Women and Sectarianism in Scotland: Policing Ethno-Christian Relational Boundaries

Sara Diane Lindores, Independent Scholar

This briefing paper examines sectarianism and the gendered, social construction of ethno-Christian groups in Scotland. In this paper I explore the silence and invisibility of different women’s experiences of sectarianism and argue that the hegemonic masculinity of sectarianism tends to frame this social issue within public, male-dominated spheres such as football. As a result, I found that these masculine narratives seem to have impacted the female participants’ ability to articulate and accept the positionality of women in relation to sectarianism. The findings also point towards the gendered role of women as loyal protectors of identity in policing, maintaining and reproducing the sectarianized boundaries of ethno-Christian groups.