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Football under suspicion: Lars Steinhöfel criticizes toxic masculinity
Lars Steinhöfel criticizes toxic masculinity in football and calls for more support for women's football.
Football under suspicion: Lars Steinhöfel criticizes toxic masculinity
The actor Lars Steinhöfel spoke openly about the structural problems in football in a recent interview. He described the sport as “toxically masculine” and emphasized that this is a key reason why women's football still receives less recognition compared to men's football. “Men don’t want women to receive more financial resources,” says Steinhöfel and sees this inequality as unfair. Although he doesn't have much interest in football personally, he tends to support women's football. Bietigheim newspaper reports his views.
This discourse about toxic masculinity in sport is complemented by the current events surrounding Dani Alves. The former football star was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for rape in February this year. Despite the seriousness of the allegations, there are still reports that Neymar's father is willing to provide Alves with €1 million in bail. However, Neymar himself has announced that he will not pay the deposit in order to avoid criticism, which is leading to a critical look at etiquette in football taz.de.
Social implications
The discussion about Dani Alves is not isolated. Football has seen numerous other cases of well-known players being accused of sexual violence, which only reinforces questions about masculinity and power structures in sport. Benjamin Mendy was recently acquitted after being accused of sexual violence by 13 women, and Robinho, convicted of gang rape, continues to serve his sentence in Brazil. Jérôme Boateng is also in focus as his appeal trial over allegations of violence begins on June 14th.
All of these incidents highlight the cultural norms within football and how deeply rooted toxic masculinity is in the sport. Dani Alves, who has over 36 million followers on Instagram, also found support among a section of his audience who welcomed his possible release, while the woman accusing him appeared in court behind a privacy screen, illustrating the extent of the pressure victims face.