women attending matches
Wolves 1877 Trust member Beatrice Cain reflects on experiences of women attending matches and the FSA backed #hergametoo campaign.
2021. A year of change for many. But how has gender inequality and sexism changed? I will be delving deeper into this with reference to domestic football, as both a Wolves fan specifically, but also as a fan in general. Football, what does this mean to so many people? Some would say a family game, an inclusive form of entertainment accessible by all, but unfortunately for many women, this is not the case.
I have been going to the Molineux ever since I can remember. First with my grandfather, who introduced me to my love of live football. A love which eventually turned into becoming a frequent season ticket holder, going down to the Molineux every other week, just my two sisters and me. I will never forget the shock that some people expressed when we used to tell them how three young girls were Wolves season ticket holders. This is as far as my experiences go, but I am very aware that for many women and young girls that it cuts much deeper than this.
Football hasn’t always been the most inviting place for women and girls, walking into a full stadium can be a very daunting experience when entering a male-dominated sphere. The level of misogyny is still very much apparent in the game, leaving many to feel like an outsider, or unwelcome, to attend matches but also feel unqualified to contribute to conversation or form a strong opinion on the team they love. #HerGameToo, a newly formed campaign group is a group that I would urge you to become familiar with. The Non-Profit Organization aims to embed a new ethos into football, one where women are ’welcomed and respected equally.’
A survey conducted by #HerGameToo found how 58.4% of women from 371 surveyed had experienced sexist abuse in person, either in a football ground or watching football in a pub. This for many women is not a shocking finding, I am sure that most female football fans can share at least one experience where they have witnessed or been subjected to sexist abuse or comments either online or in person. This is not good enough. Football clubs, fans and social media corporations need to step up, be held accountable and eradicate this from our game. With the creation of #HerGameToo I feel this can be the visibility that women and young girls so desperately need. But that is not to say things have not changed.
20 years ago, we would never be including female periods and football in the same sentence. So how are the two linked today? Back in 2018 what began as a small campaign by 3 female Celtic fans, has today emerged into a nationwide successful campaign, to allow females free access to sanitary products at a football game. They created the ‘on the ball’ campaign to prevent women feeling unprioritized or second best when attending live sport, as in many stadiums access to sanitary products or sanitary bins was not guaranteed. They acknowledged how males could use the toilet and be provided free access to necessities such as toilet roll, but for women this was not the case. A necessity that women required would often cost £1-£2, more often than not from an empty sanitary machine. However, Celtic were the first club to introduce this welcome change, with 6 other clubs in Scotland and England following, creating a knock-on effect through the leagues.
I personally, will always remember the first game at the Molineux where free sanitary products were provided. I at the time was unaware of the campaign originating in Scotland, however felt the change was huge, more than many will ever understand. For me and many other women it felt like women supporters were finally becoming more visible through clubs taking a forward approach in tackling female period poverty.
With new and merging campaigns such as #HerGameToo tackling sexism in the game head on, and period charities such as Blood Good Period and On the Ball campaigns women and young girls are finally being seen as important, credible football fans.
Beatrice Cain, Politics Student at the University of Liverpool
Other Articles:
https://www.isportconnect.com/how-social-media-has-changed-the-way-we-watch-sport/
https://beatrice-9-cain.medium.com/racism-in-football-the-importance-of-taking-the-knee-2b33b50fbb5