Latin
American athletes have achieved iconic status in global popular
culture, but what do we know about the communities of women in sport?
Futbolera is the first monograph on women's sports in Latin
America. Because sports evoke such passion, they are fertile ground
for understanding the formation of social classes, national and
racial identities, sexuality, and gender roles. Futbolera
tells the stories of women athletes and fans as they navigated the
pressures and possibilities within organized sports.
Futbolera charts the rise of physical education programs
for girls, often driven by ideas of eugenics and proper motherhood,
that laid the groundwork for women's sports clubs, which began to
thrive beyond the confines of school systems. Futbolera
examines how women challenged both their exclusion from national
pastimes and their lack of access to leisure, bodily integrity, and
public space. This vibrant history also examines women's sports
through comparative case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa
Rica, Mexico, and others. Special attention is given to women's
sports during military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s as well
as the feminist and democratic movements that followed. The book
culminates by exploring recent shifts in mindset toward women's
football and dynamic social movements of players across Latin
America.