Football enthusiasm versus gender stereotyping : potential resistance to female footballers in Malta

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate the reactions of parents towards their daughters playing football. To test this, it explores the potential existence of gender stereotyping, and its consequences on women's football in Malta. The research draws on data from a focus group of Maltese female footballers currently participating in a local Under 16 tournament. The findings highlight the prevalence of early male influence within the game. Fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins act as socialising agents by setting the example. Most of the girls recount the resistance by their mothers, because football is masculine, rough, dangerous, and harmful to girls! Few speak of parental passivity, and that sense of undecidedness brought about by a balance between 'fear of harm' and 'wish of a sport'. The girls meet football again in the schoolyard; here their peers invite them to join in the kicking, running and fun. These youths are smitten, and relate this excitement to their parents. Gradually, safety worries mellow down, as mothers realise that the girls' game is not that rough. This freedom of sportive fun mirrors their daughters' healthy youth, and mothers slowly come to accept this.