Tensions between fan culture and the feminist identities of female football fans in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Although, in Brazil, football is considered a national passion, women are rarely present in these narratives. In fan culture, in particular, from the 1990s, as the social problem of violence related to football grew, there was a weakening in the visibility and participation of female spectators. However, in recent years, women began a collective organization to guarantee visibility in fan culture, claiming for the right to equal participation in the stadia. Considering this specific scenario, we describe and analyse the way Brazilian women fans integrate into and relate to fan culture, as well as how their gender performances lead to tensions with traditional supporter identifications. To do so, we conducted interviews with 37 Brazilian female supporters. We argue that Brazilian female fans built a feminist solidarity among supporters of different clubs, promoting negotiations and critical thinking about fan culture, which implies performances that challenge and depart from traditional supporter identities.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by FAPES – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Espírito Santo - under Grant 059/2019, CAPES – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior and CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico- under Grant 059/2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Dunning, “Sport as a Male Preserve”.

2. Goellner, “Mulheres e Futebol No Brasil”.

3. Fan culture, which in Brazil coincides with torcidas organizadas or supporters’ groups, is a subculture in which young people, especially males, reinvent ways of supporting, bonding, and creating identities and values (Merkel, ‘Football Identity and Youth Culture in Germany’). Within the fan culture, different ways of expressing and constituting identities are established; however, hegemonically these have been described as linked to a culture of male pride and virility, related to the working classes.

4. Hollanda and Medeiros, “Violência, juventude e idolatria clubística”.

5. Dunn, Female Football Fans, 3.

6. Ibid., 7.

7. Hollanda, O Clube Como Vontade e Representação.

8. Lopes and Prioli, “Torcidas Organizadas do futebol brasileiro”. According to Lopes and Prioli, supporters’ groups do not act in the same way as ultras in the European context. Although they also have parties in the stadiums and have a hot club identity, marked by aggressive masculinity, there are some differences. First, the fact that, unlike the European context, in Brazil, demonstrations of racism and xenophobia are rare among SGs. On the other hand, in Brazil, it is common for supporters to have a formal bond with the club and to act by pressing or participating institutionally in its internal policy.

9. Monteiro, Torcer, Lutar, o Inimigo Massacrar–Raça Rubro-Negra!

10. Bandeira, “Um currículo de masculinidades nos estádios de futebol”, 2.

11. Bandeira and Seffner, “Futebol, gênero, masculinidade e homofobia”.

12. Moraes, “As torcedoras querem torcer”.

13. See note 9 above.

14. See note 11 above.

15. Scott, “Gênero”.

16. Butler, Gender Trouble.

17. Giulianotti, “Supporters, Followers, Fans, and Flaneurs”.

18. Dunn, Female Football Fans; Jones, ‘Female Fandom’; Pope, ‘“The Love of My Life”’; and Toffoletti, Women Sport Fans.

19. Jones, “Female Fandom”.

20. Pope, ‘“The Love of My Life”’.

21. Ibid.

22. See note 5 above.

23. Hall, Identidades Culturais Na Pós-Modernidade.

24. Ibid., 62.

25. Butler, Corpos Que Importam.

26. Della Porta and Diani, Social Movements.

27. Toledo, Torcidas Organizadas de Futebol.

28. See note 13 above.

29. Lemos, Breves, and Silva, “O Público Nos Estádios Do Brasil Em Em 2019”.

30. Folha de São Paulo, “Torcidas de Santos e Vasco têm mais homens do que mulheres, https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/esporte/2019/09/torcidas-de-santos-e-vasco-tem-mais-homens-do-que-mulheres.shtml (Accessed 21 November 2020); and Pluri Consultoria, ‘As maiores torcidas do Brasil, entre as mulheres”, https://www.pluriconsultoria.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PLURI-Pesquisas-torcida-mulheres.pdf (Accessed 21 November 2020).

31. Pluri Consultoria, “Pesquisa sobre o interesse das mulheres pelo Futebol”, http://new.pluriconsultoria.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pesquisa-mulheres.pdf (accessed 21 November 2020).

32. See note 4 above.

33. Rubin and Rubin, “Structuring the Interview”.

34. Each female supporter we interviewed referred us to one or two others. When the referrals started to repeat, we inferred that the sampling process was saturated. The average duration of the interviews was 90 minutes. The audio of the interviews was recorded and later transcribed.

35. Butler, Gender Trouble; and Giulianotti, “Supporters, Followers, Fans, and Flaneurs”.

36. Monteiro, Torcer, Lutar, o Inimigo Massacrar–Raça Rubro-Negra!; and Zucal, “Soy macho porque me la aguanto”.

37. Pfister, Lenneis, and Mintert, “Female Fans of Men’s Football”.

38. Damo, “A Magia Da Seleção”; and Toledo, Torcidas Organizadas de Futebol.

39. M.I., interview.

40. See note 19 above.

41. Lopes, “A construção do problema social da violência no futebol brasileiro”.

42. See note 19 above.

43. A.P., interview.

44. P.P., interview.

45. See note 19 above.

46. E.P., interview.

47. Pitti, “Being Women in a Male Preserve”.

48. Lopes and Cordeiro, “Torcidas Organizadas Do Futebol Brasileiro”; and Monteiro, Torcer, Lutar, o Inimigo Massacrar–Raça Rubro-Negra!

49. See note 27 above.

50. C.P., interview.

51. See note 20 above.

52. F.S., interview.

53. See note 17 above.

54. See note 37 above.

55. See note 20 above.

56. N.S., interview.

57. C.S., interview.

58. See note 20 above.

59. See note 37 above.

60. See note 57 above.

61. Alvarez, “Para além da sociedade civil”.

62. See note 17 above.

63. See note 20 above.

64. See note 17 above.

65. Ibid.

66. B.P., interview.

67. Ibid.

68. ‘Onde elas quiserem, TOR-CE-DO-RA: Das arquibancadas do turfe para as arquibancadas dos grandes estádios de futebol’, Luiza Santana, https://ondelasquiserem.wixsite.com/webdoc/torcedoras (accessed 21 November 2020).

69. El País, “Enfim, o futebol começa a ouvir o grito das mulheres de arquibancada: Clubes aderem a campanhas de combate à violência contra a mulher. Para torcedoras, trata-se de um primeiro – e importante – passo”, Breiller Pires, https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2018/03/07/deportes/1520456402_790606.html (Accessed 21 November 2020).

70. C.G., interview.

71. Y.P., interview.

72. C.R., interview.

73. Jones, “Female Fandom”; and Pope, ‘“The Love of My Life”’.

74. See note 19 above.

75. M.P., interview.

76. See note 1 above.