Biggest but smallest: female football and the case of Norway

Abstract

This essay discusses the contemporary gender situation in Norwegian football (soccer), with reference to three questions: (i) why is there still a significant gender gap; (ii) why has female football grown rapidly over the last decades; and (iii) why is the Norwegian situation relatively egalitarian after all, when compared, for example, to the UK? The former two questions are analysed by the application of the work of Dunning, which shows that, first, football has historically been a male preserve, and secondly, the civilizing process has led to a more regulated society, which in turn has led to increased female participation in sports. The latter question is analysed in the contextual research on leisure and the welfare state to nuance the general picture of the welfare state, to show that the process of civilizing has worked differently – and probably faster – in the Scandinavian countries, which has also led to increased female participation in football in Norway.