WAGs, or ‘wives and girlfriends’, refer to the partners of celebrity male athletes. Though glamourised in social media as the ultimate fairytale with attention drawn to their outfits, aesthetic and demeanour, in fact, the concept of the WAG acts as a means through which misogyny can manifest in the sporting crowd. Women are stripped of individual identity and autonomy in favour of becoming an extension of male success or an accessory, with fans placing unattainable standards onto WAGs due to the popularity of their partners.
This misogyny occurs even when a WAG is another celebrity, highly accomplished in their own field or famous in their own right. Taylor Swift, for example, is endlessly heckled for attending Travis Kelce’s football games. Similarly, Kim Kardashian has seen an influx of hatred online following her attendance of the paddock as the girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton. This insecurity surrounding female success is merely entrenched by the concept of the WAG, as these women are degraded by the fans of the male athlete based on appearance, insignificant actions or the public’s perception of their relationship. Similarly, the WAG title allows any individual success of the woman to be intrinsically tied to their partner as they are defined by their status as a ‘wife and girlfriend’.
Another way this misogyny is manifested is when fans perceive that the WAG is not attractive enough to be with their partner. Harry Kane’s wife, Kate Goodland, is a particular victim of this. Childhood sweethearts, the two celebrated seven years of marriage with their four children this year. However, throughout Kane’s stellar career there has been a consistent stream of misogynistic vitriol online targeted at Goodland with particular reference to her looks and ‘lesser’ profession as a fitness coach. Similarly, Declan Rice’s childhood sweetheart Lauren Fryer faces similar abuse despite the pair having been together for 11 years. Seemingly, male athletes need to be with pin-up super models to appease the unattainable standards that the WAG label demands, but even this is not the case; they are dismissed for their ‘unimportant’ professions in contrast to those of their partners.
Thus, the term WAG is not merely an innocent way to reference the partners of male athletes. Instead, it is a means through which the sporting industry can openly demean women, stripping them of their agency in favour of making them accessories to their partners. Though the concept has been glamourised, ultimately the WAG can be boiled down to the modern manifestation of the ‘trophy wife’ archetype, packaged for the social media era. There are no ‘HABs,’ and hatred of WAGs rarely extends to criticism of the athlete himself.
Photo by Omar Ramadan on Unsplash under the Unsplash license.
