identity and Sexism. London: Springer.
Elliott R (ed.) (2017) The English Premier League: A Socio-cultural Analysis. London: Routledge.
Giulianotti R (2002) Supporters, followers, fans, and flaneurs: A taxonomy of spectator identities
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Tennessee Press.
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FC’s supporters’ discourses in Brazil and Switzerland. PhD Thesis, Durham University, UK.
Rookwood J and Pearson G (2010) The hoolifan: Positive fan attitudes to football ‘hooliganism’.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport 47(2): 149–164.

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