Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Zimbabwean Female Audiences: Negotiating (En)Gendered Spaces in the 2010 FIFA World Cup

  • Chapter
African Football, Identity Politics and Global Media Narratives

Part of the book series: Global Culture and Sport Series ((GCS))

Abstract

The FIFA World Cup is largely recognized as the world’s largest sporting and media event. Many scholars of the 2010 FIFA World Cup agree that the significance of South Africa’s hosting of the mega-event lay in debunking myths and representations of Africa (Pillay et al., 2009). The event was transformed from a national into a continental event which put the burden of re-invigorating, re-inventing and re-imagining Africa on South Africa. Andre P. Czegledy (Czegledy, 2009) reflects this when he intimates that 2010 was about ‘peeling off as much as back’ the biased layers of African history and redefining the meaning of Africa well beyond its borders. His train of thought is also reiterated by Achille Mbembe (2006), who reckoned that the World Cup would be Africa’s opportunity to celebrate its culture and identity through moral and cultural victories in order to reassert African identity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Birrell, S. (2000). Feminist theories for sport. In J. Coakley and E. Dunning (Eds.), Handbook of Sports Studies. London: Sage, pp. 61–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bob, U. and Swart, C. (2010). The 2010 FIFA World Cup and women’s experiences in fan parks. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 24(85): 85–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolsman, C. (2012). Representation in the first African World Cup: ‘World Class’, pan-Africanism, and exclusion. Soccer and Society, 13(2): 156–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chikafa, R. (2012). African Feminst Academia: Towards a Militant Enterprise for Feminist Scholarship in Africa. The University of Nottingham, 2012. Feminism in Academia: An age of Austerity Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chingamuka, S. (2010). Score a goal for gender equality. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 24(85): 116–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiweshe Manase, K. (2011). Understanding processes of becoming a football team fan in an African context: The case of Dynamos Football Club fans in Zimbabwean society. Soccer and Society, 12(2): 174–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, G. and Gosling, V. (2004). The myth of the ‘Puck Bunny’: Female fans and men’s ice hockey. Sociology, 38(3): 477–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czegledy, A.P. (2009). A World Cup and the construction of African identity. In U. Pillay and R.A.B.O. Tomlinson (Eds.), Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 281–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daimon, A. (2010). The most beautiful game or the most gender violent sport? Exploring the interface between soccer, gender and violence in Zimbabwe. In J. Shehu (Ed.), Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representation and Marginalisation. Dakar: CODESRIA, pp. 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dementhon, C. and Ichou, C. (2010). Could the World Cup (re) develop the feminist movement in Zimbabwe. Gender and Media Diversity Journal, 7: 69–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoeber, L. and Kerwin, S. (2013). Exploring the experiences of female sport fans: A collaborative self ethnography. Sport Management Review, 16: 326–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson-Weems, C. (1997). Africana womanism and the critical need for African theory and thought. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 21(2): 79–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, K. (2008). Female fandom: Identity, sexism and men’s professional football in Europe. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25: 516–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kapasula Kabwila, J. (2010). 2010 FIFA World Cup and the patriarchy of football spectatorship in Malawi. In J. Shehu (Ed.), Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representation and Marginalisation. Dakar: CODESRIA, pp. 27–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoppers, A. and McDonald, M. (2010). Scholarship on gender and sport in sex roles and beyond. Sex Roles, 63: 311–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, S. (1997). Women on the Ball . London: Scarlet Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machingambi, S. and Wadesango, N. (2011). The gendered nature of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and its impact on the girl child’s self efficacy and educational aspirations. Anthropologist, 13(2): 151–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manyonganise, M. (2010). From ‘safety’ zones to public spaces: Women’s participation in sport in Zimbabwe. In J. Shehu (Ed.), Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representation and Marginalisation. Dakar: CODESRIA, pp. 13–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbembe, A. (2006).“2010 Soccer World Cup: Where is the Main Argument?” in Africultures, Cultures Africaines: www.africultures.com Accessed 24.05.2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillay, V. and Salo, E. (2010). 2010 FIFA World Cup: Gender, politics and sport. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 24(85): 4–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillay, U., Tomlinson, R. and Bass, O. (2009). Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, S. (2011). Like pulling down Durham cathedral and building a brothel: Women as ‘new consumer’ fans? International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 46: 471–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pope, S. and Williams, J. (2011). Beyond irrationality and the ultras: Some notes on female English rugby union fans and the ‘feminised’ sports crowd. Leisure Studies, 30(3): 293–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, M. (2005). The place of women in Argentinian football. International Journal of the History of Sport, 22(2): 231–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, M. (2009). The offside rule: Women’s bodies in masculine spaces. In U. Pillay, R. Tomlinson and O. Bass (Eds.), Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup, Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 266–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shehu, J. (2010). Editorial. In J. Shehu (Ed.) Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representation and Marginalisation. Dakar: CODESRIA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, T. (2004). The positioning and practices of the ‘Feminised Fan’ in Japanese soccer culture through the experience of the World Cup Korea/Japan 2002. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 5(1): 52–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Merwe, J. (2009). The road to Africa: South Africa’s hosting of the “Áfrican” World Cup. In U. Pillay, R. Tomlinson and O. Bass (Eds.), Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 18–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Ingen, C. (2003). Geographies of gender, sexuality and race: Reframing the focus on space in sport sociology. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 38(2): 201–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadesango, N., Machingambi, S., Ashu, G. and Chireshe, R. (2010). Nature and effects of women’s participation in sporting decision-making structures in the context of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 24(85): 62–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter, D. (2009). Editorial, Gender and Media Diversity Journal: Gender, Media and Sport (7): 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zenenga, P. (2012). Visualising politics in African sport: Political and cultural constructions in Zimbabwean soccer. Soccer and Society, 13(2): 250–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Rosemary Chikafa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Venda, South Africa

    Tendai Chari

  2. Midlands State University, Zimbabwe

    Nhamo A. Mhiripiri

Copyright information

© 2014 Rosemary Chikafa

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Chikafa, R. (2014). Zimbabwean Female Audiences: Negotiating (En)Gendered Spaces in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In: Chari, T., Mhiripiri, N.A. (eds) African Football, Identity Politics and Global Media Narratives. Global Culture and Sport Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137392237_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation