Why Soccer in She's the Man?

After reading Twelfth Night and other Shakespearian works that include transvestite theater, the inclusion of soccer to the plot of She’s the Man, seems like the perfect plot enhancer.

After discussions in class about Shakespeare’s characters, such as Viola, Rosalind, and/or Portia ability to effectively act as a male. It makes sense that the writers of She’s the Man would want an activity that perhaps their female, in disguise as a male, would realistically be able to take part in. Of course, there is an argument to be made that a female could do this for any sport, but without getting into a gender debate, soccer makes the most sense.

Men or Women's soccer??

 Soccer is one of the few popular sports with male and female equivalency.  Think about it. There if football, a primarily male sport, with no other “female” equivalency. With baseball there is softball, a completely separate sport. In men and women’s basketball, although they are very similar there are several different rules for each gender, plus despite the similarities, the basketball size is different for both. In volleyball, the net for men and women’s are at different height. Unlike all the sports mentioned above, there is an equivalent to men’s soccer for women and the rules do not change based on gender.

Viola probably could have worn her hair up...

I feel that there is a modern day anxiety questioning Shakespeare’s ability to realistically portray a female dressed as a male and for it to appear plausible. We have examined different interpretations to how to handle cross-dressing, comical, realistic, effective. After reading reviews on She’s the Man, many people are critical towards the plot, saying it’s not really believable—which isn’t necessarily the point. Even though overall the movie is handled as a comedy and probably not meant to be believable, there is a sense of realism to it because of Viola/Sebastian’s ability to take part in a sport that is meant for both males and females. I wonder how the movie would have been different if the sport would have been football, per say.

Cross Dressing Women

Out of the plays we have read so far, Shakespeare continually questions gender roles and politics. Within The Merchant of Venice, Portia is introduced as a desirable woman before we even meet her.

Portia’s wealth makes her an immediate meal ticket for Bassanio, and she immediately takes on the masculine quality of being in power or control because of this wealth.

When Portia cross-dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio’s life during the big trial scene she also crosses the gender lines (quite literally) and not only is she clever enough to save Bassanio’s BFF (or possible lover?) she also makes it so both men owe her big time.

Portia maintains these male traits when she tricks Bassanio into giving her the ring (the one she made him promise to never part from) In doing this, Portia is able to regain agency within the limited circumstances that her father left for her to live in. She basically tells Bassanio that he better not fuck up again, and that she can do presumably whatever she wants. By the end of the play, Portia has successfully tricked the men into believing she was a male judge, and she outsmarts everyone and winds up on top. 

After Portia, Shakespeare gives us Rosalind in As You Like It. Rosalind takes cross dressing to an even greater level than Portia does. Not only does Rosalind cross dress as Ganymede, she causes all sorts of a  cluster fuck of relationships that cannot possibly work. Rosalind is an interesting character because she not only breaks the hetero-normative status of women, but she also breaks the traditional homoerotic relationships as well. The younger partner is supposed to be the more receptive one, but Ganymede controls the relationship with Orlando.

Finally, Shakespeare destroys all boundaries between men in women in  The Merchant of Venice. Viola, the main female character uses cross dressing as a way to get what she wants as well.  Instead of discussing the play itself, I want to discuss the plays modern day portrayal of  The Twelfth Knight She’s The Man. This movie maintains similar character names and plots to the play. 

This movie was produced in 2006 and stars Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. Viola (the main female character) wants to play soccer for a school, but is rejected because she is a female. Viola conjures up a plan to take her brother Sebastian’s place at a boarding school so that he can go to London and perform with his band, and so she can play soccer. Though the stories are not exactly the same, a female is cross-dressing in order to get what she wants. Like Portia and Rosalind, Viola is willing to act as a man in order to attain the things she wants. 

At the end of the movie, Viola tells her team that she has been impersonating her brother and she convinces them of this by showing her breasts. Similar to Portia and how she was able to fool everyone, Viola successfully fooled her teammates into thinking she was a man, and is able to remain on the team at the end of the movie.

Just like Portia and Rosalind fooled their 'lovers', Viola (Sebastian) has fooled her roommate Duke who has met the actual Viola and has feelings for her.

Cross-dressing within all of these plays  allow  Portia, Rosalind, and Viola to carry out a role that they would be unable to do as women. Portia and Nerrissa can attend Antonio’s trial and set him free, Rosalind is able to marry the man she wants, and Viola (from the movie) is allowed the chance to play on a male soccer team. Before each of these women cross-dress they are only permitted to pray and hope for their causes, but the instant they are transformed into male characters, they can single-handedly help and get what they want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofIzQbTGQ2E