Beyond stereotypes: Women and their engagement in football fandom

Abstract

In common opinion, football fandom constitutes a male space as men are perceived to be more ‘authentic’ and engaged fans, more attached to the club. This article makes a contribution to the discussion on the differences between female and male fans and their modes of engagement. We aimed to answer the question of whether there are any differences between male and female supporters in: (1) self-stereotyping (agency, communion, independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal), (2) strength of the bond with the fandom and perceived personal gains from attachment to the club (identity fusion with other fans, collective action on behalf of the fan community, self-expansion) and (3) acceptance of aggressive behaviours. We applied a mixed-method approach and conducted both in-depth interviews with female football fans and quantitative analysis based on a survey among Polish football supporters. In contradiction to gender stereotypes, the results of a study conducted among 864 fans show that women saw themselves as more agentic than men did, had a stronger independent self-construal, and declared more self-development and stronger personal gains that can be achieved due to the participation in fandom culture. Moreover, gender differences in the strength of identity fusion and collective action tendency on behalf of the fandom were not significant.

Keywords

football fans gender collective action self-stereotypes agency

Introduction

More and more strong agentic female figures appeared recently in various pop-cultural productions, both in the violent games and various movies. As contemporary football is considered both as a part of the popular culture (Millar et al., 2021) and strongly masculine domain (Bromberger, 2010), it is interesting if women engaged in football fandom are characterised by agency or rather a tendency towards community behaviour. The following article is dedicated to answering the above question.

In general, women are often perceived to be more communal and less agentic than men, and interdependent rather than independent (e.g. Eagly and Steffen, 1984). Accordingly, they are viewed as more helpful, caring and interconnected with their close ones, and men – as competent, assertive and efficient. Moreover, women are considered more tender-minded, modest, other-oriented and compliant (Löckenhoff et al., 2014; Williams and Best, 1994). Traditional prescriptive gender stereotypes for women stress interpersonal sensitivity, modesty and niceness. For men prescriptive stereotypes reflect emphases on assertiveness, self-reliance and strength (Prentice and Carranza‌, 2002). Although these stereotypes differ across cultures, this pattern is still rather universal (Löckenhoff et al., 2014; Williams and Best, 1994). Recently research utilising techniques in machine learning examine gender stereotypes expressed in large-scale natural language datasets. These analyses replicated strong gender biases, with stereotypically feminine traits being more communal and less agentic. Interestingly, these biases were weaker over time (Bhatia and Bhatia, 2021).

However, women who engage in stereotypical masculine domains (like football fandom) might be more in line with the norms and social regulations of a given group as they are exposed to more harsh and rigid evaluations, with possible backlash effects in place (Rudman and Fairchild, 2004). Considering that football fandom is dominated by male members, our first goal is to explore how women who participate in fan activities view themselves, and to investigate whether there are any gender differences in self-stereotyping among members of the fan community.

Previous qualitative studies indicate that although female supporters are as devoted to their clubs as male fans (Pope, 2017), this is not reflected in fan group dynamics or in the perception of female supporters by their male peers (Jakubowska et al., 2021). Among supporter groups, male fans still often perceive women as less willing to give all for the club and less attached to it altogether. Our second aim, then, is to examine whether female football supporters differ from male ones in their engagement in, and enthusiasm towards, the club and the fandom community. We operationalise this in a threefold way: as their willingness to act on behalf of the group (collective action tendency), as their perception of personal self-development and psychological gains derived from being a part of the fandom community (self-expansion), and as their visceral feeling of oneness with the fan group (identity fusion).

One important norm in various football fan communities is the acceptance of violence, be it in confrontation with supporters of other teams or the police (Doidge et al., 2020; Stott et al., 2001), however the role and meaning of the violence in the fandom culture differ due to cultural context. In Poland, violence is the ‘part of the game’ and it is expected for male fans to be prepared for physical fight with fans from rival team (Kossakowski, 2021). Importantly, psychological studies indicate gender differences in aggression and in acceptance of violent means (Björkqvist, 2017; Nivette et al., 2019). According to quantitative data, male football fans declare their willingness to conform to the norm of violence and are ready to defend their community and the club, even when it means using violence (Knapton et al., 2018). However, there is still a research gap when it comes to female fans’ willingness to defend the fan community and the club. This brings us to our third research goal, which is to examine gender differences in (a) willingness to resort to aggression when defending the club and (b) acceptance of violent actions.

Female fans and football fandom

Football, and sport in general, is perceived as a male domain and even as ‘the leading definer of masculinity’ (Connell, 2005). This means that female athletes experience inequality on many levels: women's sport is underrepresented in mass media, women receive smaller prizes in the same sports, and media coverage often tends to focus on their private life or appearance rather than sports performance (Kane et al., 2013; Liang, 2011). The dominance of men in sport has long been viewed as justified by their physical strength, aggression and willingness to compete, perceived as their ‘natural superiority’ over women. Sport has also been seen in terms of the ‘natural’ division of roles played by men and women, with the public sphere interpreted as a sphere of men's activity, and the private sphere associated with female duties. Consequently, the conditions for sports rivalry as well as the organisational (and informal) order of sport have been set by and for men.

Football fandom culture fits in this male world not only due to the competitive nature of the game but mostly because of the violent, sometimes directly physical, rivalry between fans (Spaaij, 2006). In the case of football fandom, men dominate both in terms of numbers and specific behaviour (e.g. physical aggression and homophobic language, see Doidge et al., 2020). As a result, it seems that only men are able to achieve significant personal gains from membership in the fandom community. Although the number of women at football stadiums is gradually increasing (due to the social emancipation of women and the transformation of the sport itself, see Pope, 2017) and club and football authorities are becoming more open to women (although they mainly approach them as a new group of consumers and mothers of young fans, see Jakubowska et al., 2021), the status of female fans is still marginalised.

Female fans are considered ‘outsiders’ (Pfister et al., 2013). Women at football stadiums are patronised and instrumentally used by ultras fans (Antonowicz et al., 2020). To keep up with the conditions defined by men, some female fans perform ‘male’ behaviours (e.g. heavy drinking, use of abusive language) to prove themselves to be accepted and to fit into the practice as authentic supporters (Pope, 2017). In Polish male fans’ narratives, the identity of their female counterparts is reduced to two diametrically different positions (Jakubowska et al., 2021): ‘tomboys’ (when they behave like men and are considered ‘one of the mates’) or ‘partners’ (when they are accepted as wives or girlfriends, but not as equally respected part of the group). Men's discourses go hand in hand with the practical sphere as women in Poland are banned from many fan activities (e.g. trips to away matches, taking leadership roles). However, not only in Poland, men establish the ‘permission zone’ for female fans at the stadium, and male fans guarantee or deny women the ‘cultural ticket’ to fandom (Ben-Porat, 2009). This also concerns countries which lead the way when it comes to gender equality, for example, Denmark or Sweden (Pfister et al., 2013).

According to qualitative studies, men's narratives on fan identity often consider issues closely associated with authenticity, following tradition, a sense of belonging and the image of a ‘real’ and devoted fan for whom the club and football are a ‘way of life’, passion and lifestyle (Jakubowska et al., 2021). However, data from qualitative research on female fans provide some evidence that women experience the passion of being a fan in a similar way, using analogous metaphors (Pope, 2017). There are also indications that women have to prove that their fan identity has equal status and that their sense of identification is no different from men's. Therefore, the impression is that men have the ‘natural’ qualities of devoted supporter, who is community oriented and willing to defend the group and the club. This strengthens the stereotypical perception of what activities men and women can and should engage in and which social spaces are strictly gender prescribed.

Despite the fact that the number of studies on female football fans has been recently growing the issue of women as fans remains ‘an under-researched area’ (Toffoletti and Mewett, 2012: 3). Most of the existing studies are based on qualitative data, mainly interviews with female fans. However, they do not compare data obtained from both men and women. Additionally, qualitative data are typically not complemented by quantitative measures. This means that there is a significant gap in research concerning the comparison between the experience of female and male fans.

Strong group commitment and intergroup violence

To examine the strong connection to the group researchers developed the construct of identity fusion. It designates a visceral family-like bond with a given community, whereby a critique of or attack against the group feels like an attack against oneself. Identity fusion theory also suggests the identity-synergy principle (Gómez and Vázquez, 2015; Swann and Buhrmester, 2015), according to which when a group connection is strong, the personal and social identities synergistically influence behaviour and are complimentary to each other (Gómez and Vázquez, 2015). Previous research indicates that identity fusion is connected to an intention to adhere to violence in order to protect group members and with willingness to act on behalf of national and religious communities (Swann and Buhrmester, 2015) or the leader with whom one is fused (Kunst et al., 2019), as well as a willingness to protect various sports communities, for example fellow martial arts practitioners (Kavanagh et al., 2018), and football fans (Besta and Kossakowski, 2018; Newson et al., 2018). Thus, people who are strongly fused with a group present tendency to both: be devoted to the group members and be especially prone to fight with out-group members (when the well-being of the group is threatened). When it comes to previously demonstrated gender differences, direct aggression is more common for males than females (Archer, 2004). We wanted to explore if the same holds for specific group of football fans.

Another perception of how a group could influence one's behaviour is described by self-expansion model (for an overview, see Mattingly and Lewandowski, 2014). Here, researchers were concentrated on the perception of personal gains from involvement in group activities and from interaction with other people. Self-expansion model assumes the motivational role of the need to broaden the sense of self by acquiring new identities, enhancing capabilities, and developing new perspectives and understanding of the social world. Self-expansion is an important part of one's development as it is linked to gaining resources to deal with new challenges and accomplish goals. Self-expansion is related to numerous positive life outcomes, such as an increased approach to motivation and work engagement and productive behaviours (Jurek and Besta, 2021; Mattingly and Lewandowski, 2014). Considering that little is known about the perception of self-expansion among football fans or gender differences in this respect, we included this construct in our study, along with identity fusion and willingness to act on behalf of the group.

Methodology

We applied a mixed-method approach (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011) and conducted both in-depth interviews with female football supporters, and quantitative analysis based on a survey among Polish football fans. Implemented methods have been purposeful mixed both in data collection, data analysis and interpretation (Shorten and Smith, 2017) to provide a more panoramic view of female fans. We applied the mixed-methods research as we assumed that in the case of the research questions investigated in the article, using only quantitative or qualitative methods would be insufficient. Quantitative method provides measures and correlation however it is not able to demonstrate, in a narrative way, how female fans describe their fan identity, their experience of unity with the fandom community and their sense of belonging to it. Likewise, using only a qualitative approach does not reveal the relationship between the variables, which is made possible by the quantitative survey. It is also difficult to ‘rank’ qualitative narratives in terms of the strength of particular measures even if research, even if the researcher is able to create, for example, a typology of the sense of identification based on the subjective statements of the respondents.

In the analyzed case, ‘explanatory sequential’ mixed-methods type (Halcomb and Hickman, 2015) has been implemented. In this case, quantitative data were collected and analyzed first. The quantitative data provided ‘unexpected’, beyond-stereotypical information about female fans in some areas (e.g. agency issue) and ‘expected’ findings (e.g. violence issue). The qualitative data were collected and investigated both to explain and complement the results of quantitative measures. To explain – especially in the case of violence as qualitative data provide significant determinants of why female fans do not participate in acts of aggression and violence (which is due to the fact that male fans manage this sphere of activity). And to complement – as female fans’ narratives provide, that is, an in-depth meaning of what identification with the club is.

Combining data from different sources, we aimed to answer the question whether there are any differences between male and female football supporters in the following: (1) self-stereotyping (agency, communion, independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal), (2) strength of the bond with the fandom and perceived personal gains from attachment to the club (identity fusion with other fans, collective action on behalf of the fandom, self-expansion) and (3) acceptance of aggressive behaviours (willingness to fight for the group as well as a more general acceptance of violence in public life). When it comes to our quantitative study, we conducted a nationwide survey among Polish football supporters to explore whether there are any differences between male and female fans as regards self-stereotyping and self-construal, the strength of relation with other supporters of the club, and the willingness to act on behalf of the football community. Moreover, we also examined whether there are gender differences in perceptions of personal gains from participation in football community events (i.e. perceived self-expansion resulting from involvement in collective actions and gatherings).

Respondents for the quantitative part of the study were recruited through online fan forums, fan club mailing lists and websites as well as discussion groups on social media. We only included participants of 16 years of age or above. Our final sample consisted of 864 football supporters of various Polish teams (762 self-declared men, 102 self-declared women, Mage = 26.77, standard deviation (SD) = 8.12, with the oldest participant being 69 years old). Participants for the qualitative part were mostly recruited through fan websites using a snowball sampling strategy with links to online surveys presented on fan-club websites, social media football-related groups and official club websites. All participants gave written (online survey) or verbal (in-depth interviews) consent, and verbal consent was also given to record interviews.

Presented measures were parts of the larger dataset. A total of 35 interviews were conducted with female respondents representing three types of sectors: VIP (e.g., business skyboxes), ultras (sector dedicated to loud and performative support) and regular (for ordinary fans not engaged in support). The age of participants ranged from 18 to 52 years. Quotations from interviews are marked as follows: FF – female fan; VIP, regular, ultras – a type of sector (e.g. FF, regular).

Participants completed the following measures as a part of a larger online questionnaire.

To measure self-stereotyping, we used agency and communion items based on traits selected by Laurin et al. (2011). Our measure was composed of six items for the agency (e.g. I am… ‘assertive’, ‘ambitious’, ‘competent’), and six items for communion (e.g. ‘warm’, ‘caring’, ‘kind’). Participants indicated their answers on a 7-point scale (0 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree) (Cronbach's α = .79 for agency and .81 for communion).

To measure interdependent and independent self-construal, we used the shorter version of the original self-construal scale (see e.g. Besta, 2018, for previous use in the Polish context), with five items designed to measure interdependent self-construal (e.g. ‘My happiness depends on the happiness of the person closest to me’), and five items for independent self-construal (e.g. ‘I behave the same way no matter who I am with’). Participants responded using a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Cronbach's α was .76 for interdependent self-construal and .64 for independent self-construal.

To measure the strength of commitment to the group, participants were asked about their strong visceral relation with supporters of the club. We used the Polish version of the seven-item identity fusion scale to measure the feeling of oneness with other supporters of the club (e.g. ‘I feel one with other supporters of my club’; ‘I have a deep emotional bond with other supporters of my club’; ‘I’ll do for supporters of my club more than any of the other group members would do’; ‘I am strong because of my group of supporters I belong to’). Participants responded on a 7-point scale (0 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree) (Cronbach's α = .94).

To measure personal gains from membership in the fan community, we included a non-relational self-expansion scale. Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which interaction with other football fans enables them to self-develop and broadens their knowledge and perspectives (e.g. enables them to ‘learn new things’). This 5-item measure was based on an individual self-expansion questionnaire (Mattingly and Lewandowski, 2013). Participants indicated their answers on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all to 7 = very much) (Cronbach's α = .93).

We included three items to measure collective action tendency on behalf of club supporters (e.g. ‘I am willing to participate in protests and demonstrations for the cause of football supporters’). Participants indicated their answers on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all to 7 = very much). The scale proved reliable (Cronbach's α = .92).

Willingness to engage in violent behaviours was measured using a 5-item scale including such items as ‘I would fight someone physically threatening another member of my fan group’ and ‘I would fight someone insulting or making fun of my fan group’. Participants responded on a 7-point scale (0 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree) (Cronbach's α = 0.93).

We also asked about acceptance of violence for the sake of social change in the country. We constructed a 3-item scale (e.g. ‘To introduce a better law in Poland, sometimes violence should be used’). Participants responded on a 7-point scale (0 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree) (Cronbach's α = .81).

The qualitative interviews were semi-structured, which means they were carried out according to a script that contained topics to be raised (related to such issues as identification with the group, acceptance of violence, the role of fandom in self-expansion, etc.) and questions to be asked if appropriate. The length of the interviews ranged from 30 to 90 min. During data analysis, we searched for information related to quantitative measures but expressed in a narrative way. For example, we identified statements referring to a sense of identification with the group (e.g. ‘I feel united with my group’) to see how identity fusion is expressed by a qualitative narrative account rather than a quantitative measure.

Results

Preliminary analysis

We conducted a correlational analysis in order to explore the relation between variables included in our study (see Tables 1 and 2). Two interesting patterns emerged when it comes to the relation between self-stereotyping and self-description and their link to the willingness to act on behalf of the fan group.

Table 1.

Zero-order correlations among study variables for female participants (Persons’ r).

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Self-descriptions
1. Communality	---	.49***	.38***	.46***	.292**	−.02	−.08	.02	.08	.02
2. Agency		---	.63***	.33***	.33***	.18	.11	.08	.05	−.02
3. Independent self			---	.40***	.49***	.36***	.32***	.30**	.26**	−.10
4. Interdependent self				---	.40***	.25*	.11	.17	.14	−.09
Club-related variables
5. Identity fusion					---	.62***	.57***	.64***	.45***	−.10
6. Self-expansion						---	.65***	.59***	.39***	−.24*
7. Collective action							---	.60***	.36***	−.20*
Acceptance of aggression
8. Fight for a group								---	.57***	−.31**
9. Acceptance of violent means									---	−.37***
Demographics
10. Age										---

Note. N = 102 women. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, two-tailed.

Table 2.

Zero-order correlations among study variables for male participants (Persons’ r).

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Self-descriptions
1. Communality	---	.58***	.43***	.46***	.26***	.14***	.19***	.17***	−.01	.06
2. Agency		---	.50***	.26***	.34***	.19***	.25***	.27***	.06	.03
3. Independent self			---	.45***	.32***	.20***	.32***	.28***	.11**	.004
4. Interdependent self				---	.39***	.28***	.30***	.35***	.16***	−.01
Club-related variables
5. Identity fusion					---	.64***	.62***	.73***	.34***	−.09*
6. Self-expansion						---	.55***	.55***	.30***	−.21***
7. Collective action							---	.69***	.37***	−.19***
Acceptance of aggression
8. Fight for a group								---	.46***	−.12**
9. Acceptance of violent means									---	−.13**
Demographics
10. Age										---

Note. N = 762 men. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, two-tailed.

First, considering the female sample, it turned out that independent self-construal was more strongly related to willingness to engage in action on behalf of the fandom than interdependent self-construal, agency and communion. That is, women with a more developed sense of independence, who value separation from others and are more individualistic, will be especially prone to join pro-in-group actions. Correlation between independent self-construal and collective action tendency among the female sample was .32, and was significantly higher than the link between collective action and interdependent self-construal (z = 2.14, p = .02), and communality (z = 3.66, p < .001). This result, coupled with a relatively strong link between identity fusion and willingness to act on behalf of the group (r = .57, p < .001), suggests that both strong connection to the group and perception of oneself as independent, and separated from others, are important variables related to the tendency to support other fans and the club. Moreover, age was negatively related to the willingness to act on behalf of the group and use violent means (for both women and men).

We also explored whether level of education plays a role in willingness to fight for a group and other individual and group-level variables. We divided our sample into two groups: (1) below college degree and (2) students and persons with a bachelor or master degree. Among women, participants with lower educational experiences (N = 48; compared to N = 52 with higher education) showed stronger violence acceptance (M = 2.48 vs M = 1.73; F = 8.19, p = .005), identity fusion (M = 3.70 vs M = 3.07; 1.73; F = 4.22, p = .043), willingness to fight for in-group (M = 3.60 vs M = 2.96; F = 3.80, p = .055), as well as stronger interdepended self (M = 4.80 vs M = 4.44; F = 4.17, p = .044).

Among men, pattern of the results was similar to women. Participants who obtained lower education (N = 341; vs higher education, N = 421) declared stronger violence acceptance (M = 2.76 vs M = 2.40; F = 10.82, p = .001), identity fusion (M = 3.45 vs M = 2.82; 1.73; F = 34.72, p < .001), willingness to fight for in-group (M = 3.84 vs M = 2.96; 1.73; F = 56.92, p < .001) as well as stronger interdepended self (M = 4.65 vs M = 4.50; 1.73; F = 4.37, p = .037). In addition, men without college degree and not enrolled at university as students, showed stronger self-expansion as a result of interacting with other in-group members (M = 5.16 vs M = 4.58; 1.73; F = 26.55, p < .001), and stronger peaceful collective action intention on behalf of the in-group (M = 5.37 vs M = 4.77; F = 24.81, p < .001).

Qualitative analyses, in turn, showed that in the case of women the trait of being independent gains a significant meaning in the context of the structure of the fandom community. Some previous studies (see Kossakowski et al., 2020) indicate that it is men who structure, define and implement rules of behaviour at the stadium. Our analyses of women’ narratives suggest that women need to prove themselves resolutely to be regarded as equal and authentic fans: ‘In a way, I had to prove that I had this knowledge and that it was just as important for me’ (FF, ultras). One female fan stressed prejudices that have a strong impact on their situation:

It's so irritating all the time, and also now. I feel that I have to explain why I’m here … it's just obvious that can’t engage in conversation about football because the reason I’m here is that I’m a girlfriend of a male fan. (FF, ultras)

Breaking through such stereotypes certainly requires both a strong sense of independence and self-determination. Overcoming such barriers can not only strengthen this feeling but also decide that once accepted in the group, female fans are more likely to join in pro-in-group actions as recognised members.

Secondly, considering gender differences in the strength of correlations, it is interesting to compare how stereotypically ‘female’ characteristics relate to the willingness to act for the club. Both communality (i.e. perception of oneself as warm, caring, emotional) and interdependent self-construal (related to putting others’ needs before one's own, and one's own happiness being contingent upon that of others) are weaker correlates of support to pro-in-group actions among women than among men. Thus, traits stereotypically linked to womanhood are more strongly related to pro-in-group actions for men. This is true for relation between community and collective action (z = 2.55, p = .005), interdependent self-construal and collective action (z = 1.86, p = .03), as well as for the link between interdependent self-construal and willingness to fight for the group (z = 1.81, p = .03).

As it may be assumed, men do not need to be independent to join the fan world. They can be accepted straight away on condition that they follow the rules – they do not have to prove their authenticity. What is more, as fandom culture promotes sacrifice for the group, men with communal inclinations and qualities are expected to promptly adapt to the environment (what helps them on the way is also the symbolic layer: the language of Polish fans makes use of metaphors like ‘brotherhood’, ‘brothers in scarves’, etc., see Jakubowska et al., 2019). Interestingly, describing attachment to the fandom by referring to its ‘masculine’ qualities is also encountered in female narratives: ‘It's brotherhood, emotions, honour, friendship through thick and thin. That's the long and the short of it, really’ (FF, VIP).

Analysis of gender differences

To examine gender differences in the variables, we conducted a series of one-way analysis of variance analyses. Although the number of participants in the two groups was not equal, the test of homogeneity of variances revealed no differences between groups (for all variables). The results of the analysis are presented in Figure 1 (variables with Likert-type scales from 0 to 6), and Figure 2 (variables with Likert-type scales from 1 to 7). Considering the first research goal, concerning gender differences in self-description and self-stereotyping, our results indicate that women engaged in supporting football clubs perceived themselves as more communal than men did (F(1, 862) = 43.74, p < .001). This finding is in line with the results of many previous studies that showed women as more communal than men. However, in contradiction to gender stereotypes and previous research on social perception, these women also saw themselves as more agentic (F(1, 862) = 14.94, p < .001), and had stronger independent self-construal than men did (F(1, 862) = 4.95, p = .026).

Figure 1.

Communion, agency, identity fusion, fight for group, acceptance of violence.

Figure 2.

Interdependent self, independent self, self-expansion, collective action tendency.

A number of studies show that women have a more difficult way of incorporation into the world of football fandom (Pfister et al., 2013, Pope, 2017). They also need to be independent and agentic to rise in its hierarchy. According to our findings, narratives of female fans indicate their determination to pursue the experience of fandom even under extremely unfavourable conditions:

I regularly go to every match; even if I am sick, I will go anyway. (FF, ultras)

It was so cold, and I still remember the pain in my feet and toes because of the cold. On the other hand, I had this desire to watch the match. Later, when the snowstorm stopped, it was so amazing that, on the one hand, you felt such shivering and cold, but this fanaticism didn’t let you leave and get warm. It was sick. I remember I was returning home by tram, and I was shivering from the cold and I tried to bring my body back to some normal temperature for three hours. (FF, regular)

In many narratives, such an attitude is referred to as ‘fanaticism’ (Kossakowski, 2021), which demonstrates fans’ devotion and inclination to commitment to the club and other fans. Such devotion is sometimes the reason why they choose football at the expense of relationships with others, even close people: ‘There were situations when, for example, I weaselled out of some parties or friends’ birthdays. For example, Lech are playing against Legia in Poznań, so I say to myself: Well, damn!’ (FF, regular). This passion also has an impact on their work:

It's a passion; it's part of life. When I set the schedule at work, I know that I have to be off because Lechia is playing. I think this is one of the most important things, I subordinate everything to matches, or I set plans for matches. I think it is such a priority for me to go to the match. (FF, ultras)

Consequently, some female fans use a number of metaphors which indicate strong identity fusion. For one of them, being a fan has a ‘sacral’ dimension: being a member of the fan community is like being a member of a ‘church’: ‘And since that moment, it has been hard for me to imagine not going to the game. In our slang, we say that we are going to church. Whether it's Saturday or Sunday, we go to “our church”’ (FF, VIP). In his classic study, Durkheim (1995) observes that being ‘religious’ in the community sense means that the sacred symbols that people gather around induce emotional energy and the sense of belonging which an individual is not able to experience out of the group context. Considering that football fans have the opportunity to live such experiences regularly (every week), the feeling of unity is not a one-off thing. As a result, the club and the community around it constitute a ‘part of life’: ‘Legia? Yes. This is part of my life, whatever it may be. And I mean years, hundreds of matches that you have been to, hundreds more that you have seen. Lots of good and bad emotions that you remember’ (FF, regular). Similar accounts appear in the case of the male experience of fandom (see Kossakowski, 2021), which demonstrates that identity fusion practically has no gender.

This was also confirmed in the quantitative part of our study, as we did not record gender differences in the strength of identity fusion and collective action tendency. Both men and women who engage in football fandom activities are willing to support their in-group and feel connected to the community of fans of their club.

At the same time, however, our results do point to a gender difference in self-expansion. Female participants declared more self-development and stronger personal gains related to obtaining new knowledge and possibilities of achieving new things and goals (F(1, 862) = 10.42, p = .001). Taking into account their narratives, it is clearly visible that female fans perceive various advantages of participation in fandom. For example, they gain the ability to ‘profile’ human behaviours (also personal): ‘When I got used to fandom culture, learnt how people behave in the stands and so on, I was more certain that nothing wrong could happen to me’ (FF, ultras). In many cases female fans pointed out that participation in fandom culture was an opportunity for an emotional ‘reset’ and a break from everyday life:

Sometimes you go to shout and jump at the stadium, just half-jokingly and half-seriously, to let out your emotions. And for a moment you leave all that behind, this life, all the problems and so on. You enter the stadium and you start thinking about something else. (FF, regular)

It's a break from a typical call centre job. I like wearing high heels, but going to matches is like breaking away from such a dress code. At the stadium you can wear a loose tracksuit, a loose T-shirt, and you are out with friends you really feel good with. So it's a different world and it's a great moment to relax and be someone completely different, free, without such rigid frames. (FF, ultras)

Football fandom favours achieving new things and goals in a variety of ways. One of the female respondents referred to it as ‘a second love’. Again, it offers new spaces for expressing one's identity and emotions, and the experience adds something new to other aspects of life: ‘It is such a second love that will not leave me. When I have a bad day, I can go to the match, shout, support my club, and I know that this is my passion, my hobby. It is second place after the family. I can give my life to it, for me it is something extremely important’ (FF, ultras). It is worth adding that self-expansion is also considered in the context of emotional bonds, including romantic relationships (Ketay et al., 2020).

Self-expansion can also be related to the context of charity activism. Apart from their typical ‘fan duties’ (cheering the team, etc.), Polish fans are noted for their multidimensional social activism (see Kossakowski, 2017), including many fundraising actions. Some female fans mentioned different forms of involvement in such activity, enabled by their participation in fandom culture:

Well, I’m a volunteer and I collect money; it's an action that fans organize for insurgents; on All Saints Day there is a collection for the renovation of their graves. I’ve also been involved in it. (FF, regular)

I always try to support these things in some way, actions like a money collection for the renovation of graves, or collecting fluffy toys for children in hospitals; there are many things like that … taking part in some collections, or making a contribution to them, or sometimes collecting money; you just get involved. (FF, regular)

The structure of fandom rests on high social cohesion, and identity fusion generates a high level of social capital, which is instrumental in terms of undertaking initiatives. For many fans (both female and male), being part of such a social network can be not only a factor of self-expansion but also a lesson of civic activism.

Finally, the third research goal was related to the differences in acceptance of violence. In this case, we obtained mixed results. No gender differences were found when it comes to defending in-group and using violence in order to protect in-group members. However, women differ in the acceptance of violence for the sake of changing the political system or social relations in the country. In this case, we observed significant differences, with F(1, 862) = 9.08, p = .003.

It is worth noting that women have fewer possibilities to engage in violent events between fans as they are excluded from hooligan groups (which specialise in physical confrontation with other hooligans). What is more, there is a set of rules against violence towards women. Generally speaking, it is shameful for men to attack women physically, a fact confirmed by narratives of female fans:

There is also this sort of thing that a woman wearing a club scarf will not get attacked; no guy will run up to her and take it away. (…) Or that, for example, let's say I walk with a guy wearing club colours; I don’t think anyone would run up to him and try to do something; that's just because there's a woman with him. (FF_ultras)

On the one hand, a ban on attacking women and on their participation in fights can be attributed to the ‘chivalric’ attitude of male fans. Being chivalrous comes from the traditional understanding of gender roles by Polish fans. Male fans recreate and maintain a conservative order in which men ‘fight and die’ for the ‘cause’, while women’s roles are dedicated to activities such as being a wife or mother (the images of the knights appear on the choreographies of Polish ultras, see Kossakowski et al., 2020). On the other hand, however, it is also a sign of exclusion of women and of their marginalisation and patronisation in fandom culture. Some female respondents also pay attention to the language that dominates at the stadiums. For many of them, vulgar and very often sexist/homophobic chants are unacceptable and they prefer to withdraw rather than sing:

I don’t sing. I don’t need to stand up and insult someone for 90 min. You know, there are some visiting fans there, so you know, you always have to insult them with something, because this is the way it has to be. (FF, ultras)

When it comes to songs that are supposed to support the team, I take part in them as much as possible, but when it comes to songs that are targeted at the referees or police, I don’t feel the need to abuse them, so I just stand there and wait until those who feel the need to shout something like this stop doing it. (FF, ultras)

I refuse to swear because I don’t think it's right. I don’t like it and I think that it doesn’t suit a woman, but guys do it really … they yell at the players, you know, it is aggression. (FF, regular)

Discussion

Many studies of football fans indicate that their world is perceived as a bastion of masculinity (Kossakowski et al., 2020; Spaaij, 2008). Although women have the opportunity to participate in fan activities, it was men who historically created and reproduced norms of expected behaviours in the stadiums. Fandom culture is a culture that promotes strong interpersonal ties as well as communal and interdependent traits. Even in informally structured supporter groups, such qualities as loyalty, sacrifice and brotherhood are particularly desirable. Taking into account the fact that football is based on rivalry and antagonism, also in the case of fans, the role of competition is very important. In many cases, it takes an aggressive form, including physical violence. Such an environment forces individuals to act for the benefit of the group and to accept acts of violence in defence of other group members.

The results presented in this article confirm the importance of communal and interdependent qualities, especially in the case of men: these traits make them prone to join pro-in-group action. In the case of women, however, the situation is somewhat different: they are more prone to join pro-in-group action when they perceive themselves as independent person. This does not mean that women involved in fandom culture are not communal. The female respondents are simultaneously more agentic and more communal than male fans. This is in line with research on identity fusion, as previous results show that high identity fusion is described by strong interdependent and independent self-construal, and a high level of both agency and communion (Besta, 2018). That is, people who have a strong visceral feeling of belonging to a group express characteristics related to independence and self-directedness as well as communality and interdependence. This allows them to plan and take action (independence, agency) for the benefit of in-group members (interdependence, communion).

In the context of male-dominated fan groups, the explanation for explored gender differences might be that a strongly masculine environment imposes a particular set of qualities of the women who become involved; they face more difficulties to break the group's barrier and to become its fully-fledged members. Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that the women who decide to enter the world of fandom have a more developed sense of independence and agency. As they cannot rely on support from the community of fans, they need to rely mainly on their own agency. It, therefore, seems that in order to be a fully-fledged part of the fandom and to be able to work for the community, agency and interdependent features are very helpful for women, even essential. It is especially interesting when these results are combined with the examination of the educational background. Although women without college degree showed stronger acceptance of violence as means of in-group protection and were more strongly fused with other fans, they were not different when it comes to agentic self-description. Regardless of the level of education women were characterised by similar level of independent self and agency.

It is quite different in the case of men, for whom the communal traits are an advantage, as being interdependent favours the interests of the group. From this point of view, being a man gives privileges from the start. Being independent and agentic is not essential if a man can sacrifice himself for the good of the group. He does not have to prove anything and be particularly effective and agentic in his actions. Fandom culture does not require that men should be encouraged in terms of initiatives (however, it is expected that male fans will be more willing to accept physical violence, but it is also connected to the interest of the group).

Women's agency in sports fandom has been recently explored by Kissane and Winslow (2016) in the context of fantasy sports. Based on qualitative data, the researchers show that women who engage in fantasy sports combine strategies that question gender stereotypes with those that reproduce traditional gender dynamics. This could be a complimentary explanation of our results regarding gender differences. Although female fans are in line with gender stereotypes (they are more communal than men), at the same time they present themselves as atypical women (female fans were more independent and agentic than male ones). The coexistence of such seemingly contradictory traits is only apparently contradictory – the cultural determinants of fandom culture force the combination of such traits in the case of women. This is because this culture requires a strong dedication to the community – so being more communal is strongly desired. For women, however, there is also the need to ‘break through’ the highly masculinised nature of this culture. It is therefore reasonable to explain that in order to be part of this community – and to realise more communal traits – female fans must be more agentic.

Our research also demonstrates that there are no gender differences in the strength of identity fusion and collective action tendency. It can definitely be stated that the fandom in this context does not make any gender more ‘authentic’ and ‘involved’. Fan identity is just as important for women as for men. Women, however, experience self-expansion and self-development through fan group membership more strongly. Probably, as they are more independent and agentic, being a fan can be linked to more personal dimensions and motivations for women. Being a fan can result from the actual interest in football and a strong passion for this sport, as to become a ‘real’ fan, acknowledged by other in-group members, means for women to fight much more obstacles than men have to fight. For their male counterparts, being a fan can be more friendship oriented as the fan environment appears to be an important space for developing a male group identity. It does not have to be related to men's interest in football. For men who start their adventure with fandom culture, it is almost always an experience of community with other men – they are introduced by their fathers, brothers and male colleagues (Kossakowski, 2021). Being a supporter is often an extension of the male identity that is shaped in relationships with other men outside the stadium. Interest in football does not have to be crucial here.

For most women, being a fan does not refer to fellowship with other women, as other women (mothers, friends, etc.) are not gatekeepers for them: they also constitute a minority in the stadiums. The structure of the fandom is not favourable to women in terms of the ‘homosocial’ experience (Lipman-Blumen, 1976). Thus, entering the world of fans may be related, on the one hand, to inspiration from significant men (father, brother, boyfriend), and, on the other hand, also to women's own development (the desire to learn something new or develop existing interests). The fact that in the case of women their membership in football fandom has a greater impact on the feeling of self-expansion than it has for male respondents, may confirm that the fandom experience is strongly related to their will to develop. However, this does not prevent women from engaging in pro-in-group actions. Female fans understand the community nature of fandom. Self-expansion and self-development go hand in hand with activity for the benefit of the group.

Taking into consideration the high level of female fans’ independence and agency, one can assume that women feel able to meet the difficult requirements of fan groups. On the other hand, the group dynamics force women to learn about their own predispositions and learn how to adapt to the set of norms and behaviours that must be followed in order to become a member. Such challenges can give a feeling of empowerment. However, further research in this area is necessary, particularly with regard to the question of whether the feeling of self-expansion and breaking cultural prejudice can serve women's emancipation. Research from other areas (e.g. engagement in the ‘male’ world of politics and warfare, see Nilsson, 2018) demonstrates that women involved in activism in male and hostile environments gain a feeling of agency and develop emancipatory tendencies. In the domain of football, where male players occupy a privileged position, the steadfast and uncompromising attitude of female footballers such as Megan Rapinoe resulted in drawing attention to the situation of women, but most of all it has opened the door for the empowerment of other female players (Coffey, 2019).

For now, it is difficult to state that agentic, independent women who, however, understand and support the communal nature of football fandom culture, will make an emancipatory revolution in the fandom field. Emancipation processes are very often long-lasting, especially when they relate to irreconcilably structured environments. Football fandom culture is still a bastion of traditionally understood gender roles, and traditionally assigned roles have served the interests of the dominant group – men. The results of our study demonstrate that women in this environment go beyond gender stereotypes and their presence may influence cultural changes in the long run.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Radosław Kossakowski

Tomasz Besta

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