Learning and representation: the construction of masculinity in football. An analysis of the situation in Spain

摘要

This essay examines the construction of masculinity through football in Spanish society. The results are presented from a study whose main objective was to investigate to what degree the changes that have occurred in the past few years with regard to the construction of masculinities can also be extended to the football setting. In order to carry out the research, qualitative interviews were conducted with fans, groups of fans, coaches, physical education teachers and youth and professional footballers. The essay concludes that Spanish football continues to be a space in which a hegemonic masculinity is reproduced, and this is due to the influence of various social agents who facilitate and induce the learning and representation processes of this hegemonic masculinity. We have called this type of masculinity, inductor masculinity.