NEXT OF WIN

Female athletes are reclaiming their bodies and beating the male gaze at its own game.

- MAAHI SHAH

Sports comprises the highest of highs, and lowest of lows, and exemplifies the very things that make us human grit, passion, determination, and endurance. Yet, for all that it does, sports has been a largely male-dominated field for much of its history with little to no space for women to belong. Then, when women finally paved the path, the male gaze on them heightened, and for the female athletes themselves, the pressure to conform, getting mired by misogynistic and objectifying headlines, and navigating through myriad stereotypes, took precedence over loving their body until it didn't. The past decade has witnessed a reclamation of the female body like never before.

Bazaar India speaks with women athletes, sports psychologists and journalists to explore the evolving landscape of body image, its psychological impact, the role played by the media, and how it's all changing for a more inclusive future.

NORMS THAT MARKED THE BEGINNING

We live in a world that seems to be obsessed with the way women look and the way they're supposed to. Those, who don't conform, face the brunt under the guise of neighbourly concern. Hailing from Jodhkan village in Haryana, Savita Punia, a goalkeeper for the Indian hockey team, says, "Honestly, it wasn't easy. Hockey is an outdoor game. You are going to get tanned. When I used to come home after training, many people from the community would say things like 'she's becoming so dark-skinned"." Punia recalls how when she would go to watch a women's match in her village, she would "observe the male audiences talking about female athletes as though they were objects. They would know nothing about the game but were there only to watch the girls and comment on their bodies."