Women Are Half of All World Cup Watchers, and Men Still Can’t Deal

For women watching the FIFA World Cup, action on the field is accompanied by mansplaining and sexism off it.

Just as mosquitoes breed in the monsoon, men breed their sexist remarks during the World Cup.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Camera: Athar Rather
Producer: Abhishek Ranjan

SEX. Now that we have your attention, the word we’d actually like to draw your attention to is SEXISM.

According to national viewership numbers for the FIFA World Cup, nearly half the viewers are women. While this reflects that women follow the World Cup as much as men do, it does not spare women from rampant sexist remarks about their interest in the sport.

The Homo Sapien male is a funny creature. Just as they have historically struggled to believe that women burp, they also refuse to accept that women can be genuine lovers of football. They love to believe that women talk non-stop and are always gossiping. However, the moment a woman opens her mouth to express an opinion about the sport, a male will prakat-ofy to complete her sentence for her.

This video explores four faces of everyday casual sexism towards women who follow the World Cup:

1. Excessive Mansplaining: Men dumping their unsolicited opinions about football and explaining things that a woman already knows.

2. Watching for Good-Looking Men: In media and in the public space, the topic of women watching football has often focused on how they are interested only in the physical appearances of footballers, discounting their real love for the sport.

3. Watching to Impress Guys: A general perception that women who watch football do it not because of a genuine interest in the sport but because they're trying to impress the circle of male friends who are interested in it.

4. The Intense Viva: It is not new for women to be bombarded with questions and put through scrutiny since they are instantly viewed as being disingenuous about following the sport.

Just as mosquitoes breed in the monsoon, the World Cup breeds sexist comments!