Y'All Means Y'All: Why Female Footballers and Trans Players Need Each Other
Have you ever played on a football team?
Maybe you're playing for a core team. Maybe it's more casual, a regular five-a-side match with your friends. You might just have fond memories from school where you kicked a ball around, or maybe you're even a professional gamer reading this. Or you suck at sports, but you have kids who can't wait to practice football.
Imagine being told that it's no longer allowed, that your friends can all play, but you can't. How would that feel?
We live in strange times for football. For many of us, it has never been more inclusive. Women's football has exploded into international consciousness with tournaments claiming deserved headlines and airtime, while national and national teams fill stadiums and increase international audiences. This year's World Cup will be a huge deal for women's football; with increased investment allowing national teams to raise their level of play in recent years, the landscape has never been more competitive. Men's football is now a safer and friendlier landscape for many of us who didn't always feel welcome if we weren't straight, white and male. There's more to do, with groups like Her Game Too and Football v Homophobia striving to build a truly welcoming culture through gaming. Women's teams fight and win battles for equality and fair treatment , women play and compete at all levels, and grassroots football is thriving.
Everything looks rosy and hopeful: you can't stop progress, can you?
Illustration by Onkar ShirsekarWell, trans and non-binary gamers are part of this story, and they face new barriers even as many walls In recent years, the "trans debate" (a deeply problematic term in itself) has filled newspaper columns, and hostility in online spaces like Twitter has become truly vicious. Trans people are not news, nor is their struggle, but the modern wave of hostility against them is a relatively recent step backwards, with a particular focus on suppressing the right of trans girls and women to participate in sport.
A wealth of research confirms the vast benefits of playing sports. From obvious health benefits to building confidence, improving teamwork and leadership skills and reducing stress, people are reaping the rewards throughout their lives, from school at work. Through sport, marginalized people can find community, belonging, common passion and purpose, and claim the inclusion that racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia have often denied them.
Sport also pro...
Have you ever played on a football team?
Maybe you're playing for a core team. Maybe it's more casual, a regular five-a-side match with your friends. You might just have fond memories from school where you kicked a ball around, or maybe you're even a professional gamer reading this. Or you suck at sports, but you have kids who can't wait to practice football.
Imagine being told that it's no longer allowed, that your friends can all play, but you can't. How would that feel?
We live in strange times for football. For many of us, it has never been more inclusive. Women's football has exploded into international consciousness with tournaments claiming deserved headlines and airtime, while national and national teams fill stadiums and increase international audiences. This year's World Cup will be a huge deal for women's football; with increased investment allowing national teams to raise their level of play in recent years, the landscape has never been more competitive. Men's football is now a safer and friendlier landscape for many of us who didn't always feel welcome if we weren't straight, white and male. There's more to do, with groups like Her Game Too and Football v Homophobia striving to build a truly welcoming culture through gaming. Women's teams fight and win battles for equality and fair treatment , women play and compete at all levels, and grassroots football is thriving.
Everything looks rosy and hopeful: you can't stop progress, can you?
Illustration by Onkar ShirsekarWell, trans and non-binary gamers are part of this story, and they face new barriers even as many walls In recent years, the "trans debate" (a deeply problematic term in itself) has filled newspaper columns, and hostility in online spaces like Twitter has become truly vicious. Trans people are not news, nor is their struggle, but the modern wave of hostility against them is a relatively recent step backwards, with a particular focus on suppressing the right of trans girls and women to participate in sport.
A wealth of research confirms the vast benefits of playing sports. From obvious health benefits to building confidence, improving teamwork and leadership skills and reducing stress, people are reaping the rewards throughout their lives, from school at work. Through sport, marginalized people can find community, belonging, common passion and purpose, and claim the inclusion that racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia have often denied them.
Sport also pro...
What's Your Reaction?
