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1 The most Beautiful Game or the most Gender Violent Sport? Exploring the Interface between Soccer, Gender and Violence in Zimbabwe Anusa Daimon Introduction The Brazilian legend, Pele, reportedly dubbed soccer/football the world’s ‘most beautiful game’. This phrase creates the impression that soccer is an unproblematic game, representing only gallantry, artistry and goodness. To be sure, soccer has its aesthetic dimensions, but an appreciation of these dimensions must be balanced by sensitivity to the game’s ideological, structural and material effects on different segments of society. As elsewhere in the global North and South, soccer has a huge following in Africa. However, its relations of production and consumption in the continent intertwine with cultural and socio-economic factors which reproduce social inequities, gender discrimination and exclusion. As a form of sport, soccer is socially constructed as a masculine activity in which women are grudgingly accommodated as supporters (Kuyel 1999). As Parpart (2008) observes, the dominant patriarchal ideology locates women’s roles in the domestic sphere; thus their participation in sports is viewed as a challenge to the male control of the public domain – a challenge that often elicit violence against those women perceived as transgressors. According to West (2002), ‘in most sporting activities, women are abused physically and verbally as a means of humiliation’. Issues in this chapter are the various forms of violence within the context of soccer production and consumption in Zimbabwe. The premise of the chapter is that to engender Africa’s development, it is necessary to understand and tackle genderbased violence and vandalism in sport. Gender, Sport and Development in Africa 2 Zimbabwean Stadia: Theatres of Machismo Zimbabwean stadia have become arenas for the display of machismo. Consequently , most Zimbabwean women prefer not to attend these stadia because they perceive these structures as very androcentric. There are particular seating areas or grand stands where the most volatile and vocal males are found during matches. For example, in Harare’s Rufaro Stadium, which is the home of Dynamos FC, Zimbabwe’s most popular team but arguably with the most violent supporters, there is an area popularly known as the ‘Vietnam’ stand. The name ‘Vietnam’ is a metaphor for the brutality of the Vietnam War of the 1960s. So this section of Rufaro Stadium represents a war zone, solely preserved for Dynamos fans. Paradoxically , the name ‘Rufaro’ denotes happiness or joy. Most hooligans who include rouges and criminals are found in this area. Any non-Dynamos fans, including males, who trespass into this territory, are violently mobbed and ejected. Likewise , women who venture into this war-zone are subjected to violation by male supporters. According to Lenskyj (1986), ‘women who venture into these areas are described as ‘having balls’ since soccer is seen as celebrating masculinity and male bonding’. It is the same situation at the Bulawayo’s Barbourfields stadium whose ‘Soweto’ grand stand is a domain of the volatile Highlanders ‘Bosso’ FC supporters. The name ‘Soweto’ is associated with bloodshed reminiscent of the killings in Soweto township during the apartheid era in South Africa. In an interview, Madhlozi Moyo, a staunch Highlanders FC supporter, points out that ‘a woman by nature is supposed to be sexually molested in a stadium and no woman is allowed to sit in ‘Soweto’, unless she is a well known regular member of the ‘Bosso’ supporters who can withstand the pressure of being in the midst of the vociferous fans in the Soweto area.’ (Interview with Madhlozi Moyo dated 8 October 2009). Therefore , for a woman to be accepted into the androcentric sections of the stadia, she has to embody masculine behaviour. Likewise, Zimbabwean stadium humour is usually obscene. It is a theatre of vulgar language, insults and repugnant songs that are usually traded by male supporters and hurled at match officials and team coaches for bad refereeing decisions or poor team performance. Obscene songs that usually degrade the female sexual anatomy are very popular during these occasions. The presence of women in stadia often evokes ribald jokes and comments. For example, during goal celebrations, men usually use the term ‘hurray’ in jubilation. In Zimbabwe, this word is unfortunately abused and translated to the vernacular term of ‘hure’ meaning prostitute. In this case, the ball entering the net is symbolic of a prostitute being penetrated during sexual intercourse. It is also common in Zimbabwe to associate defeated teams with women. For instance, Dynamos FC supporters always make a caricature of their rival Highlanders FC as ‘Umfazi weDembare’ [3.135.246...

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