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Issues of Power in a History of Women’s Football in New Zealand: A Foucauldian Genealogy A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Waikato by BARBARA DOUGLAS COX MBE Department of Sport and Leisure Studies School of Education University of Waikato 2010 ABSTRACT In the majority of countries throughout the world, football is a highly popular sport for women and girls and one which continues to grow in playing numbers. According to FIFA, 26 million females were registered as football players in its member countries, an increase of four million players within the past five years (FIFA Big Count, 2006). Despite such popularity of participation, histories of women‟s football „speak‟ of exclusion, struggle and conflict, and thus, the prime question which underpins this study is: “how has women‟s football in New Zealand gone from a position of struggle to a point where the game is perceived as a „normal‟ sporting activity for women and girls?” In order to examine this question, I have used Michel Foucault‟s concept of conducting a „history of the present‟, a genealogical approach which accounts for the “constitution of knowledges, discourses, domains of objects and so on...” (Foucault, 1978, p. 117). I drew extensively on a wide range of source material: media texts from newspaper articles and letters to the editor; football texts from the minute books of various football associations, official correspondence and six scrapbooks; interviewing texts which were produced by in-depth interviews with 15 women who had been purposefully selected because of their involvement in playing and coaching/administration of football for at least five years; and vignettes of my own footballing experiences over a 35 year period. Within this genealogical approach, I identified and interrogated how dominant power- knowledge discourses produced power effects for female footballers, and impacted upon the development of the game through different periods of time since 1921. An investigation of these various texts revealed that female footballers have been constructed in specific ways as they emerged as “objects of knowledge” (Foucault, 1978, p. 105). In 1921, the tactical deployment of key discourses positioned the emergent girl footballer as irresponsible, selfish and unfeminine; after a blaze of publicity, she vanished without a trace. Fifty-two years later in 1973, the lady footballer emerged and continued to be discursively constructed through similar heterosexual discourses of marriage, motherhood and ii femininity. However, this time the tactical deployment of the same discourses which led to the disappearance of the girl footballer, intersected with other prevailing discourses to re-emerge in sufficiently modified forms to make it possible for the lady footballer to play, and continue to play, football. An examination of a dominant discourse in the period approximately 1980 to 2008 revealed how new and different elements, associations and relations intermeshed into a common network to provide the conditions which would allow women‟s football to develop and flourish. The „truth‟ of the discourse Female Football – The Fastest Growing Sport in New Zealand continued to be reinforced by increasing participation numbers and, combined with various sporting practices in clubs and schools, gradually normalised football as an „appropriate‟ sport for females. However, this same discourse concealed the struggles of female footballers who attempted to become involved in coaching and administration within male-dominated organisations, suggesting that this „normalisation‟ only extended to females playing football. My research findings have highlighted the usefulness of deploying Foucault‟s genealogical approach in examining current issues within women‟s football and, I suggest, other women‟s sports as well. In an examination of the power effects produced by power-knowledge discourses, the resultant struggle to disseminate the „dominant‟ discourse or the „truth‟ allows an insightful understanding of how power may be exercised during particular time periods. In turn, this may help us understand how discourses can shape men‟s and women‟s perceptions of reality, yet, simultaneously prevent them from seeing other views of reality. I believe Foucault‟s genealogy is an exciting theoretical and practical method whereby the recording of a sporting history may be combined with an understanding of how power-knowledge discourses can be strategically deployed in gendered relationships of power. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My doctoral thesis has been a journey of discovery, as well as a considerable increase in knowledge about New Zealand society. Sometimes it has been lonely, and somewhat difficult, as I struggled to come to terms with new concepts and philosophies; at other times, it has been sheer magic seeing a „story‟ about women‟s football emerge in ways that I had never imagined. To my supervisors Drs Toni Bruce and Richard Pringle – I thank you both for your support, interest and suggestions – but most of all I loved the discussions we had during our meetings. You both played such a huge part in helping me „grow‟ intellectually over the past three and a half years. I acknowledge and appreciate the financial assistance provided by the University of Waikato through their doctoral scholarship programme. Having a scholarship for two years made all the difference between being able to be a full- time student rather than a part-time one. My grateful thanks to the women who participated in my research work – your generosity in sharing your memories and experiences was most appreciated. I hope you enjoyed telling me your stories (and the resultant shared laughter) as much as I did listening to them. To my family – I thank you for just being there. You are all part and parcel of the history of women‟s football in this country so this doctorate is as much for you as it is for me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER ONE 1 Introduction 1 A brief overview of women‟s football 1 The aims of this research 5 A concept of power 8 The thesis structure 9 CHAPTER TWO 12 A Theoretical Journey 12 Introduction 12 Starting the journey 12 CHAPTER THREE 21 Poststructuralism, Feminism and Foucault 21 Introduction 21 Discourse, subjectivity and knowledge 22 A Foucauldian understanding of power 27 Disciplinary power 28 Power, resistance and truth 32 CHAPTER FOUR 38 Femininity, Heterosexuality and Sport 38 Introduction 38 Part 1. Femininity and the Body 40 Part 11. Discourses of Femininity and Sport 46 v Introduction 46 The rise of modern sport – for Victorian men only?(1800s) 47 Gentle exercise but decorum please! (1900 –1960s) 52 Can I play sport? Will I still be feminine? (1970s – late 1980s) 55 It’s okay to participate but..... (1990s onwards) 60 CHAPTER FIVE 74 The Methodologies Appropriate To This Study 74 Introduction 74 Foucault‟s genealogical approach 76 Media texts 81 Football texts 82 In-depth interviewing 85 Selecting the interview participants 86 Self-reflexive interrogation of my own experiences 88 Foucauldian discourse analysis 91 Ethical considerations of the research process 94 Summary 98 CHAPTER SIX 99 The Girl Footballer – Why Did She Vanish? 99 Introduction 99 A medicalisation of women‟s bodies 101 Doctor knows best 104 You only have so much energy 109 A sportisation of women‟s bodies 113 Muscles for motherhood 115 Women can’t play the ‘real’ game 119 The best game for girls is netball 122 A socialisation of feminine behaviour 124 vi It’s your duty 126 The ‘gentler’ sex 128 Am I different from other women? 129 What became of the girl footballer? 132 The circulation of „truth‟ 134 The Ladies‟ Rugby Team: A Sad Prophecy 136 CHAPTER SEVEN 138 The Lady Footballer: 1973 – 1975 138 Introduction 138 A medicalisation of women‟s bodies 139 Doctor knows best 141 A sportisation of women‟s bodies 148 Muscles for motherhood 150 A need for modification 153 It’s a bit of a novelty 154 An inferior version of football 156 It’s a man’s game 157 The best game for girls is netball 164 A socialisation of feminine behaviour 167 It’s your duty 169 The ‘gentler’ sex 171 Am I different from other women? 172 Why did women‟s football flourish? 177 CHAPTER EIGHT Female Football –The Fastest Growing Sport in New Zealand (1980-2008) 180 Introduction 180 vii A medicalisation of women‟s bodies 183 Doctor knows best 183 A socialisation of feminine behaviour 187 It’s your duty 190 The ‘gentler’ sex 191 Am I different from other women? 192 A sportisation of women‟s bodies 193 The best game for girls is (not just) netball 203 A need for modification 209 It’s a bit of a novelty 211 An inferior version of football (no longer?) 213