The Women’s World Cup and How We Look at Female Athletes

The recent US Women’s Soccer team’s convincing victory of Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final revealed not only the US dominance in the sport (the US Women’s team has won the World Cup three times: 1991, 1999 and 2015 while the Men’s team has not yet made it to the final), it has also show how society has accepted what was once considered “abhorrent” behavior. Shortly after the end of the game, superstar Abby Wambach ran over to kiss her wife; an act that was captured by many photographers and celebrated by many as acceptance of a partnership that for too long had to remain hidden from public view (I am not just about Ms. Wambach’s partnership, but those of so many people who had keep their lives private). 

Lost amidst the celebrations is how there still pervades a hesitance by many to accept that women be seen as athletes. Shortly after the England Women’s team was eliminated in the semifinals by Japan, the British Soccer Federation posted on Twitter that the Lionesses now had to return to being wives, partners, daughters, etc. The response to such an outdated view was swift and the tweet was removed. But this is symptomatic of a larger issue: how athleticism is still equated with masculinity and if a female comes to excel in a sport, speculation arises about her sexual orientation. I remember a few years ago when I was competing in racquetball in Pennsylvania, someone commented on a racquetball star (female) who happened to be there and defeated everyone she played with. The person said to me, “She is very good, very athletic; she must be a lesbian.” I was surprised at this assertion, because the thought had never crossed my mind. I enjoyed watching this athlete play and she was very sociable and friendly with me off the court. Why the issue of her sexual orientation came into question was very troubling to me. This called to mind how when I was growing up, a girl who did well in sports was labeled a ‘tomboy.’ 

I live in Cuba now and although newscasters mentioned results from the 2015 Women’s World Cup, none of the games were televised. This is extremely surprising given how much of a soccer culture the country has. 

In American sports, we have had a troubled history of accepting women as athletes. I remember reading Jere Longman’s excellent book titled The Girls of Summer, about the 1999 World Cup-winning US Women’s team. In it he related how marketers of the sport asked that the married athletes on the team remove their wedding rings. The thinking, apparently, was to market and promote an image of the women as sexual and beautiful objects to be coveted by male fans. The subliminal message appeared to be, “Hey, she does not have a wedding ring. She is available to date at a location near you!” Fortunately, marketers of the sport have progressed greatly since then. The athleticism of Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan has shown that sport ability trumps sexual marketing.

The 1999 Women’s World Cup gave us the image of Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt and twirling it in the air showing to all her sports bra; the 2015 Women’s World Cup showed us a more human and emotional image of Abby Wambach kissing her wife. We have come a long way, but there is still a long and winding road ahead.