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1. With the Tokyo Olympics being a strong platform for female athletes, what effect do you think it will have on women in sports?
I always feel watching sport has a huge impact on people. It inspires people to get moving, get fit and try new sports. I am sure many women who watched other women compete in the recent olympics have been inspired to give sport a shot, even if it’s recreational.
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2. What is your take on the perception that women’s sports only make headlines when athletes perform extraordinary feats?
I agree. I feel women aren’t taken seriously till they go and achieve a huge feat and only then are they looked at as serious sportspersons. Funding, publicity and financial aid only come pouring in when a female athlete ‘makes it big’
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3. How different are individual vs team sports and why?
Individual sports and team sports require a different mindset. I think different kinds of people pick between the two based on ability and personality. Individual sport athletes tend to be introverts and do most of their training alone with their team of coaches
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4. Is gender bias in Indian sports limited to certain types of sports, the place athletes come from or their economic and social background?
I think gender bias is universal across all sports, but is more prominent in some sports. Certain contact sports like rugby, football and boxing are looked at as male sports while non-contact sports like archery, shooting, golf and gymnastics, often see less of a gender bias
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5. What makes sports a less accessible avenue for young girls as compared to boys?
Safety plays a huge role here. Parents are more open to sending their sons out to play a sport than their daughters, given the number of crimes against girls and women. The social expectation of young girls looking a certain way and being groomed to eventually
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6. What are some cultural issues that hamper female athletes in India?
Early marriages, social expectations of what women must look like and what women must wear to appear feminine, a conception that women shouldn’t be aggressive or competitive, that they must stay at home and be domestic, that women are too weak to play physically challenging or contact sports.
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7. How important is economic and financial support for women to participate in sports?
It’s huge! I think a lot more women would fight for a right to play or even be given an opportunity to play sport if it was a financially viable career. Parents would probably even encourage their daughters to play a sport if it could financially support them and their families.
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8. What do you think are the hardships women sports players have to endure even in 2021?
I think things have improved for women athletes but there is still a long way to go before the journey can be deemed a smooth one. Lack of funding in women’s sports seems to be the biggest hurdle. A gender bias that discriminates and sees women athletes get harassed and treated as inferior to male athletes.
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9. What are some ways the common man can support Indian sportswomen?
I think the public in India needs to open their minds to women being top athletes. Yes, there is a difference in physicality between men and women, but that doesn’t make women’s sports any less challenging or entertaining
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