DOHA, Qatar – At the W Hotel in the tony-tony-tony West Bay district, the view stretches south, toward the downtown skyline. The scene is even fancier, more opulent, inside a second-floor lounge on Monday night. There’s a DJ. A VIP section. A spotlight. Red carpets. The works.
Still, the late-arriving crowd that’s assembling inside—one guest is dressed as Ted Lasso; another perches an (obviously-not-real) bald eagle on his shoulder—is not here for the gleam. No, this is the headquarters for U.S. soccer supporters, and what they want is fellowship, regardless of anything, least of all gender.
There are women inside on Monday night, and that might not seem like a big deal. But in a country where women are essentially treated like second-class citizens, confined by gender inequality, told how to dress and mandated to obey their husbands, it’s not insignificant at all. These women traveled to the first World Cup in the Arab world, knowing that risks existed and not knowing what to expect. Restaurants, bars and hotels—those presented little issue. Consider each an oasis of normalcy. But tournament games, traveling to them, and everyday tourism left plenty of unknowns.
