US professional footballer Robbi Rogers recently admitted his homosexuality - an outing that will encourage other players? Sociologist and sports sociologist Thomas Alkemeyer explains in an interview why the image of football as an arena of true masculinity is becoming fragile.
QUESTION: The American footballer Robbi Rogers recently came out of the closet. Has the ice in professional football now been broken and will more outings follow?
ALKEMEYER: I can well imagine that his outing will encourage other homosexual footballers.
QUESTION: But it's probably not a liberating blow. Rogers gave up his professional career immediately after coming out.
ALKEMEYER: Such an outing may not be a liberating blow, but it does contribute to the image of football as an arena of "real", hegemonic masculinity becoming fragile. But in fact, it is doubtful that even players who want to continue their careers will take this step.
Constructions of masculinity defined by physical strength and the willingness to invest one's own body.
QUESTION: Homosexuality has largely penetrated the imagery of Western Europe and is no longer a taboo. In contrast, professional football still seems like a homophobic gladiator enclave. Why is that?
ALKEMEYER: A look at history can help to clarify this. In 19th century Europe, competitive sport differentiated itself as a refuge for cultural constructions of masculinity - which were defined by physical strength, the willingness to invest one's own body in confronting opponents and dangers, pure willpower, and so on. Such an ideal of the male subject has become obsolete in other areas of social life, for example in the industrialising world of work. Physical strength has tended to lose importance due to mechanised production and the expansion of office work.
QUESTION: While its importance increased in competitive sport?
ALKEMEYER: Exactly. Here, the ideal could continue to be performed, exaggerated and authenticated in physical behaviour. For this reason, the male representatives of sport fought against the participation of women in competitive sport, especially in football, well into the 20th century, primarily on the basis of biological and medical arguments.
QUESTION: In what way especially there?
Football has developed its own male mythology.
ALKEMEYER: Over many decades, football has developed its own male mythology, which includes the names of great players as well as venues - Camp Nou, Cordoba, Wembley. There are also moves and gestures that have become engraved in a collective male memory. For a long time, cultural constructs of masculinity and femininity have been naturalised through the physical performances of sport; here they have become virtually performative evidence.
QUESTION: Are there no signs of change here?
ALKEMEYER: Yes, there are some that challenge traditional notions of masculinity and femininity: Women's bodies are becoming more muscular, television shows female boxers whose noses bleed - and who, of course, complement this by repeatedly allowing themselves to be portrayed as feminine and "sexy". Conversely, in the current football system, for example, the traditional masculinity that is primarily characterised by dominance, leadership and potency is becoming increasingly disruptive.
QUESTION: What is taking its place?
The new football has a tendency - albeit a delicate one - towards gender neutrality.
ALKEMEYER: Skills such as playing intelligence, the artistry and elegance of movement, inventiveness and a sense of social interaction. Perhaps the current homophobia of some fans is also a reactive expression of their sense that the new football has a tendency, however tenuous, towards gender neutrality.
QUESTION: In your view, is an atmosphere in the stadium conceivable in which sexual orientation simply doesn't play a role?
ALKEMEYER: It's hard to imagine so far, but there are signs that it could happen one day. Like the changes in the style of play away from fighting towards technique, tactics and system thinking and the gradual normalisation of women's football. Or the fact that the great players of today's men's football - Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Özil - may be stars, but they no longer have the macho demeanour of the players who claimed a leading role for themselves in earlier times.
QUESTION: Messi as the harbinger of a new football culture?
ALKEMEYER: If individual suitability for a system of play ultimately determines commitment more than so-called leadership qualities, then the question of gender and sexual orientation could also fade into the background along with the question of ethnic origin. We will see.