The Boxers of Kabul: Women, Boxing and Islam

Abstract

IntroductionIn this chapter we focus on women who box, in particular Muslim women who box. Within Sport Studies and the Sociology of Sport there is limited discussion of this topic; Mitra (2009) offers one of few accounts. In the literature, there exist broader discussions surrounding women, Islam and sport and/or physical activity (cf.

The gendering of coaching from an athlete perspective: The case of Norwegian boxing

“…Mennesson, 2000), studies indicate that women in boxing still experience discrimination because of their gender (Paradis, 2009; Tjønndal, 2016a, 2016b). This applies to athletes (Godoy-Pressland, 2015; Jennings and Cabrera Velazquez, 2015; Kipnis and Caudwell, 2015), as well as female leaders such as coaches, judges and referees (McCree, 2011, 2015; Tjønndal, 2016b). Similar gendered phenomena has also been found in other martial arts and combat sports such as kickboxing, mixed martial arts (MMA) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Spencer, 2012; Weaving, 2015).…”

‘I don’t think they realise how good we are’: Innovation, inclusion and exclusion in women’s Olympic boxing

“…However, other countries deny women participation in competitive boxing altogether (McCree, 2015; Tjønndal, 2017). Access to adequate material recourses is also part of Donnelly and Coakley’s (2002) five cornerstones of inclusion and, while women boxers still have less funding and fewer resources than their male counterparts (Chaudhuri, 2012; Kipnis and Caudwell, 2015), the Olympics changed the opportunities for female boxers in many countries (Jennings and Cabrera Velazquez, 2015). British Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams 11 responded to the news of women’s boxing being introduced into the Olympics in this way: We’ve achieved so much already without having access to funding.…”

“…Many female boxers tell stories similar to these, explaining that they do not feel respected for their athletic abilities and skill (e.g. Kim et al, 2015; Kipnis and Caudwell, 2015; Tjønndal and Hovden, 2016). Shields also talked about the lack of recognition, belonging and acceptance as a female fighter: As far as boxing goes, we are just not getting on that platform to where we’re getting some recognition.…”

“…Before the Olympic Games in London, boxing was the only summer sport without a female discipline (Linder, 2012). While female boxers have gained access to a previously closed realm, discrimination, exclusion and unequal treatment of female athletes remains a widespread problem in elite boxing (Kipnis and Caudwell, 2015;Van Ingen and Kovacs, 2012). This article explores how the introduction of women's boxing into the Olympic Games involves practices of inclusion and exclusion in elite boxing.…”

A Good Fight: How Indigenous Women Approach Boxing as a Mechanism for Social Change

“…Scholars such as van Ingen (2011aIngen ( , 2011bIngen ( , 2013Ingen ( , 2016 and Tjønndal (2016aTjønndal ( , 2019aTjønndal ( , 2019b traverse the artificial divide between historical and sociological research, contributing to both disciplines. We also now have sociological studies of women's boxing from a diverse range of countries including the Netherlands (Dortants & Knoppers, 2016), Afghanistan (Kipnis & Cauldwell, 2015), Australia (Nash, 2017), England (Godoy-Pressland, 2015), France (Mennesson, 2012), Ireland (Free, 2015), South Korea (Kim et al, 2015), Trinidad and Tobago (McCree, 2015), and Zambia (Meier & Saavedra, 2009). Yet, comparable studies of Indigenous female boxers in the United States and Canada do not exist.…”