How many  more years, decades or centuries to see the men accept and even enjoy female football ?

It’s the same old story;  in every football event, (Champions League or World Cup), the female game is not only heavily criticised, but also the male sports commentators add their own poison, by sexist insinuations and heavy jokes. Criticism, when is rightly done is always constructive, but in this case, is the comparison with the male counterpart that hurts. Men’s and Women’s game on the pitch is as different as the physical appearance of both sexes. After FIFA’s boss  J. Blatter comments about sexier shorts and lighter balls(to make the game more interesting), it’s  alas normal to hear and read sexist stereotypes and abuse of many kinds.

Despite the growing popularity of women’s football, there are still a lot of hard adversaries against it and unfortunately, they have their say in the press and the TV. Last, but not least Daily Mirror’s Betting column , where Derec Mc Govern  decries the women’s game and declares that he won’t bet on this game for “women already cost me enough”. One question though: can we laugh or even find sarcasm acceptable, knowing that the women’s social condition is still an everyday battle in the World? Practising a sport, often helps the individual to improve his social position, so why some people deny them this possibility ?

This debate goes further than the women representing their country in Canada; it’s about “RESPECT “ the logo on every jersey, in every stadium and the first thing that parents should learn to their children. There is a time to laugh, a time to cry and a time to be a responsable human being.

Of course this “banter” is not new; it began a hundred years ago, when some girls started to kick the ball and have fun with it. ” a nice girl doesn’t run behind a ball, dressed as a boy, sprinting like a fool in the mud and push down some other girl. It’s just not done !”  Even better, football  practice can “ be harmful to the girl’s body, stop the infant’s growth and even bring sterility.” During World War II, French president Marechal Pétain, banned it for it was harmful for the women’s body.

Nevertheless, since 1970, things have changed; no more smaller balls and less playing time to preserve the female fragility. The game is now like the Men’s but still for women players life is not easy. The players’ treatment  of “tomboy or lesbian”  is present more often than one may think. Alas, Football is the image of our current society; in some advanced countries, the players are now professionals and it’s a big step towards “sex equality” but they still need help to erase all the pathetic/old-fashioned dudes who still live in the Dark Age.

Categories: opinion

Tags: World Cup 2015(Women)