Kick It Out and Premier League Junior Ambassador Georgia Stevens thinks that one of the main reasons why sexism is still around in the women’s game in the United Kingdom is because of jealous males.
Stevens, 19, does agree that women’s football as a whole has begun to be talked about the way it deserves however does feel that there are a group of people, the majority being men who don’t want to see the women’s game succeed.
“There is a lot of jealousy from some male fans, with attitudes of “I could have made it”, and they see the success of the women’s game and see the need to bring it down,” said Stevens.
When looking at the bigger picture globally, Stevens understands that the UK is miles ahead of other countries who don’t even have a women’s national team.
“When you look at other countries where the patriarchy is firmly established, as sad as it is, it’s not surprise that women’s football isn’t even on the radar.”
Georgia Stevens
In terms of trying to help push women’s football and reduce the amount of sexist comments, Stevens thinks it has to start from grassroots level, she said: “I believe more needs to be done for younger girls to ensure they’re constantly improving and participating as well as getting high standard coaching.
“Within this, I believe that sexist comments should be punished under the wider umbrella for discrimination.”
Recently the FA have promised to give every girl in England an equal chance in PE at playing football as the boys.
Louise Gear, the head of women’s participation at the Footballing Association said: “Football has been perceived as a boys’ sport and the plan is to change the perceptions and break down the barriers.”
Stevens thinks that we should take inspiration from countries such as the Netherlands and USA, she said: “If you look at the last World Cup, both Holland and the US did very well, with the US winning it.
“They’ve set an example to other countries that women’s football is a viable path for young women and girls to aspire to and they shouldn’t feel as if this career is for males only.”
Nowadays social media seems the place to go to for people to post something offensive about a dislike of theirs and that also seems to be the case with women’s football, Stevens said: “A lot of online talk is very negative. I see daily sexist comments made by so-called football fans.
“It’s truly disheartening to see these comments being globally liked and retweeted on social media.”
Stevens hopes that social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram begin to take these hateful comments as serious as they do with other abusive tweets and posts found online.
Harvey Lawrence's Sport Blog 