A ‘ruthless’ victory? Reactions to the United States women’s national team victory over Thailand in the 2019 world cup

Abstract

At the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the United States National Team (USWNT) beat Thailand by the lopsided margin of 13-0 in the first game of group play of the soccer tournament. Afterwards, the USWNT faced criticism from the general public, from former professional athletes, and from the sport media, while simultaneously receiving support in light of these critiques. This study aims to contextualize this commentary within the world of sport, arguing that reactions like these perpetuate stereotypes of feminine behaviour and reinforce hegemonic masculinity. Despite progress for women athletes, they still face gendered reactions to their play.

Keywords:

• Women’s soccer
• gender
• sport media

Notes

1 The lawsuit about whether the USWNT is fairly compensated remains ongoing. As of December 2020, part of the lawsuit was settled, but other aspects remain unsettled (and the pay equity claim was rejected by a Judge R. Gary Klausner in May 2020). For more information see Peterson and Blum 2020.

2 At least one columnist at goal.com implores viewers and commentators to rewatch the celebrations, calling them ‘routine’ (Vertelney 2019).

3 To be sure, some writers did recognize that the USWNT’s games against Thailand did highlight the structural disparities that remain prevalent in the women’s game. This was especially true in an article written a year later, recalling the game and calling to attention the ways that Thailand’s team has grown recently and what is needed for their success to continue (York 2020).

4 All Tweets mentioned are collected in Steiner 2019.