Women have to ’prove they are sports fans’

Female sports fans struggle to be taken seriously and feel they are regarded as being less committed than male fans, according to research by Dr Stacey Pope , who answers some questions about her findings below. How is the experience of female sports fans different to that of their male counterparts? I have looked at the experience of female football and rugby fans and it's not a level playing field when it comes to being a supporter. Female football and rugby union fans in my research say how they have to routinely 'prove' their status as 'real' fans - usually to male supporters. Common stereotypes of female sports fans have included that they lack sporting knowledge, are only interested in the sexual attractiveness of (male) star players and are not as passionate or committed as male fans. Media coverage also typically represents women in subordinate ways; for example, a cursory internet search for 'female fans' brings up numerous sexualised images, doing little to challenge the perceptions of women as inferior sports fans. How much research has been carried out on the subject of female sports fans? Perhaps this is partly as a result of popular assumptions and stereotypes of female fans, but very little research has examined women's experiences as sports fans. Most studies have focused exclusively on male supporters and issues of fan rivalry or hooliganism, despite the minority of fans involved in fan violence in many countries. My work tackles head-on the lack of research on female sports fans. It also challenges the perceptions of women as inauthentic or inferior fans in comparison to male 'authentic' or 'real' supporters. How did you carry out your research and what did you find out?