Gill Radford presented a paper at last years BSA on this topic. I think
it was called something like "Praying for a draw". She interviewed
women at a local refuge who described how, on a Saturday night after
football, their partners would regularly beat them. They were violent
if their team lost and got drunk if their team won, either way resulted
in a beating. For the women the best result was a draw. The research
took place in Middlesboro towards the end of the season as the local
team were struggling to avoid relegation (which they didn't), a factor
which Radford argues added to the tension. Can't remember the full
details of the paper, but she clearly showed how football can cause
violence against women.
Nick
I would also be interested to learn how football encourages violence
against women and children. I have no experience of American football
but UK football is often characterised by feminist writers in a
similar way; however, I have no direct evidence of this myself. My
club side, Chelsea, is well known for its violent following, but this
is usually lads fighting each other; I have never seen violence
perpetrated against women and children. Do you mean that football
encourages men commit physical assaults on women and children
outside of football? This is highly unlikely. Have any of these
feminists who criticise 'macho' working class male culture ever been
to a football match? I doubt it! Let's be clear, maleviolence is a
problem, but it has very little to do with football. If there is
violence at football (a problem in the UK) or if some men who attend
football are also violent outside of football, this is more likely to
reflect broader social values and relations. I have yet to see any of
this' well documented' evidence of football being the cause.
Nick Watson
Dept Nursing Studies
University of Edinburgh
Adam Ferguson Building
40 George Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9LL
Tel: 0131 650 3895
Fax: 0131 650 3891
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