The male world of football media and beer drinking: a case study of sports bars in Cape Town, South Africa
Master Thesis
2014
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
The present study explores the practice of football media viewing in sports bars. It is based on the constructivism research paradigm (Guba & Lincoln, 2005), a conceptualisation of media as a tool for social behaviour (Couldry, 2003) and James Wertsch’s (1998) Mediated Action Theory. The study analyses two dimensions of football media viewing in sports bars: it focuses on the psychological motivations and the socio-cultural structure. The study’s main objective is to understand both the role of media for the practice of football media viewing in sports bars and the constitution of gender during the practice. It is a subject worthy of in-depth examination as there is a lack of holistic, contextualised and critical research in media studies, particularly in the field of football media consumption. The study applied ethnographic observations of two sports bars in a middle-class suburb in Cape Town as well as on-site and off-site interviews. During this time the researcher balanced subjective experiences with social meanings and scientific theories in a reflexive and flexible manner. The results reveal a complex network of individual purposes and socio-cultural tools. On the individual level they explain which media aspects are important to serve patrons’ needs and why male patrons discriminate against women. On the socio-cultural level the results show how media, gender and other tools interact to influence patrons’ behaviour. The study concludes by suggesting how media can be used to create enjoyable social environments and how social structures can be altered to create a more equal society beyond the sports bar environment.
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Reference:
Umansky, D. 2014. The male world of football media and beer drinking: a case study of sports bars in Cape Town, South Africa. University of Cape Town.