Lioness effect

Ok, so I tweeted on Saturday night with a bit of a rant at my Mother-in-law over her views on women's football and I am still reeling from it. My hubby and I love watching football whether it be our own teams, a team from another country or the ladies. In my opinion it doesn't matter who is playing it, it's still football and that is my passion! So maybe I am taking it slightly more personally than I should be but I do think a comment like "football is a man's game" really resonates deeper than just football. What about all those women that fought for us to have equal rights in the voting system, what about all of those ladies who have fought so hard for equal pay? It isn't just about the 11 ladies on the pitch in Canada it's all of us who want to be treated equal to our male counterparts. 

I mean let's be honest how many of us tune in to the World Cup and watch 11 blokes usually from teams we don't particularly like most Saturday afternoons and end up disappointed by the time the referee blows his whistle at 90 minutes? The passion I see in this World Cup is one I don't see from the blokes, from the minute they walk on the pitch they are somehow divided, they stand their like it's their God given right to represent their team, not because it is the one thing they have wanted to do their whole lives (I know not all of them are like that, I am generalising). I just don't sense that from the girls. Let's take the national anthem as my example of this. How many male England players do you see (or hear) singing the anthem of our country? When was the last time you saw them standing united, arms around one another in chorus? I can't remember a time so feel free to correct me if I am wrong on that. What I saw from the women's team was a whole new picture, a team united in chorus and visibly in their spirit. They looked like a team happy to be next to one another. Is that because of the media hype before the tournaments tend to make us all believe that the boys don't get on or is it that they actually don't. Maybe they are such mega stars they don't feel the need to be one team, who knows.

One thing that is for sure and cannot be contended is the results. Let's imagine Roy Hodgson's boys are playing at the World Cup in Canada and in the quarter finals they draw the hosts, what are the odds they knock them out? The girls did it. When did the men last get to this stage in the same competition of their own game as my mother-in-law put it, 1990 that's when. A child born in 1990 is now 25 years old. So maybe it's not just for men is it now? 

One positive I would take from this tournament as a plus to my concerns about sexism in the world today is the fact that these girls are setting an example for today's generation. A generation who will be able to see, maybe not the game, but the results the next day on their Twitter feed or on Facebook. I am glad to say the many people I follow on Twitter are very positive about it. I saw Gabby Logan tweeted saying her children were asking to stay up to watch the next game which is such a positive that children want to watch it. This is where I feel it is more than just about the game. If the women's England football team can be the catalyst for a step change towards equality then now is the time. They are showing the male and female population that it doesn't matter what sex you are, if you are willing and able to represent your country then you damn well should. And the manner in which those players in Canada have done it so far is inspiring.