ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an ethnographic vignette detailing how the White Angels’ participation in anti-homophobia initiatives on the terraces led to conflict with other fans. The chapter offers a typology of masculinities in the White Angels and the Bad Blue Boys, based on masculine motifs visible on the terraces. Drawing heavily on the concept of hegemonic masculinity, the production of masculinities is related to both the political context in the post-Yugoslav region and the modes through which state power operates. The roles of female fans in both groups in the fan scene are then considered. Gendered aspects pertaining to group participation are related to articulated sexualities, including views on non-straight sexualities and banter, and a discussion of the (bisexual) researcher’s positionality in relation to group participation. Finally, the roles of violent encounters and claims over public space are considered and the arguments in the chapter are brought together through relating gendered claims the groups make over public space to post-socialist aspects of state power.
