Here Are Some Internet Comments About ‘FIFA 16’ Adding Women

EA Games announced today that FIFA 16, the next release in the soccer game franchise, will include women’s national teams.

It’s the first time that women’s teams have been featured in FIFA games, the last of which boasted over 16,000 players. “About time,” you might reasonably think. “Soccer is one of the most popular team sports for women. There have been national women’s teams for decades, and women have been playing on the same Football Association pitches as men since 1971. Why didn’t I have this option before?”

Or, if you’re an internet commenter, you might have a different view.

After EA Sports released a trailer for the game on YouTube today came a predictable sexist backlash from people who seem to think that having the choice (emphasis on choice) to play with women’s teams would somehow ruin everything. Women in soccer and in games? It was all too much for some to take.

One sexist reaction masquerading as legitimate concern was that adding a small number of women’s teams to the huge existing library of men’s teams would inevitably mean less attention spared to other aspects of the game.

Others worries about a slippery slope. Once you let women into the simulated version of something they actually do to a professional level in real life, what could be next?

Another common observation was the fact that women’s bodies differ from men’s, though they weren’t talking about the 3D scanning and motion capture that EA undertook to “build new locomotion for women.”

Surely the game would have to make other changes to reflect gendered experiences that have nothing to do with playing soccer?

Over at BBC, Amelia Butterly points out that, actually, women can play for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and the FA has support in place for this scenario—and also that women players can deal with periods around game time by taking the pill if they want.

Many have also expressed their pleasure at the move to include women’s teams, and the negative reactions only emphasise why it’s such an important move: the acceptance of women in sport is long-overdue. If only you could reprogram attitudes as easily.