The portrayal of Muslims in Bradford is that everyone is really extremist and people don't let their girls do anything. PHOTO: THE INDEPENDENT
Although there is nothing incongruous about the gender of boxers in these days of Olympic medal-winning female fighters, these young women are also British Pakistani Muslims.
PHOTO: THE INDEPENDENT
This group of girls are preparing for their roles in No Guts, No Heart, No Glory, a play about the lives of young female Muslim boxers which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival last year and arrived in London on Friday.
Most of the girls are not professional boxers and none are professional actors. They are simply college and university students whose real-life stories and experiences have been incorporated into the play.
"The portrayal of Muslims in places like Bradford is that everyone is really extremist and people don't let their girls do anything," says Evie Manning, director of the play and co-founder of the theatre company Common Wealth. "But there are liberal Muslims in the community who don't get talked about," she added.
PHOTO: THE INDEPENDENT
Manning, also from Bradford spoke of how her assumptions about Muslim women were challenged when her mother's niqab-wearing neighbour told her she was a member of an all-women boxing club and invited her to join. Manning then contacted Aisha Zia and they wrote the play together.
"I was interested in writing about Muslim women and empowerment," Zia said, adding that she "wanted to challenge expectations and stereotypes."
Ambreen Sadiq, one of the boxers, was never sure if she'd be allowed to box. "I thought it was a boys' sport but my parents said I should go for it so I had my first competitive fight when I was 15. It was the biggest buzz I had ever had."
Being mixed race, Ambreen was often bullied in her childhood. "I got bullied a lot growing up," she said. "I would get Paki this and Paki that and then Portuguese this and that – I had to fight a lot, both girls and boys. I would react and defend myself. Taking up boxing made me feel safe," she said.
PHOTO: THE INDEPENDENT
Although her parents were supportive, Ambreen faced some opposition from relatives who questioned her parents about allowing their daughter to fight. This led Ambreen to a lot of confusion as to whether she was allowed to fight as a Muslim girl.
She consulted a scholar who told her that men and women were equal and that she was allowed to fight. She is now a former UK national champion and all those relatives who were initially hostile, cheer her on.
The women who feature in the play have a lot more freedom than previous generations and have more supportive parents. They spokeof other young women who were not allowed to go to university because of their gender and others were hastily married off after they were done with their studies.
Manning and Zia's play was much needed to portray the story of young Muslim women in Britain, who are wrongly portrayed by the media as being oppressed and subservient. The media has also wrongly depicted them to be victims of forced marriages or as aspiring militant brides.
In support of the play, many took to social media to express their views and lauded the efforts of Zia and Manning for producing the play.
See a brand new work about young Muslim women.. & boxing
— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) February 26, 2015
No Guts, No Heart, No Glory: http://t.co/xEuz7xxg3D #WOWLDN pic.twitter.com/6Wvd3PsFpJ
The girls in the gym are preparing for their roles in No Guts, No Heart, No Glory, a play about the... http://t.co/2O6umAwoZD #edinburgh
— Comedy and Edinburgh (@ComedyEdinburgh) March 4, 2015
Playwright Aisha Zia On Challenging Stereotypes: 'Why Can't A Woman Wearing Full Niqab Be A Boxer?' http://t.co/PYdlL73f5c
— Bradford Literature Festival (@BradfordLitFest) March 3, 2015
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