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Women bodybuilders grapple with gender stereotypes in quest for six-packs & biceps

MUMBAI: An international bodybuilding championship s started on the 5th of December in Goregaon  includes first-time female athletes from India. These young women have cast aside their vanity and acquired six-pack abs, a manly voice and rippling biceps, defying the stereotype of feminine beauty.

The Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF) is organizing the 6th World Body Building Championship & Physique SportsCompetition at Bombay Exhibition Centre, NESCO, during December 5-9. Women from Jaipur, Manipur and Mumbai took on rivals from 50 countries.

Men’s jaws dropped in awe when one contestant, Shweta Rathod, told  TOI. "I am participating in the model physique category where I will wear a bikini and pose for 90 seconds. If I win, I will be the first Indian to do so," says the Jaipur native with a waist size of 24 inches.

Another participant, Steffi D’Souza, had been training four hours a day for six months, but her luck gave way. She tore a ligament last week and could not take part. Except Steffi, whose father Tony was Mr Bombay, most girls tell common stories of resentful parents, furtive gym sessions and expensive diets.

Leela Phad began by playing kabaddi, then did power lifting and passed the UPSC exam for sales tax inspector, but gave up the career. To this day, her parents do not know she practices bodybuilding. Gold medalist Mamta Devi Yumnam, a mother of three from Manipur, found support from her husband Borun, a former Mr India and Mr Asia.

Kalina resident Natasha Pradhan, a single mother, has struggled hard to get this far. "I failed to qualify, but I will try next year," she says bravely. Natasha was an extremely reticent girl who felt compelled by circumstance to "show men that women can do it too".

The ladies grapple with problems tougher than dumbbells and bars.
"Steroids, for instance, are an integral part of bodybuilding. The side effects can be tough to handle. I suffer mood swings and hyperventilate owing to the hormonal changes that take place in the body," says Natasha.

Body shapes change so often it becomes difficult to identify the girls in their picture albums. "One cannot be muscular all the time; you have to allow the body to relax," explains Natasha