Women's Rugby in Germany. Stereotypes and Values

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Methodological Approach
2.1 Theoretical Framework
2.1.1 Hegemonic Femininity
2.1.2 The Female (Un)apologetic
2.2. Methodology
2.3. Data

3. The Development of Women’s Sport and Rugby in Germany and the United Kingdom
3.1. Gender Roles in Sport
3.2. Rugby in the United Kingdom and Germany
3.3. Organisation, Numbers and Facts of Women’s Rugby

4. Stereotypes in Women’s Rugby
4.1. Body Images and Identity Construction
4.2. Homosexuality
4.3. Not the Men's Game

5. Rugby Culture
5.1. Rugby Community
5.2. Rugby Values
5.3. The ‘Third Half-Time’

6. Conclusion

7. Bibliography

8. Appendices
8.1 Appendix A -Women’s rugby clubs in Germany
8.2 Appendix B – England Women’s rugby clubs
8.3 Appendix C- Code of Conduct Kiel Rugby

Abstract

Im Zuge dieser Masterarbeit soll Frauenrugby in Deutschland im kulturwissenschaftlichen Sinne näher beleuchtet werden. Hierbei wird sich besonders auf die Geschlechterrollen und die Rugbykultur und Gemeinschaft bezogen und diese in Vergleich zu Großbritannien gesetzt.

Rugby ist in Deutschland eine Randsportart, die in der Populärkultur kaum Aufmerksamkeit erhält und von der wissenschaftlichen Forschung vernachlässigt wird. Dies gilt insbesondere für den Bereich des Frauen Rugby. Forschungsliteratur, welche sie auch Deutschland bezog war nicht existent. Somit ist hier von einem Forschungsdesiderat zu sprechen, welches diese Arbeit thematisiert. Weil die Sportart mit vielen Vorurteilen belegt ist, und Rugby stereotyp maskulin konnotiert ist, erachte ich es für notwendig, sich den Rollenbildern in dieser Sportart zu widmen. Zusätzlich wird der Vergleich mit Großbritannien erstellt, um verschiedene Problematisierungen mit einem Land zu kontrastieren, in dem Rugby ein Nationalsport ist.

In dieser Masterarbeit werden daher am Beispiel von Frauenrugby in Deutschland tradierte Frauenbilder im Sport hinsichtlich Stereotypen und Vorurteilen untersucht und mit dem Vorreiter im Rugby Großbritannien verglichen. Ausgehend hiervon sollen die internationalen Werte und Chancen die der Sport Frauen bietet evaluiert werden. Die Grundlage bilden Experteninterviews mit fünf Personen aus dem Amateurbereich sowie des Profisports aus Deutschland und jeweils eine Amateurin und einer Profisportlerin aus England. Anhand dessen werden die drei prävalentesten Stereotype denen die Spieler*innen begegneten herausgearbeitet. Das erste Stereotyp bezieht sich auf Körperbilder, die auch die Identität der Spielerinnen konstruieren. Des Weiteren werden Rugby Spieler*innen von der Öffentlichkeit häufig mit Homosexualität assoziiert. Wie die Spieler damit umgehen und wie sich daraus auch eine Art Widerstand im Frauenrugby etabliert wird in dieser Arbeit dargestellt. Das dritte Stereotyp bezieht sich auf den direkten Vergleich mit dem Spiel der Männer und die damit einhergehende Annahme der verminderten Qualität des Frauensports. Diese wird durch mangelnde Finanzierung und daraus folgende geringe mediale Präsenz verstärkt. Darauf aufbauend wird die Rugbykultur in Deutschland und international beleuchtet und hinterfragt, in wieweit Frauen darin inkludiert sind und wie dies das Gruppengefühl des Sportes formt. Zum Schluss wird die so genannte ‚dritte Halbzeit‘ untersucht und in diesem Zuge die Werte und der Zusammenhalt thematisiert.

Insgesamt ergibt sich daher aus dieser Thesis, dass Frauenrugby in Deutschland trotz der niedrigen Spielerzahlen ein wachsender Sport ist, der für viele Frauen ein Umfeld bietet, in dem sie alle ihre Stärken nutzen können und alle willkommen sind. Daher empfinden viele dieses Umfeld als identitätsstärkend und können dadurch positiv, den ihnen durch oftmaliges Nichtwissen entgegengebrachten negativen Stereotypen, entgegenwirken. Die enge Gemeinschaft und die Traditionen der ‚dritten Halbzeit‘ können in Großbritannien, sowie in Deutschland gefunden werden und sorgen dafür, dass viele Frauen angeben den Sport zu großen Teilen wegen der Gemeinschaft zu spielen. Gemindert wird die Auffassung von Frauenrugby in Deutschland durch fehlende Publizität, hervorgerufen unter anderem durch mangelnde finanzielle Förderung. Großbritannien bietet hier das Gegenbeispiel, da dort durch immense finanzielle Förderung Frauenrugby international erfolgreich, und in der Gesellschaft präsent ist. Damit wird Großbritannien von vielen deutschen Spieler*innen als Vorbild angesehen.

1. Introduction

“The women’s version of rugby disrupts the male, heterosexual hegemony of the rugby subculture by exposing female physical capability in a typically male enclave, while openly expressing a distinct identity and lifestyle through its social proclivities. The women’s rugby style challenges patriarchal ideology in sport and leisure and social and sexual relations” (Wheatly, 1994, p. 207).

When mentioning rugby to a German unfamiliar with the sport, the most likely response would be: “Rugby? That’s like the same as football, right?” “Isn’t that the game where all these men tackle each other without any protection?” And the truth is, it is none of that. The underlying message of this response presents the struggle female rugby players, especially in Germany, have to face when talking about their sport. As rugby is a niche sport in Germany and unknown to many, only vague predictions come to mind. None of them probably include women enjoying this sport. Generally saying, rugby is widely considered to be a ‘hypermasculine’ sport (Carle and Nauright, 1999, p. 55), due to its history and connotations. There is a substantial body of research about male rugby and most of it argues for rugby to be one of the last bastions of male space and that functions as a male preserve (Chase, 2006, p. 230). However, at the same time it is one of the fastest growing sports for women which can be deduced from statistics by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) who report a 100% increase in numbers of female members from 2003 up to 2013, which lead to 15.500 players in England alone in that year (RFU, 2013, p. 4). More and more women are attracted to the sport famous for brutality and aggression, attributes that do not seem to go along with the traditional image of women.

As the introductory quote emphasizes, women’s rugby is disrupting this male enclave and challenges traditional norms of femininity. Hence, the question arises, what attracts women to this sport and whether there is a change in perception of female gender roles in sports. Moreover, one could ask whether these characteristics of supposedly ‘unladylike’ behaviour are still negatively connoted in the twenty-first century. Because of the gendered nature of this sport and the ambivalence of an enhanced female interest, this topic is worthy of a deeper examination and analysis. Thus, this thesis aims to explore women’s rugby in Germany, a country in which it is only a niche sport as it is being played by officially 2953 women, however, with numbers rising (Deutscher Rugby Verband, 13.04.21). With a background of cultural studies, the aim of this thesis is to use gender studies in the context of women’s rugby in Germany to display traditional gendered perceptions of women in sports on the basis of stereotypes and prejudices¹. In order to investigate this sport and set the results from Germany into relation, it will be compared with women’s rugby in the United Kingdom (UK), the birth nation of the sport. Additionally, the rugby lifestyle and community will be illuminated by focusing on values and opportunities which the sport creates for women.

So far, research on women’s rugby has tended to focus on countries where rugby is already very popular. Previous cultural studies and gender research has been conducted by Joncheray et.al, who are leading researchers for rugby in France and have recently published a collected edition about women’s rugby in April 2021. Concerning general cultural studies investigations into women’s rugby, Harris (2009) and Howe (2001) made contributions about women’s rugby in Wales, and Carle and Nauright (1999) provided an essay about women’s rugby in Australia. Various authors investigated the growing importance of women’s rugby in North America (Adjepong (2017), Fields and Dawn Comstock (2008), Ezzel (2009)), others have discussed similar issues for the countries of New Zealand (Curtin (2017), Palmer (2017)), Fiji (Kanemasu / Molnar (2017,2018)) as well as the UK (Howe (2001), Gill (2005)). Moreover, two Master theses were found, that investigated women’s rugby in North America. Additionally, some papers focussed on specific aspects arising from Women’s Rugby. Yet, none of them mentioned Germany.

Since women’s rugby only came into existence in the 1970s, the scholarly interest in this topic developed over the last thirty-five years. However, most of the research focused on countries in which rugby is a very popular sport. An exception to this is the substantial research that refers to the USA, since the sport is not overly popular there, but has always had a very large growth and also played an important role in the history of women's rugby. Especially in the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, the sport is played and followed by many. From this one can conclude that there is a need to investigate women’s rugby in a country in which it is only a niche sport. Despite the general interest into women’s rugby, no academic scholarship was invested into women’s rugby in Germany yet. The interest in this particular topic arose, as I am a female rugby player in Germany myself and have been confronted with many stereotypes and accusations. Thus, it was in my own personal interest to investigate into this topic.

Due to the research deficit and the resulting lack of quantitative data concerning women’s rugby in Germany, expert interviews were used in order to receive qualitative insider knowledge and experiences from people with varied backgrounds. Seven people, two from the UK and five from Germany, who either play, organize or train rugby were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The gathered results were then compared with existing data. Their expertise varied from amateur to professional athlete. The information received is highly subjective, however this is beneficial when analysing the individual handling of stereotypes. Moreover, their knowledge stems from a large amount of experience. Yet, care had to be taken that the attitudes of the athletes cannot be generalized, as especially resistance towards negative stereotypes is highly individualistic.

On this basis, this thesis seeks to investigate the research hypotheses that female players are target of negative stereotyping, partly because women’s rugby in Germany is not well known. Their values and the rugby community, as well as the rugby lifestyle help them to face this stereotypes. Moreover, the sport of rugby and the rugby community offers a space of empowerment for many.

In order to explore these hypotheses, three guiding research questions will be addressed in the according succession. The first question regards the basic structure of women’s rugby in Germany and the UK and seeks to investigate how women’s rugby developed and how it is organized, financed and structured in the respective countries. The second question explores the main stereotypes that women rugby players are confronted with and how these players deal with them. To respond to this question, especially the information received via the conducted interviews are used and interpreted. The third research question asks to what extent rugby culture includes female players and also how its culture and its values contribute to the resistance to negative stereotypes.

With the intention to provide a comprehensive elaboration of the questions, the thesis is structured as follows. The subsequent chapter displays the methodological approach, as well as the theoretical framework. In the third chapter, the first research question is addressed. In order to do so, the development of women’s sport and gender research is displayed, followed by an overview of the development of women’s rugby and the current organisation and structure of the sport in the respective countries. Building on these findings, the fourth chapter displays the three most common stereotypes that female players are confronted with. With reference to the conducted interviews as well as existing literature they are identified as stereotypes concerning the player’s bodies, their sexuality and lastly the direct comparison with the men’s game.

The fifth chapter then elaborates the third research question on rugby culture and lifestyle. Thus, firstly the community is investigated and secondly, the values that are appreciated by the community are highlighted. In this chapter, the concept of the ‘gentlemen’s game’ is discussed. Thirdly, the rugby specific ‘third half-time’ is investigated. This term refers to the time after the game in which all the teams gather. It is discussed as in how far women are part of this culture, how this culture might differ between countries and how this brings together the two aspects of community and values mentioned before. The interplay of the player’s reaction to stereotypes with the main values of rugby, creates the connection to present an interpretation of the unapologetic and empowered behaviour the women present through their sport. In a final step, the conclusion is drawn and the research hypotheses are evaluated.

2. Methodological Approach

This thesis addresses women’s rugby from a cultural studies point of view. Cultural studies is a transdisciplinary field which combines the plurality of different kinds of knowledge, ways of life and cultural orientations (Fauser, 2014, p. 8). Hence, it is possible to investigate the sport of rugby from a point of view that allows several angles, not only focussing on the sport itself, but also on the community. In this case, rugby is not only looked upon with a focus on gender, but also on cultural differences between Germany and the UK, bearing in mind that the perspective is always shaped by one’s own culture. Thus, this cultural studies approach serves as a network between different disciplines (Fauser, 2014, p. 9). This is why the historical background will be addressed, as well as gender theories and sport analysis. Because cultural studies look into the extensive framework of culture which cannot be clearly defined, it needs theoretical frames to make abstract constructs more explicit. Hence, in order to investigate gender in the context of women’s rugby, the theoretical base is explained in the first subchapter. Due to the individuality of stereotypes and experience of lifestyle in the rugby community, expert interviews were conducted. Therefore, the second and third subchapter explain the methodology used in this research that made it possible to receive an inside look into the rugby culture and community.

2.1 Theoretical Framework

“In short, the female athlete - and her body - has become a contested ideological terrain.” (Messner, 2007, p. 32)

The theoretical framework is based on hegemonic femininity and the female apologetic. To underpin these theories I will start with Judith Butler (2015), who says that society has a binary concept of gender, which is based on heterosexuality and the idea that males act masculine and females act feminine (Hardy, 2013, p. 155). Gender in this sense is a performance that follows constructed social norms, none of which created naturally. Whoever does not perform according to this created norm is called into question (Hardy, 2013, p. 160). Consequently, women playing rugby, which is a sport that promotes the “orthodox masculine concepts of domination through physical force, toughness and violent bodily contact” (ibid. p. 158), do not behave according to the socially constructed norm. Sport in general “represents a primary source for the cultural production of male supremacy and hypermasculinity“ (Schell and Rodriguez, 2000, p. 16). For this reason it is necessary to have a look into the female apologetic, or even the ‘unapologetic’ (Broad, 2001) and the notion of hegemonic femininity. These concepts both touch upon stereotypes that female rugby players are confronted with, such as homosexuality and their body images, which are discussed in the later analysis of the stereotypes in accordance with the theoretical frames.

2.1.1 Hegemonic Femininity

"Characteristics of hegemonic femininity include being emotional, passive, dependent, maternal, compassionate and gentle. On the other hand, strength, competitiveness, assertiveness, confidence and independence are characteristics of hegemonic masculinity."

This is how Krane (2001, p. 117) defines the features that make up hegemonic femininity in her article about hegemonic femininity and women in sports. This concept derived from Connells vision of hegemonic masculinity (1995), in which he defines it as

“[…] the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (Connell, 2012, p. 77).

His concept “legitimates men’s domination over women as a group” (Schippers, 2007, p. 87). For Connell, the definition of femininity is always oriented towards the relationship with men. What is important for the concept of hegemonic femininity is that the attributes of men listed above, as well as authority and violence, are all characteristics which “guarantee men’s ‘legitimate’ dominance over women”, when they are “symbolically paired with the inferior[…] quality attached to femininity” (Schippers, 2007, p. 91). Hence, when women obtain these qualities, the traditional norm is challenged. Schippers then created her definition of hegemonic femininity, relying on Connell, which is the following:

“Hegemonic femininity consists of the characteristics defined as womanly that establish and legitimate a hierarchical and complementary relationship to hegemonic masculinity and that, by doing so guarantee the dominant position of men and subordination of women” (Schippers, 2007, p. 94)

[...]

¹ Stereotypes in this case are defined as ”a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong“ (Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and Thesaurus (2021)). Prejudice in this case is “an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge“ (Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and Thesaurus (2021)).