Despite the heartbreak for the Lionesses in today’s final, this Fifa Women’s Football World Cup has made compelling viewing. From the very first round, fans enjoyed a heady mix of thrilling, breathtaking skill, dramatic incidents and unexpected results, with record attendances and viewing figures at every stage of the tournament.
But it’s not just women’s football that’s enjoying momentous growth. Rugby, cricket and netball have seen record-breaking crowds this year, vast increases in TV viewing figures and new sponsorship deals, with our national women’s sides enjoying unprecedented success on the world stage – far more so than their male counterparts.
So how should we now refer to these championships? Is it time to drop the “women’s” descriptor, and just refer to it as the Football World Cup? World Rugby did this in 2019 when, in a first for a major sports federation, the women’s designation was dropped, and the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 was renamed Rugby World Cup 2021 to start a global rollout. But can that really work across all sports?
If I asked a stranger about Arsenal, the Champions League or the England football team, they’d assume I was talking about the men. With men’s sport having taken precedence in society for the past 150 years, it’s little wonder that when we hear, in a sports bulletin, that “England have won the Six Nations” we automatically assume it’s the men (though that statement is far more likely to be true of the women, who have won that tournament 20 times compared to the men’s seven victories).
So, while I’d love to remove the need for any gender marking in sport, right now I’d recommend including “men’s” when talking about any male teams, leagues and championships that have a female equivalent. Otherwise, the automatic route is to refer to “Chelsea” and then “Chelsea Women”, or “England” and then “England women”, with the female team always appearing slightly inferior to the proper, original men’s version. Views about women being valued as “less than” men contribute to much societal sexism, influencing everything from the gender pay gap through to the prevalence of gender-based violence against women and girls. If we can address this incorrect belief in something as prominent as sport, could this affect wider cultural attitudes around gender in society?
Even the internet perpetuates this bias. Searching for “England Cricket Captain”, I recently had to scroll past 77 images until I found a photo of Heather Knight. I have often wondered how search engines can know so much about me from my internet history, yet after decades of searching for women’s sport they still assume I’m seeking stats on male players, teams or leagues. Historical algorithms mean we are constantly fed the wrong information in answer to our sports questions, often ignoring the success of elite female athletes and teams. Much relief this month then, to learn that Google is finally responding to the inherent sexism in its algorithms and making it easier (and more equitable) to find results on women’s sports.
You could argue that our women’s national teams have already attempted to distinguish themselves from the men’s by using names like Lionesses and Red Roses, but why are specific names needed for the women, and not the men? We don’t refer to England’s men’s teams as Lions or Thorns.
For me this is reminiscent of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League teams in the 1940s, when teams named the Daisies, Lassies and Belles gave their players beauty kits and required them to play in short skirts. The owners wanted to ensure that the femininity and heterosexuality of players was highlighted in order to counter perceptions of sportswomen as mannish, which they felt would be offputting to the public.
Despite the fact that much of women’s sport is now hugely inclusive, and sports such as rugby and football are dispelling those traditional tropes around how women should behave, elements of that old bias are still present today. The term “ladies” remains prevalent in sports such as tennis and golf, where playing in skirts and dresses is still the norm. Times are changing, though, and as England play in the Women’s EuroHockey Championship this week, individual players will have the choice of competing in either a skirt or shorts, following a change in international regulations driven by campaigning England players.
All that said, women’s sport doesn’t need to copy everything about men’s sport to grow. There is so much that is brilliant and unique about women’s sport, which is also attracting new audiences: research from the Women’s Sport Trust shows that 1.8 million of the people who watched the women’s Euros last summer didn’t watch any of the men’s World Cup in Qatar later that year.
Anyone attending a women’s football game will attest to the inclusive atmosphere in the stands. It’s a place you’d happily take your whole family – unlike many men’s Premier League games, where the aggressive vitriol of opposing fans can be intimidating, and there are often sexist, racist and homophobic chants.
Sponsors are also recognising the appeal, with research showing that fans believe women’s sports (and by association the supporting brands) are more purpose-driven, clean, inspiring and family-friendly. Here’s hoping female footballers don’t feel the need to copy the negative elements of the men’s game. I’d happily see fewer players spitting at the next Women’s World Cup.
The challenge now facing those leading women’s football is how to capitalise on this remarkable momentum, while also ensuring future growth is sustainable. The media may enjoy speculating on who will be the first million-pound female footballer, but this doesn’t always sit well when many players further down the women’s pathway are still paid less than minimum wage.
There’s much to celebrate about women’s sport, especially the positive changes we’ve seen at the top level, but ongoing investment and support are needed across the entire ecosystem if women and girls are to have equal opportunities in sport throughout their lives. This includes everything from equality of access in schools and sports clubs, through to increased research on women’s bodies and changes to ensure inclusive sportswear.
We’ve witnessed a momentous shift in the past decade as we’ve moved towards a time where everyone can fully enjoy sport. And perhaps soon it will just be great sport, whatever the gender.
