Flying the flag: gender and national identity in English newspapers during the 2006 World Cup

Abstract

This essay analyses selected English newspapers’ gendered narratives about the English soccer team’s star player, Wayne Rooney, and the captain, David Beckham. Narratives are compared with those devoted to Rooney’s fiancée, Coleen McLoughlin, and Beckham’s wife, Victoria, who with other players’ wives and girlfriends (WAGS) travelled to Germany to support England during the 2006 World Cup. It uses textual analysis to examine how the newspapers’ gendered narratives intersected with nationalistic discourses. Theoretical insight is drawn from Connell’s theory of gender power relations. Narratives about Rooney emphasize his northern working-class roots in the construction of his hegemonic hypermasculinity and role as a ‘patriot at play,’ while narratives about McLoughlin illustrate her subordinate role. More fluid and contradictory narratives are reserved for Beckham, who is known for his more androgynous image, and his wife Victoria, whose strong influence over ‘the skipper’ challenged the traditional gender order.

Notes

1. Connell, Gender and Power; The Men and the Boys; Masculinities.

2. Tuck, ‘Making Sense of Emerald Commotion’.

3. Maguire and Poulton, ‘European Identity Politics in Euro 96’.

4. Horne, Sport in Consumer Culture.

5. Boyle, Sports Journalism.

6. Turner, Understanding Celebrity.

7. Duncan, ‘Gender Warriors in Sport’; and Kian et al., ‘Masculine Hegemonic Hoops’.

8. Connell, The Men and the Boys.

9. Harris and Clayton. ‘Femininity, Masculinity, Physicality’.

10. Duncan, ‘Gender Warriors in Sport’; and Kian, ‘A New Era for Women’s Sports?’

11. Eastman and Billings, ‘Sportscasting and Sports Reporting’; Vincent, ‘Game, Sex, and Match’.

12. Connell, Gender and Power; Connell, The Men and the Boys; and Connell, Masculinities.

13. Ritchie, ‘Sociological Theories of Sport’.

14. Connell, Masculinities.

15. Connell, The Men and the Boys.

16. Ibid.; and Connell, Masculinities.

17. Burstyn, The Rites of Men; Connell, Gender and Power.

18. Anderson, ‘Orthodox & Inclusive Masculinity’; Connell, The Men and the Boys.

19. Connell and Messerschmidt. ‘Hegemonic Masculinity’.

20. Connell, Gender and Power.

21. Vincent and Crossman. ‘“Alicia in Wonderland”’.

22. McKee, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Textual Analysis’.

23. Daily Mirror, 17 June 2006, 73.

24. Whannel, Media Sport Stars, 156.

25. Daily Mail, 11 June 2006, 12.

26. Messner, ‘Masculinities and Athletic Careers’.

27. Daily Mail, Tuesday, June 12, 2006, 82.

28. Connell, The Men and the Boys.

29. Messner, ‘Masculinities and Athletic Careers’.

30. Daily Mail, 20 June 2006, front page of sports section.

31. Daily Mail, 21 June 2006, 14.

32. Ibid.

33. Gill, ‘Power and the Production of Subjects’.

34. Garland and Rowe, ‘War Minus the Shooting?’

35. Daily Mail, 1 July 2006, front page.

36. The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2006, S8.

37. Boyle, Sport Journalism.

38. Giardina, ‘“Bending It Like Beckham”’.

39. Vincent et al., ‘The Multiple Brand Personalities of David Beckham’.

40. Whannel, Media Sports Stars.

41. Smart, The Sport Star.

42. Daily Mirror, 26 June 2006, 8.

43. The Daily Telegraph, 26 June 2006, S2.

44. Boorstin, The Image.

45. Daily Mail, 22 June 2006, 92.

46. Vincent et al., ‘The Multiple Brand Personalities of David Beckham’.

47. Daily Mail, 21 June 2006, 85.

48. The Sun, 3 July 2006, 7.

49. Crolley and Hand, Football and European Identity.

50. Sunday Telegraph, 18 June 2006, S5.

51. Anderson, Inclusive Masculinity; Connell, The Men and the Boys.

52. Daily Mail, 3 July 2006, 75.

53. The Daily Telegraph, 3 July, 2006, S4.

54. Connell, The Men and the Boys, 201.

55. Ibid.

56. Daily Mail, 21 June 2006, 14.

57. Ibid., 12.

58. The Mail on Sunday, 25 June 2006, 31.

59. Boorstin, The Image.

60. Daily Mail, 10 June 2006, 2.

61. Daily Mail, 17 June 2006, 101.

62. Cashmore, Celebrity/culture.

63. Whannel, Media Sports Stars.

64. Daily Mirror, 16 June 2006, 3.

65. The Times, 26 June 2006, 15.

66. Daily Mirror, 24 June 2006, 6–7.

67. Vincent et al., ‘The Multiple Brand Personalities of David Beckham’.

68. Daily Mail, 10 June 2006, 2.

69. The Mail on Sunday, 11 June 2006, 4.

70. The Sunday Times, 25 June 2006, 10.

71. The Daily Telegraph, 9 July 2006, 5.

72. The Mail on Sunday, 11 June 2006, 11.

73. Connell, Gender and Power.

74. Anderson, Inclusive Masculinity, 45.

75. Cashmore, Celebrity/culture, 185.

76. Daily Mail, 2 July 2006, 7.

77. Connell, Masculinities.

78. Connell and Messerschmidt, ‘Hegemonic Masculinity’.

79. Connell, ‘Change Among the Gatekeepers’.

80. The Guardian, 11 February 2010.

81. n.p. Anderson, Inclusive Masculinity.

82. Connell, Masculinities.

83. Harris and Clayton. ‘Femininity, Masculinity, Physicality’.

84. Anderson, ‘Inclusive Masculinity in a Fraternal Setting’.

85. Whannel, Media Sports Stars.

86. Boorstin, The Image.

87. Cashmore, Celebrity/culture, 244.