Female Football Fans: Consumption, Identity Formation of "Women's Community" in Thai Football Field

Abstract

This study aims to investigate a process of becoming female football fans in Thai football league, including their experiences, meaning consumption and social practice. By employing concepts of consumption and identity formation, it can be argued that female football fans have constructed their social space through group activities. However, their social space is under men’s structural domination which has brought female football fans into the second-class fan of football. However, female football fans have constructed “female fan culture” that reveal their own way of consumption and representation. Additionally, they have constructed a social network via online and offline channels in order to share and exchange news, information, and experiences. They also use this social network to support each other. This practice can be viewed as “community of practice” of female football fans which is used to negotiate with male’s domination in football sphere. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and participatory observation as part of the author’s M.A. thesis at Chiang Mai University, Thailand.