In the language of domination: football, law and the rites of men

© 2017 Dr. Rachel Vera HirschFrom 2010 onwards, rape allegations against professional footballers from the Australian Football League (AFL) and the Victorian Football League (VFL) have resulted in far more legal intervention than in previous years. At the intersections of law and football community, I explore the language of domination that expands the culpability of football in sexual violence across multiple sites and institutions. This thesis combines the radical feminist theory of Catharine Mackinnon and her argument on sexuality as a principle of male power with the practice theory of critical sociologist and social theorist Pierre Bourdieu. As a game of domination, football trains men to recognise their stake in domination – not just on the sporting field, but in sexuality as well. The thesis employs a critical feminist analysis of both online football fan forums and the official rape trial and plea hearing transcripts relating to Australian “rules” footballers. It is here that I navigate the particular textualities that enable the rites of men to institute the symbolic violence of gender. I argue that it is the feel for the game that renders football into law, in ways which pre-reflexively protect the cultural institution of football – and its embodied dispositions of masculinity, competition, male bonding, and dominance – from the performative effects of rape allegation