'Hostile and sexist attitudes'- Misogyny towards women's sport 'rife' among male football fans, study finds

Misogynistic and hostile views towards women's sport are «rife» among male football supporters, a study has found. The Durham University research concluded that more than two-thirds of close to 2,000 men surveyed harbour sexist attitudes, «across all generations».

Ad/> While the study found that progressive views are present among the group who responded, these were less common, reflecting society. /> Football‘I would always do it again’ — Rangnick defends ‘right decision’ to substitute Ronaldo at BrentfordAN HOUR AGO «Our research showed that attitudes towards women in sport are, to some extent, changing, with more progressive attitudes,» lead author Dr Stacey Pope, from Durham University's Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, said.

«However, the findings are also reflective of a patriarchal society in which misogyny is rife. »There were numerous examples of men from across all generations exhibiting highly sexist and misogynistic attitudes." The researchers suggested that this may be proof of a backlash against increased visibility of women's sport driven by high-profile events like the 2012 London Olympics and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.

There are World Cups in women's cricket and rugby due to be held in 2022, as well as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 — which will be hosted by England. The survey was comprised of open-ended questions, the answers from which researchers could then use to split the fans into three broad categories: those with progressive masculinities, overt misogynistic masculinities, or covert misogynistic masculinities.