Negotiating the status of women’s football in Norway. An analysis of online supporter discourses

Abstract

Whilst women’s football in Norway has enjoyed sporting success, media interest is still limited. It attracts few spectators and TV viewers. In this article, we analyse how online supporters of men’s football view and discuss the status of women’s football. This is done through a discourse analysis based on the conceptual framework of feminist theory. An electronic discussion group on football serves as the source of data. Two main discourses are identified: The dominant discourse associates football to “masculine” standards and core masculine values, and women’s football represents a threat to this perspective. Women’s football is “othered” by a continuous comparison to men’s football as well as by strategies of trivialisation and sexualisation. The counter-discourse emphasises women’s right to play football on equal terms with men and argues that women’s football should be assessed on its own terms. The counter-discourse opposes the arguments of the dominant discourse by challenging the taken for granted-assumptions as well as the dominant derogatory notions of women’s football. But all in all, most discussants construct women’s football as a sport trapped in a vicious circle, which deserves its current lack of recognition.