There are two things one can never do in this world: straighten up a dog's tail and teach a woman what an offside is...
After watching the game with me for 10 minutes, my mother asked: Why can't they all have a ball each, instead of running behind one? (!)
The internet is filled with such gender-oriented jokes (which the perpetrators call "polite humour"), and with the FIFA World Cup, such misogynist "wit" has been increasingly doing rounds on Facebook troll pages and family WhatsApp groups.
Such blatant indifference and sexist attitude toward's women's love for the game has gained momentum even as an audience measurer by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) shows that women make up nearly half of 100 million World Cup 2018 viewers in India.
So what fun do men get from this conscious alienation of women from football? Does one's gender really determine your like and dislike for a game? Who sets the parameters to become a fan of the sport?
Kripa N Sangma, a AIFF accredited football referee and the former player, feels it is the mindset of a majority of men, that they know better about the game than women, which is the root cause of such ostracisation. In the experience of having played for St Joseph's College, Bengaluru, she said: "Men think they know all about the game and try to dominate women. They like to talk about the game but will never listen to what we have to say. They tend to believe the World Cup and foreign leagues are something beyond women's comprehension."
Starting off just two and a half years ago, what this 23-year-old Assamese has achieved in such a short period is nothing short of remarkable, and not many men around have a resume that can match hers. But Kripa says gender neutralises merit when it comes to football. "They (male players) never took fitness sessions which I lead seriously, but respected my male counterparts a lot at the same time," she said.
Lack of foundation
Kripa feels the women's football is not supported by the All Indian Football Federation. She said the body has to spend a lot more on them considering the fact that many female players are fighting objections at home to presume a career as a professional footballer. "No wonder Indians who know Sunil Chhetri and Baichung Bhutia have no clue who Bala Devi or Bembem Devi are. How many of us even know there is a top-tier women's league in this country?" she asks.
"Don't get tanned for the ball, girl!"
Harshitha Kumaya, a former player for Chennai WCC college team agrees with Kripa's claim. She remembers how she and other girls were left to be just stared at while the boys' team roamed the school ground. But why?
"My family and friends wanted me to quit football because they said I was getting tanned by the sun. They said that a girl should not be on the field voluntarily."
She added many of her male friends never let her join their games despite knowing that she represented the college team.
"Our team used to practice for about three hours every afternoon no matter how hot the sun was. But the guys never cared. It somehow didn't get into their heads that girls can play football," she said.
Change is gradual
Anargha Arsha Alexander, a state-level throw-ball player from Kerala feels if the society has something against sportswomen, then there needs to be an awareness about it.
"If the community thinks men putting up football flexes are natural, but women shouldn't then that concept needs to be addressed. Let the girls spend more time at the playgrounds after 4 PM like the boys. Let's start with not forcing them to take tuition after tuition post school hours."
The commerce graduate from CMS College, Kottayam further adds that there exists a myth that a man is unavoidable for a female athletes success. "My father is working abroad and thus has his limits. My mother is my biggest motivator. Neither the social stereotypes nor your gender really matters if you have the passion and mind to hard work," she said.
Integration- not segregation is the solution
So how can women celebrate their love for the game without being jeered or ridiculed in public? How long will it take for the sceptics to realise the offside-rule is not gender-oriented to understand?
Will we ever see them at public screenings and clubs in football jerseys cheering and whistling as their favourites push forward with the ball? What is stopping them from opening places for themselves to discuss sports?
But Anargha has a problem with that suggestion.
"Why should women have separate spaces to enjoy a sports game, why can't they watch it where men do? In fact, how come spaces celebrating football become a 'place for men'? Then what gender equality are we talking about? the state-level throw-ball player asks.
Interestingly, the Chennai wing of "Manjappada" the official fan group of Kerala-based ISL side Kerala Blasters have no female members. When enquired it was told that they operate in an "only women" space called "Manjappada Girls." However, none of the members was available to comment.