Negotiating Gender/Race/Class Constraints in the New South Africa

Abstract

This study contributes to the emerging international literature on women’s soccer by exploring how South African women are negotiating material and ideological constraints to participate in the historically masculine sport of football. Special attention is given to situating athletes’ micro-level experiences within macro-level social structures, including the material legacies of colonialism and apartheid. This analysis is based on a multi-methods approach that includes interview, survey, documentary, and observational data collected during 1999 and 2000. Theoretically, this analysis draws upon various frameworks characteristic of feminist sport literatures as well as theoretical insights of Black feminists writing within and beyond Southern Africa. The findings show that a strong ethic of care within the women’s soccer community and strategies of creative resistance in the everyday lives of South African women soccer athletes are central to challenging exclusionary practices in soccer. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.