The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

The AFL has a long way to go in fostering complete tolerance

1st October, 2014
Advertisement
Brian Taylor is set to become the next voice of Friday night AFL.
Expert
1st October, 2014
55
1233 Reads

The AFL season has come to a close and the trade period has now begun. That sentence seems somewhat anachronistic, but I guess it captures the permeating nature of AFL in our society, a game that never really stops.

It’s of no surprise then, that in the aftermath of the grand final, the football world continues to generate stories, some which make the Hawks win seem like it was an eternity ago.

For me, two stories in particular have grabbed my attention this week. At first I thought that they were unrelated, but now I can’t seem to think of one without the other, as though they are somehow inextricably linked.

The first belongs to Erin Riley, the second to Brian Taylor.

Let’s start with the first story and the main protagonist: Erin Riley.

Riley, like most sports journalists in Australia, wrote an article about last Saturday’s grand final. Unlike most sports journalists, however, she became the victim of Internet trolling.

In response to her article – which challenged the AFL to take a stronger stance on racism, sexism and homophobia – Riley was met with a barrage of abuse.

How ironic. Riley writes an article urging the AFL to foster a greater sense of tolerance, equality and inclusiveness in the game and the overwhelming response she receives is one of complete intolerance, inequality and exclusiveness.

Advertisement

One troll labelled her a “shit person”, another troll labelled her a “bitch”, while another troll said that “women are dumb c**** who don’t know shit about footy”.

I guess what these trolls don’t understand is that Riley actually knows quite a bit about football. In fact, she completed her Honours thesis on AFL in NSW prior to 1982, has taught sport history at UNSW and has even been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University for Australian sport history.

Satisfied, trolls?

Fast forward a few days and we come to the second story with 3AW announcing that they and Brian Taylor will be parting ways.

It is of no surprise to me that after five years at the helm of 3AW Football, Taylor has been relieved of his responsibilities. He had a gaffe-ridden year, making two homophobic slurs, the most notorious on Channel Seven where he labelled Harry Taylor a “big poofter”.

What does surprise me, however, is that Taylor is set to move back to the station from which he was poached five years ago, Triple M. It seems unusual that another radio station would be so eager to take on a liability like Taylor, who thought it was acceptable to repeatedly make homophobic slurs.

But then again, perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, Triple M – the self professed “home of football” on the radio – stands for the same masculine hegemony that Taylor embodies himself.

Advertisement

Not one female commentates or reports for Triple M‘s football programs. I know this because Triple M tweeted an image earlier in the year to celebrate their ratings success – a picture of 25 white, middle-aged men.

This is where the two stories collide. Riley, the female sports writer ridiculed, mocked and taunted for her article on the AFL’s insipid stance on sexism, racism and homophobia, and Taylor, the male football personality that makes homophobic slurs, yet is recruited and therefore rewarded by Triple M.

In her article, Riley says that for too long it has been “acceptable to exclude and marginalise female, racially diverse and LGBTQI fans”. The abusive response to her article, coupled with Taylor’s move back to Triple M, confirms that this exclusion not only exists, but is alive and kicking.

The AFL has a great capacity to act as a vehicle for social change, but when the media that report on the AFL are representative of only a small share of the game’s supporter base, this capacity is somewhat diminished.

We need greater diversity in all levels of football so that people like Erin Riley don’t have their credentials questioned by malicious trolls, and so people like Brian Taylor aren’t rewarded with another radio contract for making homophobic slurs.

close