The discursive construction of online identities and communities by brands during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Abstract

he 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup had the highest average viewership for any Women’s World Cup since the start of the event in 1991. Megan Rapinoe was one of the stand-out stars, as acting captain and striker for the United States she received two player of the match awards for round of 16 and the quarterfinals. She was also awarded the Golden Ball for top scorer and the Golden ball for best player at the tournament. On the day of the final, 7 July 2019, Nike posted an image of Megan Rapinoe celebrating her team’s victory in the finals against the Netherlands. The post was met with harassment and anger, with individuals calling Rapinoe a “lesbian bitch” and a “sheman” stating she did not deserve to win anything. The strong response to Rapinoe was not only due to her team’s victory, but because she did not stand for the United States national anthem and instead chose to take a knee. Her act of defiance resulted in many online users reacting with anger towards her for her actions, insulting her and using various slurs to mock her in the comments section. While the world has come a long way since the first wave of feminism in the early 1900s, we still have a long way to go. The Women’s World Cup is meant to showcase the incredible women athletes within the world of football1 It is meant to show the best teams in the world competing for first place, instead many individuals do not see it this way. Comments on the Instagram posts says things such as “who cares? They’re women” or “no one watches women football” Despite moving towards a society of gender equality, and gender roles are still a point of concern. The Women’s World Cup is no exception, with the gendered nature of the event being a useful platform to address and highlight social issues. This is 1 The term ‘football’ will be used opposed to soccer due to the term ‘football’ being more globally recognised 2 what the sponsors of the event attempted to do through social media and sportswomen representation. The present thesis seeks to analyse how the brands who sponsored the event attempt to rectify and address the various issues facing women athletes in today’s society. Brands used the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup partly due to the exposure and global scale of the event, and partly due to the fact that challenging gender norms has become a trending topic within society. The first chapter will explore and introduce the literature surrounding the topic of gender and sport, with relation to branding and branding in the age of social media. Next the analytic framework and methodology for the thesis will be presented and discussed, drawing from various theories of critical discourse analysis and gender to form the theoretical basis for the present study. Finally the last chapter will critique and analyse the Instagram posts as well as the comments by the brands. Some of the comments that have been presented in relation to the athletes at the Women’s World Cup highlight dated and sexist notions of gender roles in society. We claim to be a changed society, striving for equality and fairness for all. Yet women are still subjected to notions of inferiority, facing criticism and harassment if they do not meet societal norms. This thesis seeks to analyse how these discourses are created and discussed within the framework of social media and gender theories, and examine how the brands that sponsored the event make use of various discourses within society to construct gendered identities and communities on social media and in society