“Your Hair or the Team!” Body Politics and Possibilities of Resistance in Women’s Football in Turkey

Abstract

This research aims to discuss the experiences of the athletes in the field of football who are not
compatible with the normalized body in women’s football in Turkey, with Foucault's conceptual tools.
We focused on football as a research field since it is one of the fields where gender inequality in sport
is most visible. In this manner, women’s football idealizes cis-heteronormative femininity. We
collected the data of this research, using qualitative research design, through in-depth interviews.
Between May 2020 and January 2021, we conducted face-to-face and online individual interviews
with nine active female football players, which lasted an average of one and a half hours. We
analyzed the data with thematic analysis method. The findings of the research reveal that the “ideal”
female football player in women’s football in Turkey means having long hair, being feminine,
beautiful and well-groomed. On the other hand, being a football player outside of this ideal is
experienced as an obstacle to their careers in football clubs and the national team. Actors in the
football field dictate to football players, who are described as short-haired and masculine, to grow
their hair long and be more feminine, with various discipline practices. Because of these disciplinary
practices, athletes experience serious tensions between their body image and subjectivity and on
continuing their football careers. However, the strategies they developed to avoid discrimination
because of their body appearance, play a motivating role in their empowerment. As a result, women’s
football is a field, where normalization and punishment practices dominate athletes, who are not comformable with cis-heteronormative femininity, but where athletes also experience empowerment despite the tensions they experience. 

Keywords

• Women’s football
• body
• heteronormativity
• Foucault
• discipline

“Ya Saçın Ya Takım!”: Türkiye’de Kadın Futbolunda Beden Politikaları ve Direniş Olanakları

Abstract

Bu araştırma Türkiye’deki kadın futbolunda normalize edilen beden ile uyumlu olmayan sporcuların futbol alanındaki deneyimlerini Foucault’nun kavramsal araçları ile irdelemeyi amaçlıyor. Futbolu sporda toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin en görünür olduğu alanlardan biri olması sebebiyle araştırma sahası olarak ele aldık. Bu özelliği nedeniyle kadın futbolu heteronormatif kadınsılığı idealize eder. Niteliksel araştırma yöntemi ile kurgulanan araştırmanın verilerini derinlemesine görüşmeler yoluyla topladık. Futbol yaşamları devam eden dokuz kadın futbolcu ile Mayıs 2020 – Ocak 2021 arasında ortalama bir buçuk saat süren yüz yüze ve online bireysel görüşmeler gerçekleştirdik. Elde ettiğimiz verileri tematik analiz yöntemi ile analiz ettik. Araştırmanın bulguları Türkiye’deki kadın futbolundaki “ideal” kadın futbolcunun uzun saçlı, kadınsı, güzel ve bakımlı olmak gibi özelliklere sahip olmak anlamına geldiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Bu idealin dışında futbolcu olmak ise futbol kulüplerinde ve milli takımdaki kariyerlerinin önünde bir engel olarak deneyimlenmektedir. Futbol alanındaki aktörler tarafından çeşitli disiplin pratikleriyle kısa saçlı ve erkeksi olarak nitelendirilen futbolculara saçlarını uzatmaları ve daha kadınsı olmaları dikte edilmektedir. Bu disipline etme çabalarıyla nedeniyle sporcular beden görünümleri ve öznellikleri ile futbol kariyerlerini sürdürmek arasında ciddi gerilimler yaşamaktadır. Fakat bununla birlikte beden görünümleri nedeniyle ayrımcılık yaşamamak adına geliştirdikleri stratejiler onların güçlenmelerinde motive edici bir rol oynamaktadır. Sonuç olarak kadın futbolu, heteronormatif kadınsılıkla uyumlu olmayan sporcular için normalleştirme ve cezalandırma pratiklerinin hâkim olduğu, fakat yaşadıkları gerilimlere rağmen sporcuların güçlenmeyi deneyimledikleri bir alandır.

Keywords

• kadın futbolu
• beden
• heteronormative
• Foucault
• disiplin

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