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This book examines the most prolific international women¿s football tournament¿the FIFA Women¿s World Cup¿through media, fandom and how mediated women¿s soccer can improve on a global scale. Women¿s soccer has exploded in terms of media exposure, television audiences and live spectatorship. This book explores those macro-level issues, while also digging into micro-level topics such as Megan Rapinoe¿s celebrations and political activism, VAR reviews, LGBTQ imagery, and cultural obstacles for women¿s football in Central-Eastern Europe and Nigeria. Using an interdisciplinary approach, scholars look at issues through the lenses of feminist theory, cultural studies, rhetorical criticism, political economy, performative sport fandom, autoethnography, and more. Thus, the book is important reading for students, researchers and media practitioners with interests in women¿s soccer, gender in sports media, coverage of women¿s sport, and sport fandom.
List of contents
Introduction and Overview.
News coverage of the U.S. Women's National Team: Reinforcing or negating perpetuated discriminatory standards
"Le Moment de Briller?" Examining France's media coverage of "Les Bleues" and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France
"Utterly ashamed of their behavior": Examining the media coverage of Cameroon vs. England in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
"Perhaps take back whether everyone likes VAR": An analysis of broadcaster discourse of 2019 World Cup VAR reviews
Images, commentary and narratives made with memes from the 2019 FIFA Women's Women's World Cup
You Come at the Queen, You Best Not Miss: Post-Colonial Representations of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team During the 2019 World Cup
Megan Rapinoe's "Power Pose": Informing and influencing fan performances
O'Hara's kiss: Coming out moment or conventional celebration?
Being there, being here: What critical field methods can tell us about the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
A (somewhat) accidental sports tourist: Watching the FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments in different countries
Nigerian female football, ambivalence and struggle in the shadows
Rebel, Rebel! How Megan Rapinoe's celebrity activism forges new paths for athletes
Beyond the World Cup: Women's football in Central-Eastern Europe
FIFA's Feminist Foot Soldiers: Case studies on Australia, Aotearoa and who benefits from promoting the Women's World Cup
Concluding Thoughts
About the author
Molly Yanity is an associate professor of Journalism, as well as the director of the Sports Journalism and Journalism Master's Degree Programs at Quinnipiac University.
Danielle Sarver Coombs is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University.
