Women are ultras too: The struggle to break the masculinized space of the football stands

The most popular sport ever A territory to be conquered for the fans.. However, there is a sector within the fields that is even more masculinized. These are the cheering stands and more specifically the ultra groups. Very vertical structures, Where the role of women has traditionally been relegated to a marginal role.

‘Typhoid’ for 8M of Marseille ultras

But reality is changing, as noted in the study ‘Being a woman in a men’s preserve: an ethnography of women’s football ultras’ (“Being a woman in a men’s preserve: An ethnography of the ultras of women’s football”) Prepared by Ilaria Pitti, doctor of sociology. “Female fans’ opportunities to participate in many communities are limited by prejudices that portray women as women.” ‘unreal fans’ They only go out to the field to see the players. However, recently expressions of resistance against male domination have been gathering,” Pitti’s study states: Analyst for El Periódico de EspañaThe state of the ultra-feminine world from the Prensa Ibérica group.

These expressions only emerge when the structures change in women’s groups or mixed groups. Last March 8, on International Women’s Day, Fans of South Winners, a band from Olympique de Marseille, had the first ‘tifo’ (Italian word used to denote actions such as the display of banners) is entirely feminine.

The decision was supported by 85% of the organization’s members. “The idea came up last year for the 35th anniversary of Southern Winners. Some of the girls displayed their own signs. So we asked ourselves the question: ‘Why don’t we do a typhoid?’ “One of the leaders of the group listened to us and presented the idea to the president,” explained one of the 35-year-old women in the group. This case is an example of what happened at the scene.

Components claim their place, but permission from the structure is still required. Anyone involved in the animation industry, wherever they are, will see that, with rare exceptions, women do not take on roles such as directing animation or being in the first rows of these stands. While the situation worsens in stands with far-right ideology, the situation is not much different in stands with left-wing ideology.According to the authors mentioned in the research.

Irriducibilili: “Women, starting from the tenth row”

“Women have always existed in ultra-groups and played a fundamental role in these realities, but the tasks assigned to them were often menial activities such as selling products. Women are rarely allowed to go on stage or sing during matches. Likewise, the occasional participation of women in conflicts between groups has always been met with surprise,” Pitti says in a statement that also includes research by other sociologists such as Samuel Fritzsche.

The most extreme example is this: Irriducibili of Lazio, fascist by definition He said that they were re-established in 2019 under the name Utras Lazio after the murder of their capo. “Curva Nord is a sacred space for us. The first rows are always trenches and we do not allow women or girlfriends into them.

We invite you to stand from the tenth row. “Those who choose the stadium as an alternative to a romantic and carefree day can go to the gardens of Villa Borghese (in Rome),” the spokesman said. Irriducibili. This is an extraordinary situation, but according to a study by the Football Supporters’ Association, an organization that brings together fans from all over the ‘Old Continent’, 63 percent of female fans experience machismo in football.

“In many sociocultural contexts, stadiums are still seen as dangerous places for young women, who generally have less freedom than their peers to manage their leisure time,” says Pitti. Although Lazio ultras think otherwise, Italy is one of the countries where the largest number of women’s groups exist or are formed due to its crowded culture.. The researcher lists examples such as: Turin SLASHE Milan Club Stella Women, Ultras Girls between Sampdoria waves Commando Girls related to catanzaro.

Italy is a fertile country for women’s ultra groups

But this is certainly not a new phenomenon. In fact, the more active the ultra movement was, the greater the presence of women’s groups. In the 70s and 80s, bands were strong on the scene. Donne Rossonere (Milan), URB Girls (Bologna) or Ragazze Giallorosse (Rome). “Some of these groups are still active, for example Stella de Milan, others have changed their names and remain active, for example Giallorosse, as this group is now called. Donne in Giallorosso and then small groups emerged in Serie A and Serie B. Army Girls of the Perugia Club“, lists Pitti.

The ultra-feminine panorama also leaves examples on the stands of countries such as: Romaniagroups like here Kamikaze Girls of Cluj; inside Serbia There is a section inside GrobariPartizan Belgrade fans; inside Türkiye there are cases Besiktas; with Female Eagles anyone Besiktas ladies; inside Croatia, Armada Rijeka Girls between HNK; inside Russia There are groups carrying their own banners CSKA or Spartak Moscow; inside Greece examples have been recorded Olympiakos or AEK Athens; inside Hungary banners Videoton Girls; and beyond Europe, Bidadari Spartaks We entered Indonesia. Pockets have formed, such as in Sardinero de Santander in Spain. racing fans.

Considering the results of the ‘Women in the Match’ research prepared by the Football Fans Association, it can be thought that women’s football is important both for its values ​​and for the public who follow the matches. may be more conducive to the emergence of ultra-groups composed of women. On the contrary, doctor of Sociology, despite the emergence of many organizations, e.g. Plotone NerazzurroWomen Inter Milan’s ultras are “still mostly made up and led by men.”

“Women are more sensitive to feminist values”

However, according to the author of ‘Being a woman in a man’s preserve: an ethnography of women’s football ultras’, “any form of female empowerment has a multiplicative capacity.” According to Pitti, “Many sports, and football in particular, have traditionally been areas of exclusion and discrimination against women, so opening these fields to women’s participation has effects that go beyond the field of sports.

Therefore, “although it cannot be said with certainty that the spread of women’s football, for example, has directly contributed to women’s greater participation in the ultra-world, Yes, it is possible to say that women’s football helps open a social and traditionally masculine space.“. An explosion reinforced by the consolidation of women’s sport as an industry that produces its own stories and sponsorships.

Even if it’s slow “Ultra world is changing”says sociology doctor Laria Pitti. “But the transformation journey is still in its infancy and will require a lot of effort and time,” he adds, because the ultra world is still “A traditionally masculine social sector governed by formal and informal rules that define clear gender hierarchies”.

The engine of change will be the same that drives many social transformations. “Women’s participation in animation groups has increased in recent years. This brings to the stadiums a generation of women who are more receptive to new ideals of femininity and feminist values.“, claims Pitti.

More participation in women’s groups or mixed groups?

“The intergenerational transformation of the population living in our stadiums cannot simply translate into a quantitative increase over time. Women’s participation in ultra groups“but also in redefining traditional gender hierarchies,” the sociologist emphasizes, emphasizing that the ultra-world can also change society by building a scenario of new structures.

At this effervescence point it is necessary to define: Which of the two paths analyzed will continue women’s participation in the ultraworld?. “I think the ideal goal to aspire to would be to gain more power in mixed-participation ultra groups. True empowerment cannot be achieved by creating ‘female reserves’, separated from the existing masculine ones. Spaces for equal dialogue between genders need to be created,” Pitti explains in the first conclusion.

“However, this path is neither immediate nor easy; the creation of possibly exclusively – or mostly – female ultra groups is a necessary step so that women can achieve greater visibility and at the same time gain awareness of their own desires and strengths.” Two scenarios that coexist and have the same purpose: women should stop being exceptions in the cheering stands and that they have full rights and participation in the place they occupy.