COPA 71

An interviewee says her father used to shout at or hit her for playing football when she was a child, because he believed that a woman’s place was in the home. There are mild visual and verbal references to a fight breaking out between two teams on a pitch, including still images of players aiming kicks at each other and undetailed footage of a woman lying on the ground and clutching her face after an off-screen punch.

Infrequent bad language includes ‘tits’ and ‘God’.

There are mild, non-graphic verbal sex references.

The film examines the ways in which sexist attitudes and behaviour have historically created barriers for women in football. There are references to 20th century beliefs that it was unfeminine, immoral, physically unhealthy or simply too difficult for women to play football. Former players describe being subjected to sexist mockery and sexual objectification. There is also use of 1970s archive footage of sexist behaviour, such as when a male reporter asks a female player why a ‘nice girl like her’ is playing a ‘man’s game’, and when a Mexican official speaks about countering the stereotype of female players as ‘masculine monstrosities’ by emphasising their physical attractiveness (for example, by having them play in uniforms resembling hotpants). An extract from a '70s newspaper article compares watching women’s football to seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. The film strongly criticises such attitudes, holding them up to ridicule, and celebrates the pioneering female players of the era.

An interviewee says her father used to shout at or hit her for playing football when she was a child, because he believed that a woman’s place was in the home. There are mild visual and verbal references to a fight breaking out between two teams on a pitch, including still images of players aiming kicks at each other and undetailed footage of a woman lying on the ground and clutching her face after an off-screen punch.

Infrequent bad language includes ‘tits’ and ‘God’.

There are mild, non-graphic verbal sex references.

The film examines the ways in which sexist attitudes and behaviour have historically created barriers for women in football. There are references to 20th century beliefs that it was unfeminine, immoral, physically unhealthy or simply too difficult for women to play football. Former players describe being subjected to sexist mockery and sexual objectification. There is also use of 1970s archive footage of sexist behaviour, such as when a male reporter asks a female player why a ‘nice girl like her’ is playing a ‘man’s game’, and when a Mexican official speaks about countering the stereotype of female players as ‘masculine monstrosities’ by emphasising their physical attractiveness (for example, by having them play in uniforms resembling hotpants). An extract from a '70s newspaper article compares watching women’s football to seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. The film strongly criticises such attitudes, holding them up to ridicule, and celebrates the pioneering female players of the era.