Sport, Sex And Gender

The gendered and sexualised dynamics within sport has dire consequences for its female athletes

- Tanvir Aeijaz

IT is a 'travesty of sport' that the women wrestlers in India are forced to wrestle with the mighty State-the Leviathan— just that the Leviathan has an identifiable face in the name of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the principal governing body of the sport in India. The women wrestlers are indeed wrestling for justice.

The multiple world medallist, Vinesh Phogat, the Olympic medallist, Sakshi Malik, a minor and four other women wrestlers, filed an FIR against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh-a BJP parliamentarian from Kaiserganj (UP) and a powerful figure in the WFI, alleging years of sexual harassment and abuse by him. The law, rather than taking its course swiftly in such a case, took a different direction, thanks to social media discourse. Scores of wrestlers protesting, including Bajrang Punia, the Olympic medallist, for more than a couple of months, demanding the arrest of the accused, couldn't succeed even after meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The support to the protesting wrestlers trickled in at the beginning but now, with farm leaders, panchayat leaders, opposition leaders, sportspersons, feminists and a small section of 'non-godi' media lending their hand, the protest has gained ground.

Such a protest against powerful and patriarchal institutions, by its very innate nature, is political and existential. What is noteworthy in this whole episode of sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women wrestlers, is that it opens up space to understand the gendered and sexualised dynamics of sport in general, in the West, and its impact on the rest of the world.

The Sex and Gender Nexus in Sport