Hooray for the Metro newspaper! I was reading it on the Bakerloo line heading to Casa
Brazil in Somerset House when I saw that they recommended this
exhibition in Sothebys, nearest tube Oxford Circus. So out I jumped at
the aforementioned stop and managed to visit a good portion of the
Middle East in one go.
The exhibition comprises of a series of photos and interviews with sportswomen from Muslim countries.
Women
in sport is quite a topical issue at the moment. This is the first ever
modern Olympics where women have been allowed to compete from every
country.
Lizzie Armstrong who won a cycling silver medal this week used her
interview to highlight continuing discrimination against sportswomen in
the UK. So, as you might imagine, some of the women interviewed in this
exhibition have had a hard time of it and several mentioned challenges they
face. These ranged from criticism that sport makes you less of a woman
(Sudan), a lack of facilities (Morocco), sport not being a subject taught to girls in schools (Saudi Arabia) and the risk of being murdered by
Islamic extremists (Somalia).
It was inspiring to see so many
young women talking about how much they loved their sport and some of
whom were realising their dreams by representing their country in the
2012 Olympics.
