Only beautiful women need apply : human rights and gender in Brazilian football

Football in Brazil has always been a 'man thing.' Until 1979 a law existed, that banned women from playing it competitively. Since this law was repealed in 1979 women have gradually become more prominent in the sport. Despite this, obstructive prejudices still permeate women's football in Brazil. In 2001, the Football Federation of Sao Paulo (FPF) organized a women's football championship where only the 'beautiful ones' could play. This paper demonstrates how arcane paternalistic concepts of gender in Brazilian football still continue to repress the human rights of women players. The article is centred upon three semi-structured interviews with players who played in the FPF championship; they revealed that the male hegemony that rules Brazilian football is replete with discrimination, racism and the sexualization of women players