The Femininization of Sports Fandom in Contemporary China
Xuefei Han (a*), Zhongxia Zhang (b)

a) College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
b) Culture and Technology Convergence Major, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea

Abstract

Previous research has argued that the feminization of sports fandom has been influenced primarily by two key factors, namely major transformations that occurred in women^s lives and the trend towards the civilization of professional sport in the Western. Since the reform and the opening-up in the 1980s, Chinese sport has also undergone an extraordinary transformation. Visualization data shows that sports fandom has become an important option for women^s participation in sport and leisure with increasing demands for physical activities in their lives. The purpose of this paper is to use the transnational feminist to explore what factors influence the feminization of sports fandom in contemporary China, which means that women have increased opportunities to become involved in sport as active fans. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 women who identified themselves as sports fans. Documentary research was also applied as a complementary method to the interview. The results of the data analysis on the basis of social historiography indicate that the feminization of sports fandom in contemporary China can be attributed to five main factors: (i) more disposable income from education and employment- (ii) a cultural shift in values of sport and leisure- (iii) the national promotion of sports events and successful/unsuccessful national teams- (iv) the decline in the family size- and (v) the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and digital platforms. Generally speaking, this was promoted from bottom to top by the urban middle-class women, a new generation that emerged during the great social transition. Although there are still limitations within intersectional social structures, including nationalism, neoliberalism and patriarchy during the transformation, Chinese female sports fans attempt to make themselves more visible by changing the cultural discourse of traditional sports fandom and resisting the gender system hidden within it.

Keywords: China- feminization- sports fandom- transnational feminist- women^s sport

Topic: Gender and sports in Asian societies