Sports

Editorial – Sports and Sexuality
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Cricket, football, hopscotch, whatever the game, we have all wanted to be included for the sheer joy not only of exercising body and mind but also of being part of a team, of being noticed and celebrated. Sports and athletics offer us a playground to explore and express parts of ourselves that may otherwise forever lie dormant.

By TARSHI
April 21, 2023
Editorial – Sports and Sexuality
One-sided Relationships in Sports
A zoomed-out shot of a football stadium. A lot of pamphlets are flying in the air and one can make out the excitement among the audience.

The fans invest emotional energy, and time, knowing very well that the players may never know of their existence or reciprocate the same emotions. That, however, does not deter them from feeling and living those emotions.

By Shriya Roy
April 21, 2023
One-sided Relationships in Sports
Playing ball
School kids going about their day, running, and having fun in groups on the big school playground as witnessed through a net.

The gendered assumption that girls are generally disinterested in sports, could be easily refuted by the fact that the principal’s office shelf was adorned with multiple trophies awarded to the girls’ hockey team for winning championships.”

By Bijayalaxmi Biswal and Karen Coelho
April 21, 2023
Playing ball
Bend the ball like Beckham, but where?
Selective focus shot of outdoor playground swings.

Such open spaces to play sports are mainly occupied by men, while women are mostly excluded on account of various gender norms. This also applies to many underprivileged girls coming from the margins of caste and class who lack access to safe and inclusive open public spaces to play, such as public parks or maidans.

By Anchal Kumari and Vinayak
April 21, 2023
Bend the ball like Beckham, but where?
Serving Looks: Encounters with the Aesthetics of Tennis
A woman is playing tennis on a court in the distance with her back towards the camera. The shot is captured through the boundary net.

I discovered that tennis is not only about having the privilege to buy a racquet and specialised tennis shoes and access a tennis court. It is also about how one performs and expresses oneself, requiring players to follow a particular aesthetic that enforces gender binaries.

By Chitrangi Kakoti
April 21, 2023
Serving Looks: Encounters with the Aesthetics of Tennis
Descent into Darkness
A poster of No Limit, a Netflix movie

No Limits explores several themes – the struggles that athletes go through to reach their goals, the personal and professional risks they take to break records, the compromises they make and the single-minded focus required of them.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
April 21, 2023
Descent into Darkness
Video: Grown-up Girls
Video Growing Up

They use sports, technology, arts, and media to express themselves and to build the confidence to exercise choice and negotiate decisions about their bodies, health and life.

By Valleri Sharma
April 21, 2023
Video: Grown-up Girls
Sport and LGBTQ+ rights – a fantasy?
An installation of the Olympic rings in profile towards the right. The time is evening/night and the rings are lit up by lights on the ground.

The spotlight that the world’s biggest sporting event (arguably) has along with the inherent gender and sexuality bias in sport come together in how sportspersons and athletes are both perceived and perceive themselves in mainstream and social media.

By Tanya Kini
April 6, 2023
Sport and LGBTQ+ rights – a fantasy?
Un/dress codes in sport
A close-up of a green playing field with dividing lines.

Lack of women’s representation in policy-making institutions has allowed men, often with minimal understanding and empathy, to decide what women in sports can or cannot wear. As a result, these policies have ended up undermining women’s comfort as well as agency.

By Isha Saxena and Tariqa Tandon
April 6, 2023
Un/dress codes in sport
Lost and Found
A close-up of a person walking on a path in a park. They are on the right side of the photo and only their legs are visible.

From today’s vantage point I see that I missed an opportunity to use PT and sports in school as a way to get to know and move my body. This in turn held me back from viewing myself as a sexual being.

By Kajol Hinduja
April 6, 2023
Lost and Found
Video: Who Says Sports Aren’t for Women? | The Swaddle
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Society finds a million different ways to tell us that sports are not for women but why? In popular culture, it is mostly men who are shown to be excelling at sports. Athletic women are shown as out-of-place ‘tomboys’ and outcasts.

By Curated Content
April 6, 2023
Video: Who Says Sports Aren’t for Women? | The Swaddle
Despite all odds
A poster of the Netflix film 'Rising Phoenix'.

In the spirit of the Games, I watched the Netflix film Rising Phoenix which documents the history of the Paralympics and its impact on the world in making visible the topic of disability. It also tracks the personal and professional journey of some of the top Paralympic athletes who share their challenges, frustrations and motivations.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
August 2, 2021
Despite all odds
INTERVIEW: DR. PAYOSHNI MITRA
photo of activist Dr. Payoshini Mitra. She wears glasses and long hair, and is wearing a black sweater with an orange-and-black patterned scarf

Dr. Payoshni Mitra, a researcher, activist and writer working on gender issues in sport in India with special emphasis on intersexuality…

By TARSHI Team
December 1, 2014
INTERVIEW: DR. PAYOSHNI MITRA
Woman, man or a little bit of both? How deciding Caster Semenya’s gender is more complex than you might think
A picture of athlete Caster Semenya. She is wearing a yellow and green jersey with 'south africa' written on it and is holding up a flag of south africa behind her.

This post was originally published at Mail Online. The family and friends of the teenager who struck gold in the women’s…

By Curated Content
September 15, 2014
Woman, man or a little bit of both? How deciding Caster Semenya’s gender is more complex than you might think
Sport is slowly catching up with transgender realities
A photo of Renee Richards, the first transsexual woman to play in competitive sport after transitioning. She is wearing a white uniform and cap and is holding up a tennis racket.

“The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione,” stated the mixed martial arts governing body, which recently suspended…

By Curated Content
September 15, 2014
Sport is slowly catching up with transgender realities
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