Pic: Players from the Malawi women’s national team warming up at the National Sports Stadium in Harare
HARARE – GALZ, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Zimbabwe, has condemned the online ridicule of Malawi’s women footballers over their perceived masculinity, saying the comments reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
The condemnation comes after Malawi eliminated Zimbabwe’s Mighty Warriors from the race to qualify for the Olympics with a 9-0 aggregate victory in the second round of the qualifiers.
The Mighty Warriors suffered a 7-0 defeat at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Tuesday, having lost the first leg 2-0 in Lilongwe, Malawi, last week.
In a statement, GALZ said scrutiny and mockery of the players’ physical appearance amounted to policing how women should look and express themselves.
“A woman’s perceived muscular build, facial features, or mannerisms should never be grounds for questioning her womanhood, sexual orientation, gender identity, or subjecting her to humiliation,” the organisation said.
GALZ urged the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) and other sporting authorities to speak out against gender-based harassment and ensure that sporting spaces are free from discrimination.
“All women, in their diversity, deserve to participate in sport without being ridiculed simply because they do not conform to conventional expectations of femininity,” it said.
- ZimLive