The androcentrism of cheering: from the Football Universe to the contemporary stadium

Abstract

Objectives: we problematize how the supporters dialogue with the normative framework that naturalizes the environment of football stadiums as masculine and heteronormative, based on how these same subjects identify their alterities. Methodology: we held dialogues with groups of fans in which we discussed the move from an old stadium to a new arena and the possible presence of verbal violence during matches. Results and discussion: fans ended up naturalizing the taste for the sport to justify a greater male presence in stadiums; others seemed somewhat more sensitized to feminist agendas and condemned their own attitudes; the participation of women is attributed a natural difference; the greater presence of women ends up being directly associated with the reduction of machism in soccer; non-heterosexual men are also included as the otherness of the male fan; another otherness was named as family; by encouraging the team, collaborating with the club and performing “properly”, homosexual fans would be allowed to cheer with the others. Final Considerations: We can visualize the existence of a normative framework that highlights the relationship between football and masculinity in Brazil. It already appeared prominently when the Universe of Soccer was released in 1982, and it still seems current. If androcentrism was taken for granted in the Universe of Soccer, here it is an element at the center of struggles for meaning in a broader social context and also in everything that involves the practice and appreciation of Soccer.