#MeToo movement encounters sports fandom

An article in The New Republic about the relative silence that has accompanied the investigation of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for an alleged rape interviews Susan Cahn, professor of history, who said the muted reaction may have more to do with the gender dynamics of sports than the details of the legal process. “Sports fandom is so invested in this elite form of masculinity that really in some ways is consistent with sexual aggression,” she said. “Male athletes in their prime really represent a kind of virility that’s physical but also sexual.”