Enough is enough: Entering a new era in Argentine women's football

NEMESIA HIJÓS; GABRIELA GARTON

Boston

Congreso; LASA 2019 Nuestra América: Justice and Inclusion; 2019

Latin American Studies Association

The upcoming 2019 Women´s World Cup in France provides an interesting backdrop for an in-depth analysis of an underdeveloped and historically marginalized women´s football in Argentina. Following Argentina´s participation in the 2018 Women´s Copa América in Chile, the precarious conditions faced by the country´s female football players were exposed as never before, drawing attention from major national and international news outlets. Through publications on social media and interviews with the media, national team players criticized the scant support they receive from the Argentine Football Association, reinforcing the cultural conception of football in Argentina as a space governed exclusively by and for men. These demonstrations along with the first players´ strike in women´s national team history in September 2017, increased media coverage, and new gender-equity policies imposed by the sport´s international governing bodies, seem to indicate that women´s football is reaching a breaking point. Accompanied by the feminist movements sweeping Latin America and local organizations challenging the nation's corrupt and outdated football association, the actors of women´s football in Argentina (players, coaches, politicians, and even a few club directors) are organizing for improvements in a variety of areas, such as opportunities for young girls in youth divisions, better coordination of women´s leagues around the country, inclusion of women on club and association executive committees, and the eventual professionalization of the discipline. With this paper, we hope to shed light on the struggles and progress of female participants in a traditionally androcentric sport practice. This paper is based on our anthropological fieldwork in Argentina. Given that our main methodological strategy is ethnography, we analyze our anthropological experiences, interviews, and observations as well as representations in news outlets and on social media.