SHE wants to be a boxer!!!????

When a friends’ 6-year old daughter asked “Can I be a boxer when I grow up?’ her urbane, progressive
parents were flummoxed. Girls playing any sport, leave alone competitive sport are a big exception in
India. Changing norms around women & sport will have a stronger impact in India, by helping break
norms that currently limit what half our country’s populations is ‘allowed’ to do.

We all know that social and cultural norms more than

academic pressures actively discourage girls from
pursuing sport. The barriers clearly start at home, when
parents dissuade daughters from active sport when they
reach 13/14, with the admonishment, ‘you’ll turn into a
boy’.

A small experiment affirmed that the limiting perception of girls and sport remain firmly embedded,
although there are heartening signs of change.

So here’s the experiment.

The question I asked on twitter was: ‘If your daughter wanted to pursue boxing, would you allow and
encourage her?’

If you’re wondering why I chose an extreme sport like boxing instead of athletics or tennis? ‘Any sport,
except boxing, you’re a girl!’ is still a frightfully common reaction if girls want to pursue any contact
sport.

Boxing sharply brings into focus our perceptions of which sport are ‘acceptable’ for women, spotlights
opinion on ‘ladylike’ behavior, and wraps in the question of safety & women in sport that have a high,
injury-risk profile.

Among the different perspectives that emerged, it was heartening to see that most people would allow
and encourage their daughters to make a choice and if that choice was boxing, so be it.
But the challenges are many.

Parents think it’s unsuitable for girls: A friend asked in jest, ‘can you imagine the reaction of prospective
in-laws on being told the bride likes to box!’ A joke this may be, but it does reflect underlying social fears
that affect parents.

Unladylike/ unattractive: We all know daughters or friends

giving up sport [even karate, that’s popular as a self-defence
technique] because peers, especially boyfriends found it
unladylike or intimidating.

The opposite is equally true – if a boy wanted to pursue

figure-skating, he’d be scoffed at for not choosing a manly
sport!

Peer pressure: The peer pressure on teenagers to conform and be ‘attractive’ is immense. At an age
when young minds should have the freedom to explore, experiment and grow, conditioning and peer
pressure enforce conformity. In the absence of parental support and perspective, it is unlikely that a girl
will continue with any sport, let alone boxing.

Injury risk: The long-term injury risk to boxers, irrespective of gender, continues to raise concern.
Detractors have called boxing a `Ticket to Brain-Damaged Oblivion'; Australian doctors decried the
inclusion of women’s boxing at London 2012; so did the British Medical Association and the BBC

While the public image of boxing remains trapped in ‘knock-downs and bloody fights’, fact is you’d find
this scenario largely among professional boxers.

It’s useful to distinguish professional boxers from

amateurs who compete in different weight
categories at the Olympic and Commonwealth
Games. Rounds are won on points rather than
knock-outs and boxers have to strictly comply with
safety regulations that include protective gear.
While there are many reports on brain-damage and external injuries to boxers, I haven’t found scientific
reports that explore the specific impact on women-boxers.

Boxing has found new believers. Sports writer David Owen whose daughter is an active rider [another
sport with a high, injury-risk profile], believes boxing can play a constructive role in society. For instance,
programmes that target violence-prone youth have found boxing particularly useful in weaning youth
away from crime.

Burqua boxers and other trivia

Surprisingly, women’s boxing has a long and colourful history. Before the movie Million Dollar Babe and
Muhammad Ali’s daughter Layla Ali made history, there were many who took the tough road, facing
down powerful detractors.

More recently, the burqua boxers turned our attention to the challenges women face, even before they
step into the ring. There are also young Muslim women from India, taking up boxing here and here.

I salute their courage.

Changing norms around women and sport

Women’s boxing will debut as an Olympic sport at London 2012. It’s been a long journey. Four-time
world champion, India’s Mary Kom is a medal contender.

It is surprising and inspiring to find ‘the most successful women in amateur boxing history’ is from
India, where girls are not active sportswomen per se and far behind their peers in England or Australia.
Incidentally, Mary Kom won the fourth World title nearly a year after delivering twins!

Changing norms around women and sport in India, requires many exceptions like Mary Kom who go on
to show that being a woman or a mother should not and will not limit our choices, in the field of sport or
in the ring of life.

When that 6 year old girl is older and closer to making a choice, I hope the question changes to ‘how’
rather than ‘if’ sport is a dream worth pursuing.