‘Male-like’ women in sports

Very few of us genuinely appreciate accomplishments; we are more concerned with the individual’s physical attributes.

Hey, just want to let you know that you do not deserve to be called a woman; your physique is too ‘male-like’.

This is a summary of the complaint made by the coach of the England women’s kabaddi team against three of the athletes belonging to the Pakistan contingent.

According to reports in the Indian media, the coach claimed that he had informed the authorities of his concerns before the scheduled group match between the two teams. He said he had ‘closely’ watched the Pakistani team during their previous matches and at least three of the players’ robust build had him all hot and bothered and that it would be unfair on the women of his team if those players were allowed to compete.

Fortunately, the gender test he called for was not administered by the officials in India where the World Cup was taking place and the tie went ahead. England lost and again there were mutterings of dirty play. However, did anyone stop and think about what the women in the Pakistan team must have endured when apprised of the allegations? What mental agony they must have gone through on being singled out in that manner on an international level?

Body-shaming is ingrained so deep in our minds that we hardly think twice before labelling others as ‘not-a-woman’ and ‘not-a-man’ according to the standards we have set. If someone does not conform to the physical qualities that the whole world has prescribed for qualifying as a male or a female, they are almost instantly accused of cheating on humanity. I regret that I am guilty of doing the same as well, no matter how much I remind myself of the absurdity of the above-mentioned criteria.

The prejudice is not limited to our society alone. Serena Williams, the world number one tennis player, is often targeted all over the globe for her body image. Very few of us genuinely appreciate accomplishments; we are more concerned with the individual’s (especially women’s) physical attributes.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2013.