Intersectional Plays of Identity: The Experiences of British Asian Female Footballers

Debates regarding intersectionality have been widely held in U.K. and elsewhere for over a decade. However, The value of intersectionality has been questioned as researchers struggle to analyse intesectionality-in-practice. That is, how and why social identities connect in the ways that they do in the everyday lives of women and men. In this paper I argue that the concepts of ' performativity and 'ontological complicity; offer a useful way of exploring the articutation of identities, I specifically draw on empirical research about the experiences of British Asian female footballers, to signal how their particular identities articutate in and through the spaces of women's football. I argue that by playing-up some identity dispositions and concomitanly playing-down others. British Asian females are able to negotiate inclusion within the spaces of womens football. However, this does not mean that they automaticlaly become valued insiders. At other times and in other spaces. their marginalisation from within the game is clear. I suggest that considering the intersectional plays of identity captures the complex and nuanced operation of discrimidation. which is often rendered invisible in womens football.