This article investigates national similarities and differences with respect to how women enter the world of football and whether gender relations continue to impact on both their access to and opportunities in the sport. The data comes from 40 semi-structured interviews with top-level women footballers in England, Germany, Norway and Spain. Early male influences are discussed in relation to: existing work on socialization into sport, notions of femininity, and the different cultural contexts. The organization of youth sport is identified as a crucial factor in influencing girls and young women's opportunities to play football. Furthermore, although men continue to have a considerable influence on the women's game, even when women have no conscious intentions of resistance, they incorporate their own meanings into the sport.
Birrell, S. (1990) `Women of Color, Critical Autobiography and Sport', in M. Messner and D. Sabo (eds) Sport, Men and the Gender Order: Critical Feminist Perspectives.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
2.
Birrell, S. and Therberge, N. (1994) `Feminine Resistance and Transformation in Sport', in D. M. Costa and S. R. Guthrie (eds) Women and Sport: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
3.
Blinde, E. and Taube, D. (1992) `Women Athletes as Falsely Accused Deviants: Managing the Lesbian Stigma', The Sociological Quarterly33: 521-533.
4.
Bordo, S. (1993) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body.Berkeley: University of California Press.
5.
Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.New York: Routledge
6.
Cole, C. (1994) `Resisting the Canon: Feminist Cultural Studies and Technologies of the Body', in S. Birrell and C. Cole (eds) Women, Sport and Culture.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
7.
Connell, R. W. (1983) Which Way is Up? Essays on Class, Sex and Culture.Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
8.
Connell, R. W. (1987) Gender and Power.Cambridge: Polity Press.
9.
Dewar, A. (1993) `Would All the Generic Women in Sport Please Stand Up? Challenges Facing Feminist Sport Sociology', Quest45: 211-229.
10.
FIFA (1994) World Cup USA '94: Making Soccer History.Inc Knews Kit.
11.
Flintoff, A. (1993) `One of the Boys? An Ethnographic Study of Gender Relations, Coeducation and Initial Teacher Education in Physical Education', unpublished PhD thesis, The Open University, Milton Keynes.
12.
Foucault, M. (1979) Discipline and Punish, trans. A. Sheridan. New York: Vintage Books.
13.
Gilroy, S. (1997) `Working on the Body: Links Between Physical Activity and Social Power', in G. Clarke and B. Humberstone (eds) Researching Women and Sport.London: Macmillan.
14.
Grosz, E. (1994) Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism.Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
15.
Halbert, C. (1997) `Tough Enough and Woman Enough', Journal of Sport and Social Issues21: 7-36
16.
Hall, A. (1996) Feminism and Sporting Bodies.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
17.
Hargreaves, J. (1994) Sporting Females.London: Routledge.
18.
Kuhn, A. (1988) `The Body and Cinema: Some Problems for Feminism', in R. Sheridan (ed.) Grafts: Feminist Cultural Criticism.London: Verso.
19.
Laur, Gudrun (1997) `Modchen und Frauenfutball: (K)ein thema fur den schulsport?', unpublished Examensarbeit Weingarten.
20.
Lenskyj, H. (1994) `Sexuality and Femininity in Sports Contexts: Issues and Alternatives', Journal of Sport and Social Issues18:358-376.
21.
Lopez, S. (1997) Women on the Ball: A Guide to Women's Football.London: Scarlett Press.
22.
Maynard, M. and Purvis, J. (eds) (1995) (Hetero)sexual Politics.London: Taylor & Francis.
23.
Messner, M. (1992) Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity.Boston: Beacon Press.
24.
Messner, M. and Sabo, D. (1990) Sport, Men and the Gender Order.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
25.
Miller, L. and Penz, O. (1991) `Talking Bodies: Female Bodybuilders Colonise a Male Preserve', Quest43: 148-163.
26.
Nauright, J. and Chandler, T. (1996) Making Men: Rugby and Masculine Identity.London: Frank Cass.
27.
Obel. C. (1996) `Collapsing Gender in Competitive Bodybuilding: Researching Contradictions and Ambiguity in Sport', International Review for the Sociology of Sport31(2): 185-202.
28.
Rich, A. (1981) `Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence', Signs5: 631-660.
29.
Scraton, S. (1992) Shaping Up to Womanhood: Gender and Girls' Physical Education.Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
30.
Talbot, M. (1991) `It Means a Lot to Me: An Investigation of the Place of Sport in the Women's Lives and Leisure', unpublished PhD thesis, University of Birmingham.
31.
Whitson, D. (1994) `The Embodiment of Gender: Discipline, Domination and Empowerment', in S. Birrell and C. Cole (eds) Women, Sport and Culture.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
32.
Wright, J. and Dewar, A. (1997) `On Pleasure and Pain: Women Speak Out About Physical Activity', in G. Clarke and B. Humberstone (eds) Researching Women and Sport.London: Macmillan.
33.
Young, K. (1997) `Women, Sport and Physicality', International Review for the Sociology of Sport32: 297-305.
34.
Zaman, H. (1997) `Islam, Well-Being and Physical Activity: Perceptions of Muslim Young Women', in G. Clarke and B. Humberstone (eds) Researching Women and Sport.London: Macmillan.
