Reflexive meanings of global and local sports culture: Chinese female sports fandom in the context of glocalization

Abstract

This article aims to explore the appreciation of transnational European football clubs by Chinese female sports fans and demonstrate the intersections between the global discourses of sport and the local patriarchal practices of Chinese society as they affect middle-class, educated Chinese women. By applying glocalization theories, feminization of sports fandom theories and qualitative research methods, the findings indicate that Chinese female sports fans construct reflexive meanings of global and local sports culture. The focus of this reflexivity centres on the confrontation of local nationalist patriarchy and its interplay with global neoliberal patriarchy, both of which Chinese female fans recognize as domains necessitating active resistance. Although the globalization of sports may marginalize women in sports fandom from the top down, Chinese women actively respond to and challenge the intersecting power structures by imbuing football culture with reflexive meanings.

Keywords:

• Glocalization
• female sports fandom
• feminization of sports fandom
• transnational fandom
• Chinese sports

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Little Red Book is an online platform where users typically share advice, lifestyle, and consumer decisions. Latest data from Little Red Book shows that the platform has more than 200 million monthly users, of which 72% are post-90s, 50% are distributed in first- and second-tier locations, and the ratio of male to female users has increased to 3:7. This indicates that Little Red Book’s primary audience consists of Chinese urban middle-class women.