The Woman in Black: Exposing Sexist Beliefs About Female Officials in Elite Men’s Football

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that there are important differences between playing and non-playing roles in sport. The relevance of sex differences poses genuine philosophical and ethical difficulties for feminism in the context of playing sport. In the case of non-playing roles in general, and officiating in particular, we argue that reference to essential differences between men and women is irrelevant. Officiating elite men’s football is not a role for which ‘essential’ (psychological and biological) differences are causally implicated neither in competence nor excellence. Reference to such purported differences to justify the exclusion of women from roles such as officiating is unfounded and sexist.

En este artículo, defendemos que existen diferencias importantes entre las funciones del participante y del no participante en el deporte. La importancia de las diferencias de sexo presenta auténticas dificultades filosóficas y éticas para el feminismo dentro del contexto de la participación en el deporte. En el caso de las funciones no participantes en general, y del arbitraje en particular, defendemos que es irrelevante referirse a diferencias esenciales entre hombre y mujeres. Arbitrar fútbol masculino de élite no es una función en que diferencias “esenciales” (psicológicas o biológicas) estén causalmente relacionadas ni con la habilidad, ni tampoco con la excelencia. Referirse a tales diferencias para justificar la exclusión de las mujeres para funciones como el arbitraje no tiene ningún fundamento y es sexista.

Dans ce document, nous soutenons qu'il existe des différences importantes entre les rôles dans le jeu et hors du jeu dans le sport. La pertinence des différences de sexe pose de réelles difficultés philosophiques et éthiques pour le féminisme dans le contexte de la pratique d'un sport. Dans le cas de rôles hors du jeu en général, et de l'arbitrage en particulier, nous pensons que la référence à des différences essentielles entre les hommes et les femmes n'est pas pertinente. L’arbitrage du football élite masculin n'est pas un rôle pour lequel les différences «essentielles» (psychologique et biologique) sont causalement impliquées ni dans la compétence ni dans l'excellence. La référence à ces prétendues différences pour justifier l'exclusion des femmes des rôles tels que l’arbitrage est sans fondement et sexiste.

In diesem Papier soll gezeigt werden, dass es im professionellen Sport, auf der Ebene der Bedeutung von Geschlechterrollen, große Unterschiede zwischen der Funktionärsebene und der Eben der aktiven Sportler gibt. Die Relevanz von Geschlechtsunterschieden im aktiven Sport stellt eine echte philosophische und ethische Herausforderung für feministische Positionen dar. Unter Infragestellung eindeutiger Geschlechtszuschreibungen argumentieren wir, dass die essentielle Differenzierung von Männer- und Frauensport, auf Funktionärsebene nicht haltbar ist. Die Funktionärsebene im Profifussball ist kein Bereich in dem “essentialistische” Geschlechterdifferenzen – psychologischer oder biologischer Art – Aussagen über Kompetenz und Exellenz legitimieren würden. Daher ist der Auschluss von Frauen aus diesem Bereich unhaltbar und sexistisch.

在本文, 我們主張運動中有一種介於參與及非參與角色扮演的重要區分。從女性主義觀點, 性別差異的相關問題在運動參與環境中產生了一個真正的哲學上及倫理學上的困難。一般在非參與的角色情況, 以及特別是在擔任裁判執法的情況下, 我們主張與男女角色扮演實質上的差異是無關的。對頂尖男性足球賽的執法的角色不能因為有所謂的 “實質性” (心理學上與生物學上) 的差異來評論執法者的勝任與卓越能力。用這樣的差異性判準來排除女性擔任執法者是沒有根據的, 且具有性別歧視的味道。

KEYWORDS:

• football refereeing
• sexism
• sex differences
• essentialism

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mike McNamee and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful and detailed comments during the review process.

Notes

1. For the full coverage of the conversation between Andy Gray and Richard Keys see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukfnwQJNYAg&feature=related.

2. Gender myths, such as the idea that women are incapable of understanding the offside rule in association football, reinforce stereotypical beliefs about the sexes and bolster the belief that football is naturally a male practice. For an interesting discussion on women’s relationship with football culture and football fandom see Jones (2008).

3. http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/Players/PlayersPages/WomensandGirls/~/media/Files/PDF/TheFA/WomensStrategy.ashx/WomensStrategy.pdf (accessed 12 April 2011).

4. For an extended discussion of the conceptual differences between sexism and racism, see Thomas (1980).

5. Coggon, Hammond, and Holm (2008, 8) point out that ‘If we go by generalities, sex is straightforwardly either/or. Generally, someone is biologically male or female’. Post-modern feminism and queer theorists challenge the idea of two distinct biologically determined sexes. To accept the male–female dichotomy is politically damaging for some feminist writers (Butler 1990, 2004). According to Moi (2005, 39) ‘Hermaphroditism, transvestism, transsexuality, and so on show up the fuzziness at the edges of sexual difference, but the concepts ‘man’ and ‘woman’ or the opposition between them are not thereby threatened by disintegration’.

6. For example, in a competitive law firm if a woman who attempts to gain promotion is referred to as ‘pushy’ or ‘opportunistic’ while a male colleague is described as ‘assertive’ or ‘enterprising’ we might be justified in considering this a version of extrinsic sexism.

7. For the purposes of this discussion the term equality will be used to encompass notions of equality and equity. See Hargreaves (2000) for an interesting example of the use of the term equity in place of the term equality in the context of women’s sport.

8. http://www.fawsl.com/news/wsl_launches_at_wembley.html; http://www.fawsl.com/index.html.

9. Such policies might be strongly resisted, however, if in their implementation the redistribution of scarce resources like facilities, equipment, and sponsorship might undermine the privileged male position. When title IX was passed in the United States in 1972 there were strong objections by Universities to its implementation in relation to college sports because of the historical dominance of male varsity sport. The legislation was seen as a threat to revenue generating sports, like football, which might be required by law to ‘share’ hitherto exclusively male facilities like stadia, training facilities, coaches and finance.

10. In 1991, following considerable pressure from parents, coaches, politicians and academics, the FA finally agreed to remove its complete ban on mixed football, allowing girls and boys to play together in competitive matches under the age of 11. However, more recently, following a number of high profile cases, the FA have agreed to allow mixed football at under 12 and under 13 level.

11. This claim is supported by Coggon, Hammond, and Holm (2008) who note that sex segregation is widely, though not universally, accepted on the grounds of fairness. Burke (2010) and Tannsjo (2000), in particular, have argued that we ought to give up sex segregation in a range of sports. With reference to football, some feminist thinkers might criticise the policy of separate men and women’s games after the age of twelve on a number of grounds, not least that the policy discriminates against individual girls based, not on their own competence to play, but rather on purported general comparative facts about girls and boys. For an insightful discussion of sex segregation in sport see Coggon, Hammond, and Holm (2008, 9).

12. The English Football League Championship, referred to as Championship football for short, is the second highest division in English football after the Premier League.

13. TheFA.com, 12 November 2006. Available at http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/Referees/2006/BarrybacksRayner (accessed 8 July 2010).

14. TheFA.com 06 December 2006. Available at http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary/NewsAndFeatures/2007/DisciplinaryNewell (accessed 8 July 2010). Newell received an official warning and a fine for £6,500.

15. BBC Five Live, ‘Colin Murray’s Weekend Preview Show’, broadcast 12 February 2010.

16. Some feminists still ground their feminism on gender essentialism, for example in 1982, in her book In a Different Voice, Carol Gilligan called for the recognition of sex differences in moral thinking between men and women to be acknowledged in our social practices and institutions.

17. It doesn’t follow that feminists need to reject all versions of essentialism, see Holma (2007).

18. See Tannsjo (2000), Skirstad (2000), Schneider (2000), and Tamburrini and Tannsjo (2005) for a discussion about the relevance of sex in sport.

19. Male officials are accused of not using common sense etc.

20. See Jones and Howe (2005) for a discussion about athletic performance and the difficulty of identifying and separating out the various contributory elements.