Historically, many cultures have traditional gender roles. Physical activities were suitable for boys and men, while girls and women have passive roles at home. This historical division of labour has influenced the perception about which activities are appropriate for each gender. Society reinforces the idea that boys should be competitive, active, and tough. In contrast, girls should be more reserved and focused on appearance and domestic roles.
Toy manufacturers and marketers perpetuate gender stereotypes by producing sports-related toys and merchandise targeted predominantly at boys. Further reinforcing sports' association with masculinity. Additionally, sports stores sell more male accessories and clothes.
International prestige sports events reflect sports as a male-dominated institution. Women have always had limited opportunities.
In Athens 1896, women were considered persona non-grata. They were not allowed to participate in the competition or cheering benches. Paris 1900 was the first Olympics where women participated actively. However, they needed to be mindful of their femininity and ‘fragility’, and were limited to “feminine sports.” These were the former leisure activities of the aristocracy, for example, tennis, sailing, croquet, horse riding and figure skating). In track and field sports women were prohibited. The restrictions allowed women to protect their femininity and fertility, respect decency and avoid any kind of sustained effort. Besides that, there was a lack of diversity.
Women face many challenges in the sports world due to these factors, as well as the absence of fundamental components. Among them are lack of access, facilities and equipment, and funding. Many restrictions on how women behave as mentioned before. Issues around clothing-a frequent debate in the last Olympics in Tokyo 2021, especially about the sexualisation of women's uniform.
Unequal salaries and prize money. It is notable in the difference in the pay gap between the footballers regarding their gender as well as in their rewards. In 2010 at the International Women’s Football Tournament in São Paulo, the Netherlands lost to Brazil. The captain from the home team won a basket with cleaning products from their sponsor. In 2021, the Paraguayan footballer, Dahiana Bogarín(2000-), was elected the best player in the match, and her reward was a cookware set. Both episodes emphasise the societal retrograde expectation on the gender roles. Above all, there is sadly high risk of sexual assault-perceived or actual. Women also face racism and homophobia when their sexualities are wrongly assumed.
Football is not so different from the mentioned Olympian games. The first FIFA Women’s World Cup took place in China in 1991. The tournament featured twelve national teams from around the world. Sixty-one years after FIFA established the first male version. In some countries,like Brazil, the sport was prohibited to women. There it lasted for over forty years. It was considered inadequate. The justification in the time was the sport being violent, incompatible with the femininity, and considered unhealthy for women. There were zero scientific comprovations of these prejudiced guesswork.
Despite historical accounts showing women have played the sport since the early 19th century. In 1970, the Turin-based Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF) staged an unofficial women’s world cup, where seven teams participated in Italy. The following year, the same federation staged another women’s tournament in Mexico. However, unfortunately in 1972, the FIEFF institution was folded.
This was not an obstacle as women’s football leagues continued in the 1980s through Mundialitos, which were smaller invitational tournaments. In 1986 at the 45th FIFA Congress in Mexico, the Norwegian delegate Ellen Wille, who is famously known as the mother of contemporary women’s football. She became the pioneer woman pushing the sport to be more accessible to women and promoted the idea of a FIFA World Cup. She is the first woman who spoke in FIFA AGM and chaired the Women's Committee.
In 1988, China hosted a successful women’s invitational that led to the first women's world cup. It is important to remember its first tournament had low expectations and started with amateurs. Sooner or later, it became a symbol of resistance, as there challenges related to the ones mentioned. Poor incentives, low audience, fewer official championships, a few sponsors, and some stadiums.
As a consequence of these restrictions due to mere prejudice, there is a lack of role-models in sports as athletes, coaches, managers and officials. As well as the under-representation of women in sport on TV and radio as sports presenters, experts, and commentators. The heavy focus on male athletes. All of these discourage girls from pursuing sports careers.
It is worthwhile to translate what Marta(1986-), the best female footballer in the world, said during an interview after Brazil lost the 2019 World Cup in France. “It will not be one Marta, no Formiga, nor Cristiane forever. Women football depends on you to survive, think on that and value more.”
In Summer 2023, the Female World Cup is hosted in New Zealand and Australia. After eight world cups, there is still sexism. There are fewer promotions and merchandising, hardly discussed in social cycles and disinformation about it. However this year is promising, as records are broken and positive changes are taking place.
An expansion of teams, from twenty-four to thirty-two. Before the event started, FIFA President, Gianni Infantino (1970-) announced that a million tickets were sold to the matches. A significant increase in viewership not only on the field but over the internet and television on reputed channels like the BBC. The first time in history women arbitrate. South Korean footballer Casey Phair(2007-) is the youngest player so far. Nouhaila Benzina(1998-) made an achievement for Muslim women when she became the first footballer to play while wearing the hijab. This indicated that religious head-covering was the opposite of unprofessional and breaking the prejudices. Besides that, the world cup is an opportunity to dispel period myths and shed light on the specific needs of athletes who menstruate. There was a relevant change to the women’s uniform in order to improve their games. Matildas kit has a period protection in the base layer under the shorts. As a result, Nike created collections that are designed for specific movements and have anti-leaking materials. This addition to their uniform helped with their anti-period anxiety that affected the athletes’ performance prior times.
It is important to highlight that behind every successful group of women, there is a tribe of others who hold their back. Brazilian Formiga(1978-) and Japanese Homare Sawa(1978-) participated in their sixth Cup in 2015, a record between women and men. The American Christie Pearce(1975-) is the oldest player at forty. Marta is the biggest goal scorer of all time, she was the trailblazer in FIFA Honors 2024 with the best goal.
There are still many issues to improve. Many female footballers take advantage of their relevance to claim their rights. For example, during a match at the last Female World Cup in 2019, Marta used red lipstick to represent her sponsor, Avon. It could be considered a symbolic empowerment act. The American prestige player, Megan Rapinoe, constantly advocates for equal pay, LGBT+ rights and the Black Lives Movement.
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