‘These are “our” sports’: Kabaddi and Kho-Kho women athletes from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Abstract

Women’s participation in sports and physical activities lags behind that of men, particularly among members of underrepresented or marginalized groups. Pakistani women from the rural areas of southern Punjab represent one such group. The aim of this study was to examine how traditional sports that are less well-known outside the Indian subcontinent offer opportunities for marginalized Pakistani women from Southern Punjab to participate in physical activities. Following a phenomenological approach, we conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with Kho-Kho and Kabaddi women athletes from underrepresented groups in Pakistan. Elo and Kyngäs’ three-phase content analysis process (preparation, organization and reporting) was used to examine interviews. The results of the study revealed that participants feel constrained by the systematic masculine hegemonic culture institutionalized by Pakistani society and the western sporting paradigm. However, the participants reported a sense of liberation and security via traditional sports. Our study contributes to the limited knowledge about women’s participation in traditional sports beyond the western world.

Keywords

Indian subcontinent Muslim women Pakistani athletes social reproduction lens traditional sports

Introduction

People think so; we are prostitutes only because we want the freedom to participate in sports.

(Maria, a 20-year-old Kabaddi athlete)

Women are always discouraged from taking part in any physical activity (in Pakistan), either traditional or mainstream. There is systematic discouragement for women, people say you are wasting your time, your body will change, you will become more masculine, and you will become black.

(Shakeela, a 19-year-old Kho-Kho athlete)

Women’s participation in physical activities corresponds with positive psychological and physical outcomes (Wegner et al., 2016). As a result, numerous international and local developmental organizations are working in developing countries to encourage women’s inclusion in sports (Biyanwila, 2018). However, women’s participation in physical activities stays low compared to that of men (Pfister, 2010). For example, Guthold et al. (2018) conducted a pooled analysis of 358 population-based surveys containing 168 countries’ data. The researchers revealed that, as per the World Health Organization’s (WHO) physical activity definition, 31.7% of women are physically inactive, a figure substantially higher than the 23.4% of men. The WHO (2016) defined physical inactivity as individuals’ inability to achieve a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical movements per week, or an equivalent combination of both. The rate of physical inactivity is particularly alarming among underrepresented and marginalized groups (Wegner et al., 2016).

Likewise, gender differences in physical activities and sports participation are even more pronounced among women living in Muslim countries (Benn et al., 2011; Walseth and Fasting, 2003). For instance, 35.5% of Muslim women are physically inactive as compared to 28.8% of Muslim men (Kahan, 2015). Similarly, 48.1% of women from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are physically inactive as compared to 32.7% of Pakistani men (Kahan, 2015). These differences also exist in elite-level sports. For example, despite Pakistan being the sixth most populous country in the world and having a population of approximately 100 million women (World Bank, 2019), only 10 Pakistani women have participated in the Summer Olympic Games since Pakistan’s independence in 1947 (Laar et al., 2019). These variations exist even with robust Islamic theological literature supporting women’s inclusion in sports (Benn et al., 2011; Walseth and Fasting, 2003).

Extant scholarship shows that exclusion of Muslim women from sporting arenas is due to the lack of economic resources and various socio-cultural forces, such as customary norms, religious doctrine, western sports, Islamophobia and historically divided gender roles (Benn et al., 2011; Nakamura, 2002; Ratna and Samie, 2017; Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017; Walseth and Fasting, 2003). However, it should be noted that neither Muslim women nor the Muslim world are homogenous entities (Leila, 1992; Samie, 2017). For example, Muslim women of the Indian subcontinent face different challenges compared to Muslim women in the Middle East. Still, international and local developmental organizations mostly follow an essentialist approach (Biyanwila, 2018) while promoting sporting activities in the Muslim world. Further, many sporting activities promoted in the developing world are rooted in western culture (Biyanwila, 2018), which might restrict Muslim women’s sports participation. Similarly, Spaaij and Jeanes (2013) underscored that Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) movements outside the western world reinforce the western sporting paradigm, leading to historically marginalized communities’ exclusion from the sporting arenas. This notion is consistent with Bourdieu’s (1978) argument about the sporting paradigm being a tool for the protection of the privileged class. For instance, Edwards (2009) highlighted that European colonizers had been in charge of global sports, and they have systematically restricted traditional sports in various cultures to promote their sporting agenda. Moreover, in numerous Muslim countries, men enjoy the privileged status (Joly, 2017) and the western sporting paradigm because of its colonized masculine roots (Dworkin and Messner, 2002; Messner, 1988), might strengthen men’s control over women. Thus, the western sporting paradigm might systematically restrict women’s sports participation in the Global South (Biyanwila, 2018), especially in various patriarchal societies, such as Pakistan.

Researchers have highlighted that Pakistani women are systematically marginalized by various socio-historical forces, such as post-colonial structures and men’s power over certain institutions (Faiz, 2015; Warraich and Farooq, 2015). Nevertheless, there remains a paucity of research regarding how masculine hegemony is produced across generations in the Pakistani sporting environment, especially in the traditional sports context. In this study, we sought to touch upon broader forces that can intersect and systematically marginalize women participants of traditional sports who belong to underrepresented groups. Therefore, we aim to answer a research question (RQ1) that explores how Pakistani traditional sports participants (women) are systematically marginalized.

Despite facing systematic marginalization, there is some evidence that women in the Indian subcontinent are motivated to take part in traditional sports rooted in local culture (Eleazar, 2017; Sen, 2015), thus defying socio-cultural norms and expectations. Kho-Kho and Kabaddi represent two such traditional sports. There is a long history of women from the Indian subcontinent taking part in Kho-Kho and Kabaddi (Eleazar, 2017; Kreedon, 2019). For instance, according to some historians, Kabaddi was invented around 4000 years ago in the Vedic period of ancient India. It was even played by the Lord Krishna – one of the Hindu gods (Chronicles of Cultures, 2019). Even some Buddhist scriptures claim that Gautama Buddha (i.e. the founder of Buddhism) played Kabaddi for recreation (Nambiar, 2016). Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between the two opposing teams with seven players each. Out of the seven players, there is a single player at the front, who is known as a raider. The raider has to run into the opposing team and tag-out as many defenders as possible by touching them. After tagging the opposing team defenders, the raider has to cross the opposing team half-line without being tackled. This all has to be done by the raider in a single breath. The raider must take a breath before the raid and continuously chant ‘Kabaddi’ during the raid to prove that another breath is not taken. In Pakistan, Kabaddi is considered as a proper sport. Also, Kabaddi is commonly perceived as men’s outdoor sports.

Meanwhile, Kho-Kho is also a contact team sport; however, it is mostly played indoors by women. Further, Kho-Kho is perceived as a recreational sport. Nine players from each team take the field in a Kho-Kho match. Out of nine players, one player is an active chaser, whereas others are defenders. In Kho-Kho, the active chaser knocks out other team opponents by touching them, whereas the defenders have to avoid being touched while trying to move the active chaser out of the defined field. Kho-Kho was also played even before the Mahabharata (one of the oldest religious Hinduism books) was written (Kreedon, 2019). Regardless of Kabaddi and Kho-Kho’s deep roots in the Indian subcontinent culture, we could not identify research that examines why underrepresented Muslim women in the Indian subcontinent will participate in these traditional sports despite living in a patriarchal system. Therefore, we seek to answer another research question (RQ2) concerning the motives of Pakistani women from historically marginalized regions of Pakistan (e.g. Southern Punjab) to participate in traditional sports (i.e. Kabaddi and Kho-Kho). Addressing the two research questions (RQ1 and RQ2) presented in this study can give academics and policymakers a rich understanding of how marginalized Pakistani women’s inclusion in physical activities and sports can be improved.

Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate how traditional sports (Kabaddi and Kho-Kho) offer opportunities for systematically marginalized Pakistani women (from Southern Punjab) to be part of physical activities by understanding women athletes’ lived experiences. We collected data from Southern Punjab because this region remains one of the most marginalized parts of Pakistan due to minimal financial resources (Khalid and Leghari, 2014). Further, various reports show that customary misogynistic practices, such as honor killings, are significantly prevalent in Southern Punjab (Habiba, 2019), which shows the existence of a kinship system in the region (Usman and Amjad, 2013). To understand the lived experiences of the participants, we draw from Bourdieu’s (1958, 1977, 1990b) tradition of understanding the social event by combining phenomenological (Husserl, 1931) and sociological (Go, 2013) viewpoints. In this study, we first elucidate how traditional sport participants are systematically marginalized by understanding the intersection of various sociological forces via Bourdieu’s (1958, 1977) social reproduction lens. Second, we explain via a transnational feminism framework (Grewal and Kaplan, 2006) how the participants within systematic subjugation are using traditional sports as a means for liberation through existential phenomenology (McMullin, 2019).

Theoretical framework: Bourdieu’s social reproduction lens and transnational feminism

To expound the lived experiences of marginalized groups, it is imperative to understand the broader socio-historical forces that shape systematic inequalities (Bourdieu, 1958, 1977). There is a plethora of scholarship highlighting systematic structural inequalities faced by Pakistani women (Faiz, 2015; Warraich and Farooq, 2015). However, there remains a theoretical gap to understand how systematic structural inequalities are shaping marginalized Pakistani athletes’ lived experiences in the sporting context. Bourdieu’s (1958, 1977) social reproduction framework can aid in addressing this theoretical gap. The social reproduction theory (Bourdieu, 1958, 1977) remains one of the most rigorous frameworks to explain intergenerational social inequalities (Go, 2013). According to Bourdieu (1958, 1977), structural inequalities in a culture transmit from one generation to another in various forms (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990a).

Bourdieu (1958) initially theorized the social reproduction lens while conducting research in Algeria (a French colony at the time), creating a robust framework for researchers to understand structural inequalities in former colonized developing countries (Go, 2013), such as Pakistan. Additionally, Bourdieu’s social reproduction lens, because of its cultural robustness, has been widely adopted by numerous feminist scholars of the Indian subcontinent to explore the systematic marginalization of women in various contexts in the post-colonial era (Faiz, 2015; Kohli, 2016). Lastly, Bourdieu’s work is grounded in understanding inequalities created by the class system, which makes it a rigorous framework to understand inequalities in ethnically divided Pakistan that has a strong hierarchical caste-based system, especially in the province of Punjab (Usman and Amjad, 2013).

The key tenet of Bourdieu’s (1958, 1977) social reproduction lens is the concept of cultural capital. Bourdieu (1986) argued that cultural capital is the collection of symbolic elements (e.g. knowledge and skills), and those who possess those elements create structural inequalities. For example, sports have been historically alleged to be a men’s social activity (Messner, 1988), and men have been able to hold the power and privilege in global sports (Dworkin and Messner, 2002). Therefore, because of historic control over cultural capital, men have generationally advanced their masculine dominance (Bourdieu, 1978). Hence, Bourdieu’s (1958, 1977, 1986, 1990a) social reproduction lens can assist in expounding on masculine hegemony production and reproduction in misogynistic societies (e.g. Pakistan) in the sporting context.

Bourdieu (1986) argued that cultural capital comes in three forms: embodied, objectified and institutionalized. The embodied state is defined as the external cultural accumulation by individuals or groups of individuals in a desire to be akin to the external culture (Bourdieu, 1986). For example, cricket arrived in the Indian subcontinent via British colonizers and was adopted by people in the Indian subcontinent to interact with colonizers, and now has become the most popular sports of the region (Sen, 2015). The objectified state depicts grave infringement of external culture, transmitted cyclically through physical forms like scholarly writing, dramas and arts (Bourdieu, 1986). The fondness for the White color in the Indian subcontinent popular culture (e.g. movies and poetry) depicts the objectified state (Wardhani et al., 2017). For instance, Jha (2015) underscored that Bollywood movies shape the Indian idea of beauty standards, which has been deeply influenced by White supremacy. Additionally, many Bollywood stars are the key endorsers of whitening creams (Jha, 2015). Finally, the cultural and academic approval of objectification leads to the institutionalized state (Bourdieu, 1990b; Mohanty, 2003). For example, in the context of indigenous communities, the demise of traditional sports in many cultures is due to European colonial masters being in control of global sports and institutionalizing certain sports (Edwards, 2009; Stoddart, 2006).

Furthermore, scholars in developing countries may reaffirm the White supremacist ideology, which results in the institutionalization of Whiteness and imperialism (Mohanty, 2003). Illustrative of this, Samie (2017) argued that research on Muslim women athletes and the Muslim world is predominantly done through the western orientalist lens with a Eurocentric essentialist view. This further escalates and institutionalizes White supremacy in academic scholarship (Leila, 1992; Mohanty, 2003). Moreover, Muslim women in broader scholarship are being researched through western feminism, which is grounded in White feminism (Leila, 1992). White feminists conceive freedom as personal autonomy and promote the notion of global sisterhood (Grewal and Kaplan, 2006), which can systematically marginalize women of the Global South (Grewal and Kaplan, 2006; Mohanty, 2003). Therefore, a socio-cultural perspective is needed to understand Muslim women’s athletes’ liberation within a patriarchal system (Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017). Transnational feminism provides the necessary framework to explore Muslim women athletes’ liberation within a patriarchal system (Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017). Transnational feminists advocate for the socio-cultural empowerment of women via celebrating cultural differences rather than promoting global sisterhood (Grewal and Kaplan, 2006). However, we argue that to use such a culturally sensitive framework, researchers need to clearly reflect on their biases.

Positionality and reflexivity

The primary investigator of the study is a practicing Muslim man from Pakistan. The primary investigator belongs to a minority race and is from a disputed part of Pakistan (Gilgit Baltistan). He has six years’ experience of working with marginalized women in the region. Thus, the primary investigator’s religious beliefs, ideology (social-feminist), race and job experiences have influenced the research process. The primary investigator’s fiancée has also been a traditional sport athlete in Pakistan. Thereby, the primary investigator’s fiancée had directly affected the research project development. On the other hand, the second author of the study is a White Christian American man whose research area is diversity inclusion in sports. However, the second author has never traveled to the Indian subcontinent. The second author was not part of the interviews. Therefore, his race did not directly affect the participants’ responses.

Both authors’ gender affected the entire research process, specifically the primary investigator’s gender, because he conducted the interviews. On many occasions, it was felt by the primary investigator that participants were shy to discuss issues related to sexuality and abuse by Pakistani men. However, they were much more open to discussing the negative role of the western world and Islam’s positive role. The primary investigator thinks that this was due to his common religious and cultural affiliation. The primary investigator was also hesitant to ask follow-up questions, which could be considered culturally inappropriate and could create mistrust. For instance, in the reflexive journal the primary investigator wrote:

She was talking about how she is seen as masculine and sexually inappropriate, I asked her thrice to clarify, what she meant by sexually inappropriate, I know she was talking about being stigmatized as Lesbian, I can feel from her tone. However, I cannot ask her; it would have been culturally inappropriate for a Muslim man or woman to talk about homosexuality.

Further, within the interviews, the primary investigator felt an unseen emotional tension. He wrote in the reflexive journal:

The baggage of false gender superiority is not easy for a Muslim man like me to hide. I have been trained from my birth to dominate women, and the women are being victimized for generations by a man like me, I can feel in their voice tone, the pain caused by men like me. It is difficult to explain in words the emotional tension and unease even in the digital environment that the participants and I go through. I try my level best to make them comfortable. Still, it is an uphill task for a Pakistani Muslim man researcher to create trust.

Lastly, the primary investigator’s research paradigm is grounded in social constructivism. He believes that the ‘truth’ is socially constructed. Therefore, his research paradigm has deeply influenced the method adopted to achieve the purpose of this study.

Method

Following McMullin’s (2019) approach, we sought to understand what holds the phenomenon together (i.e. existential phenomenology). Groenewald (2004) argued that a meaningful understanding of the human phenomenon is possible by listening to individuals’ lived experiences. Additionally, Husserl (1931) claimed that the essence of phenomenological meaning-making lies in participants’ voices. Therefore, as per the aims of the present study, we sought to understand the phenomenon by listening to the participants’ lived experiences using the phenomenological lens (Groenewald, 2004; Husserl, 1931).

Context and participants

We selected participants by using the homogenous and criterion sampling method (Hesse-Biber, 2017). The following were the criteria based on which respondents were selected: first, the participant should be a Muslim woman and currently playing Kho-Kho or Kabaddi at the national, regional or university level. Second, participants should be from the marginalized geographical regions of Pakistan. We identified the participants through two referrers (a Kabaddi women’s team coordinator and local sport journalist) of the primary investigator. The list of the participants was shared with the primary investigator by the referrers. Initially, 30 participants were emailed, of whom 18 responded. Two participants, after the first response, did not respond again. In total, 16 athletes participated in the study. All the participants were from the age bracket of 18 to 26 and given pseudonyms (see Table 1). The participants belonged to low-income families and are considered in society to be from a lower caste (i.e. Chamar and Chuhra). Out of 16, there were 8 Kho-Kho athletes playing the sport in a Southern Punjab, Pakistani university, while the 8 Kabaddi athletes were playing at the divisional level and were also from the same region.

Table 1.

Demographic details of the participants.

Pseudonyms	Age	Traditional sports	Level of participation
Maria	20	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Rafia	23	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Irum	21	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Sadia	26	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Jamila	23	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Tahira	25	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Sakina	19	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Firdous	24	Kabaddi	Divisional level
Shakeela	19	Kho-Kho	University level
Aalia	20	Kho-Kho	University level
Fakhra	20	Kho-Kho	University level
Reshama	23	Kho-Kho	University level
Jahan-Ara	19	Kho-Kho	University level
Nayab	23	Kho-Kho	University level
Shabana	26	Kho-Kho	University level
Sadaf	19	Kho-Kho	University level

In Pakistan, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) oversees all professional national sports except cricket, whereas the Higher Education Commission oversees sports at the university level. Most of the university sport participants only compete at the university level. Parallel to university sports, National Sports Federations under PSB organize club tournaments, inter-district tournaments, national tournaments of a specific sport and national games (Pakistan Sports Board, 2005). There are a total of 154 districts in Pakistan. Athletes performing well at the district level are selected for national tournaments. Further, athletes’ performance in national tournaments allows them to represent Pakistan at the international level.

Data collection and credibility

We collected data by carrying out semi-structured interviews. Further, we designed interview questions to obtain participants’ interpretations of their experiences (Charmaz, 2014). We briefed the participants about the project beforehand, and we took written consent. The interviews were bilingual (Urdu and English), as the participants had the choice to answer the questions in Urdu (the national language of Pakistan), English or both. Furthermore, we translated the consent form and the basic interview questions into Urdu from English, and we emailed both versions to the participants. The interview questions were translated to Urdu by the first author and then back-translated from Urdu to English by a university lecturer in Pakistan. We collected data via Skype calls at the participants’ request.

We argue that via Skype interviews, the researchers can focus on reporting individuals’ voices in their comfort zone (Longhurst, 2016), as the participants involved gave the interviews from their homes. Additionally, the Skype environment might actually have helped in lowering the interview anxiety of the participants (Longhurst, 2016). In this study, interview anxiety would have been high for the participants because of the gender difference between the participants and the interviewer. This could be the reason participants asked for Skype audio interviews. The major limitation of data collection through Skype is the lack of proximity (Longhurst, 2016).

To compensate for the lack of proximity and develop trust, before the interviews the first author had informal conversations with all the participants about the research project. The first author’s consistent informal discussions helped in developing trust with the participants. To address reflexivity and dependability, researchers met weekly during the interview period to discuss the research results. This was done so that researchers could expound on their biases. Further, to assure the proximity and credibility, the first author conducted the interviews due to his cultural affiliation with Pakistan. Both authors analyzed the interview data independently (due to physical meeting constraints) and then discussed the results together in the weekly meetings. Finally, the complete interview transcripts and results were shared with the participants, and permission was obtained from the participants to publish the results. The participants provided further inputs on the results. For instance, they clarified to us what they mean by a particular quote.

Data analysis

The data collection process continued until we reached the data saturation point (Sutton and Austin, 2015). After the first interview, data analysis started. We used Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) constant comparative strategy of analyzing the data at each level of analytic work (Charmaz, 2014). For example, we analyzed data across the participants playing a similar sport (e.g. Kho-Kho) and across the participants playing dissimilar sports (e.g. Kho-Kho and Kabaddi). For the content analysis, we employed Elo and Kyngäs’s (2008) three-phase content analysis process (preparation, organization and reporting). First, we listened again to the interviews to gain initial insight into the interviews. After that, the interviews were translated and transcribed (i.e., per meaning) in English. We carefully went through the interview data and the reflexive journal. This process assisted in understanding the phenomenon from two different perspectives, and we were in a better position to discuss any epistemological biases (e.g. the religion of Islam’s negative impact on sport participation) that we had during the data collection process. Second, we organized the data through open coding (Creswell, 1998). Using the axial coding system, we combined similar sub-themes to form concrete themes (Corbin and Strauss, 2008). Finally, we report the resulting themes in the ‘Results and discussion’ section by using the selective coding method (Creswell, 1998). Hence, the quotations in the ‘Results and discussion’ section serve as the source of credence.

Results and discussion

The results revealed that the participants are systematically marginalized due to the intersections between various factors, such as socio-cultural barriers, the western sporting paradigm, religious doctrine, and the post-colonial structures existing in Pakistani society. However, despite participants being marginalized due to systematic inequalities, they reported a sense of liberation and freedom via traditional sports. This sense of liberation and freedom needed to be understood beyond western/White feminism (Grewal and Kaplan, 2006; Leila, 1992; Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017).

Socio-cultural forces influencing sports participation

To answer RQ1, we tried to decipher various socio-cultural forces that influence the participants. We found that some of the socio-cultural forces which can be barriers to mainstream sports are helping the participants’ inclusion in traditional sports (answer to RQ2). At the same time, other socio-cultural forces are major barriers to Pakistani women’s sports participation. After discussing the socio-cultural forces, the participants revealed a mismatch between religious doctrine and the current western sporting paradigm and the impact of this discrepancy in shaping their experiences, which paves the way for answering RQ1.

Social dogmas and gender construction

Kabaddi athletes touched upon how the social belief that women need to bleed on the first night of marriage (during sexual intercourse) affects their participation in sport. For example, Firdous, a Kabaddi athlete, revealed: ‘Girls are always afraid of their hymen getting hurt, it can cause serious marriage issues (she laughed) . . . you can even get divorced or killed at the Wedding night.’ Researchers have previously claimed that women’s participation in strenuous physical sports could cause hymen rupture (Goodyear-Smith and Laidlaw, 1998). Hegazy and Al-Rukban (2013) argued that in various cultures the presence of an unruptured hymen in a virgin girl connotes a symbol of women’s pride. For instance, in many Muslim countries (e.g. Pakistan), a woman not bleeding on her wedding night during sexual intercourse is supposed to be a major sin (Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 2005). Also, it has been reported on various platforms that Pakistani women who do not bleed on their wedding night are stigmatized, divorced or even murdered in the name of honor (Laghari, 2016). Further, Firdous underscored this:

I had one friend who wanted to be a Kabaddi athlete, but her mother stopped her by saying that if you participate in sports, then your reproductive system might get injured (hymen rupture), and it will cause issues like you will never get married, or your husband will leave you.

Thus, virginity implies a sense of pride for women living in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. This social dogma of virginity denoting women’s pride could be understood through the historical construction of gender in religious scriptures (Abdul-Haqq, 2011; Ali, 2015). For instance, the concept of the Virgin Mary and the Islamic belief of pious Muslim men getting Hoors (virgin women) in paradise can shape women’s gender construction in religious societies (Abdul-Haqq, 2011; Ali, 2015). Nevertheless, there is a dearth of scholarship about how, in conservative cultures, this social dilemma affects women’s sport participation. In this study, we found that mothers were reinforcing this societal dogma. This shows the deep embodiment of the historical gender construction of women in Pakistani society, which might be institutionalized by religious doctrine (Bourdieu, 1978, 1990a).

Furthermore, the Kho-Kho participants reported that western physical sports, such as cricket and cycling, could affect their reproductive system, which can be a serious concern for their married life. In particular, Kho-Kho participants highlighted that physical sports could harm their chances of conceiving offspring. For example, one Kho-Kho athlete, Aalia, revealed: ‘If a girl participates in rigorous sports (soccer, cricket, and hockey), her reproductive system might get affected, and she will not be able to have babies.’ Further, Shakeela asked: ‘Why will “honorable” women participate in cricket or football? If she knows that she can never have babies due to these sports, whereas sport such as Kho-Kho provides us an opportunity to be safe.’ This implies that the participants do not see themselves as the same as the women taking part in western sports. Also, there is an inherent understanding of traditional sports being considered as pious, as compared to western sports. Thereby, traditional sports, such as Kho-Kho, that have non-masculine and non-western connotations might offer an opportunity for enhancing Pakistani women’s participation in sports.

This also hints at the historical construction of western sports as men’s social activities and not allying with women’s gender (Bourdieu, 1978; Messner, 1988). For instance, Caudwell (1999) argued that football in the UK has specific connotations of being masculine. Further, women heterosexual athletes participating in UK football leagues are sometimes deemed as deviant, such as ‘butch lesbians’ (Caudwell, 1999). Likewise, Maria noted: ‘Many people, even my friends, and relatives think that women participating in sports like cricket are not appropriate or have some gender issues.’ In addition, the Kho-Kho participants reported that in Pakistani society there is a conception of vigorous sporting activities making women more masculine, which is against the perception of virtuous women in the Indian subcontinent’s culture. Reshama, a Kho-Kho athlete, explained: ‘Sport makes girls more masculine. The (good) girl in our society (Indian subcontinent) should be thin, smart, and delicate.’ Thereby, perceptions of western sports and their gender construction in society motivates them to participate in Kho-Kho, which society considers as a feminine sport (one of the answers to RQ2). However, there remains a dearth of research about how the western sporting paradigm intersects with patriarchal systems to systematically reproduce masculine hegemony, leading to the exclusion of various marginalized groups from sports in the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, researchers must ponder upon the socio-historical construction of the sporting paradigm (e.g., the influence of colonization) (Bourdieu, 1978).

Eternal impact of colonization on the Indian subcontinent

While answering RQ1, participants touched upon how colonial forces and structures still exist in Pakistani society, which affects their experience as sport participants. Notably, the participants discussed the impact of beauty standards in shaping their preference for indoor sports like Kho-Kho. Sadaf, a Kho-Kho participant reiterated this: ‘A girl in our society should be White (fair-color), and you know playing sports outside changes our face color.’ Further, all the participants stated that men in Pakistani society dislike darker skin. Shabana, a Kho-Kho participant, reported: ‘There is thinking if girls get black, no one will marry her, and her life will finish if she does not get married.’ These findings are consistent with other studies showing that aesthetic considerations can shape women’s sports participation (Abbott and Barber, 2011). Additionally, these results affirm Bourdieu’s (1977) conceptualization of marginalized individuals’ profound infringement of external culture (i.e. White supremacy) in their objectified state.

All of the participants expounded on the influence of cricket in shaping their experiences. Jahan-Ara, a Kho-Kho athlete, revealed: ‘Female cricketers are empowered, but girls who play these types of games or engage in any type of traditional sports do not get recognition.’ Jahan-Ara’s acknowledgment of the sense of empowerment via cricket does not mean that the participants see women’s empowerment in western sports as positive, as Jahan-Ara and other participants highlighted on many occasions that they do not want western empowerment or liberation via western sports. Further, the participants highlighted that they have to show resistance to colonized sports via traditional games. For instance, Rafia, a Kabaddi athlete, suggested: ‘I think so games like Kabaddi and Rasha Kashi should be promoted because these are “our” sports (traditional games). They are part of our culture.’ In addition, the participants highlighted the role of commercialization in sports, which is the cause of colonial inherited sports promotion. For instance, Sakina, a Kabaddi athlete, argued: ‘Everyone is after cricket and hockey, as those are the sports which are mainstream and generate money.’

While discussing men’s role in promoting colonial inherited sports, Sakina highlighted that

(m)en like to watch and play cricket, which influences women to do the same because they want to ‘please’ men, you know we do many things according to what men want, it is sad, but that is the reality, men influence our way of thinking.

Sen (2015) argued that cricket was adopted by Indian subcontinent men to be akin to the British colonizers or challenge the British hegemony. However, there remains a paucity of research about how the adoption of masculine colonial sports has shaped women’s sport participation in the Indian subcontinent. Our study suggests that colonially inherited sports, such as cricket, have intersected with the masculine hegemony that lies within the ethos of the Indian subcontinent, which systematically influences sports choice for the women of the region. For instance, in the above quote, Sakina is implicitly affirming that men’s choices control women’s beliefs. Hence, the misogyny that is inherent in Pakistan’s systems has intersected with western colonial sports to reproduce masculine control over women’s social choices.

Theoretically, this can be understood via colonization theory. Bourdieu (1958), while conceptualizing the impact of colonization via the social reproduction framework, presented the colonization theory (Go, 2013). According to Bourdieu (1958), colonialism is a racialized system of ‘control’ which alters social interactions and produces hybrid cultures. Our study’s results support Bourdieu’s (1958) conceptualization of colonialization as racial segregation, which can transfer across generations via various post-colonial structures (Go, 2013). However, we add to Bourdieu’s (1990a) work by explaining the reproduction of masculine hegemony due to the intersection between colonized phenomenon (e.g. cricket) and the already existing misogyny in Pakistan. This misogyny that exists within the ethos of Pakistani society could be further deciphered by exploring structural issues faced by women of the region.

Structural issues

The Kabaddi participants touched upon various structural problems faced by them. The Kabaddi participants mainly discussed issues like nepotism, corruption and sexual harassment prevalent at the divisional and national levels. Rafia pointed out that ‘(t)here is no local level or divisional level support. Though, when we reach the national level, only then we get opportunities. However, to reach there, we must pass through various stages, including sexual harassment.’ Another Kabaddi athlete, Sakina, disclosed that ‘(t)he majority of coaches are men, I guess around 97% are men. This is a big issue for many girls, as they do not want to practice under men coaches.’

Structural issues, such as sexual harassment, reiterate the systemic power of men in Pakistan. They also demonstrate how men have historically controlled cultural capital in Pakistani society, and they systematically reproduce their masculine hegemony through various means. Further, in the interviews we found that sexual harassment was faced by the Kabaddi athletes, not the Kho-Kho participants. This may be due to Kabaddi being more popular in the region and men having historical control of the sport. We argue that this control of men over Kabaddi has created a perception that Kabaddi is a masculine sport, as compared to Kho-Kho. However, further research is needed about how various sports in the Indian subcontinent have been alleged to a particular gender.

Religious indoctrinations

Also related to RQ1, all the participants reported the strong influence of religion on their participation in any physical activity. Participants touched upon how religion creates gender segregation and the division of roles in society. Although participants discussed how religion creates gender segregation, their understanding of how religious discourse creates gender segregation was positive. For instance, Kho-Kho participants emphasized the religion of Islam’s benefits of not allowing them to participate in sporting activities that involve interaction with men. Additionally, participants highlighted that mainstream sport objectifies women, which is against Islamic values and the culture of Pakistan. Therefore, participation in sporting activities in which they have no interaction with men (e.g. Kho-Kho) becomes their priority. Nayab, a Kho-Kho athlete, revealed:

You know if Muslim thing attaches, the first thing comes a veil and, boys and girls should not play together. Also, you must wear a uniform, a trouser, and a shirt (in mainstream sports) and that is not good because we are Muslims.

Further, Jahan-Ara highlighted that ‘(i)n a Muslim society, there are boundaries, and there is a culture that girls should stay at home, a girl cannot go outside’. Also, Kabaddi participants pointed out that the current sporting attire given to them to wear at the national level is contrary to their religious beliefs and is western-oriented. For example, Tahira, a Kabaddi athlete, explained:

Islam does not allow us to wear clothes that are currently being given to women. In sports, girls have to wear a trouser and a shirt that is against Islamic values. Also, in our society, trouser and shirt are like an insult. If we go outside and wear a trouser and a shirt, the people watch us from top to bottom; they consider us as a bad woman.

The participants’ abhorrence of western attire is due to the physical features of women being easily seen via trousers and shirts, which is considered inappropriate according to Sharia Law and Pakistani culture. It should be noted that the national dress of Pakistan is shalwar and kameez, whereas, most of the girls prefer to wear the hijab with shalwar and kameez. However, due to international sporting regulations, Pakistani women who play Kabaddi are being forced to wear trousers and a shirt, which is against Islamic traditions (Nakamura, 2002).

Additionally, the participants expounded the incompatibility of Islamic traditions and the current portrayal of women in sports. Maria explained that ‘(w)e Muslims must follow Islamic rules; we cannot wear clothes and come in front of media like other non-Muslim girls. We have to think about our families, our values, and our beliefs as well.’ Additionally, Firdous argued that Islamic scriptures are not the cause of Muslim women’s marginalization. Instead, the traditional role of masculine hegemony in society should be blamed:

I guess the basic perception is that religion does not allow us to play sports. As our Mullahs (i.e. Islamic clerics) tells us that women should stay at home, that is how they interpret religion. I guess that is the cause of Muslim women not participating in sports. I guess religion does not have too much restriction, but still, people in Pakistan, especially in rural areas, there is a perception that Islam stops women from participating in sports.

Nakamura (2002) claimed that the western sporting paradigm differs from the Islamic sporting paradigm in three ways: dress code, gender segregation and controlled access to women’s physical activity spaces. Our results affirm Nakamura’s (2002) argument. Hence, the study results and previous scholarship support the idea that the western sporting paradigm leads to Muslim women’s exclusion from western sports. Thereby, a socio-cultural perspective is needed to enhance Muslim women’s inclusion in sports (Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017). Overall, we can argue that the interaction among socio-historical factors (social dogmas, post-colonization, western sporting paradigm, and religious doctrine) are systematically marginalizing traditional sport participants, which answers RQ1.

Psychological and social psychological factors

In relation to RQ2, we asked the participants about their motives to participate in traditional sports. The participants disclosed psychological and social psychological reasons that motivate them to participate in traditional sports.

Sense of security

The participants emphasized the role of Kho-Kho in making them feel secure because of being an indoor sport played mostly by women. Further, the participants felt a sense of security because women are not stigmatized by society when they participate in Kho-Kho as compared to other sports. For example, Shakeela revealed: ‘Girls want a boundary, in which they feel safe and secure, if I am playing this game (Kho-Kho) indoor with girls only, I will fully express myself and be confident about myself.’ Similarly, Sadaf highlighted that ‘(i)n other sports, you have to behave very macho, (but) Kho-Kho is a simple game’. Further, Kho-Kho allows participants to conform to their religious beliefs. For instance, Jahan-Ara revealed:

When you participate in sports, you have to move around and have to be comfortable with every movement. So, women do not want boys to see them, and it is very uncomfortable for them. This is not even allowed in our religion, truly speaking. Islam does not allow us to be in front of men, and also, you know in our society men see us in a bad way. So, Kho-Kho does not have those things attached to it. For this reason, many girls in our university love Kho-Kho.

A feeling of group identity was another reason for participants feeling secure while participating in Kho-Kho, as Shabana elucidated:

Kho-Kho is a girlish game, and we girls play together to have some fun and enjoy our time. I guess friends motivate me to play this sport. As this sport is all about fun and in a short time, we can enjoy a lot and as well socialize with each other.

Similarly, Nayab explained:

I can gather a couple of women, and we all can play it together without any issues. With respect to the areas we belong to or the people around us, I do feel more secure while I play this sport. So, I think, when we play a game, which is more culturally acceptable, we naturally feel that we have the power to play that game.

The above quotes highlight that researchers and sport managers have to take a socio-cultural approach, such as transnational feminism (Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017), to enhance women of the Indian subcontinent’s inclusion in sports. Therefore, sport managers need to consider cultural differences rather than trying to implement sporting programs which seeks to essentialize western sports. Further, researchers must go beyond the western view of women’s equality while conducting research on women of the Indian subcontinent (Jha, 2015; Mohanty, 2003).

Sense of empowerment

The participants disclosed that the role of showing power and strength in Kabaddi gives them a sense of empowerment. Sadia reported:

I feel empowered because it is very satisfying like it is a very natural sport and full of fun. You can show your power in this game that is the fun part about Kabaddi. Also, you need the stamina to play this game, and that is very empowering. Also, Kabaddi involves passion and force, which makes me feel empowered.

This sense of empowerment might be due to the nature of sports and its features. As Sadia further highlighted: ‘Holding your breath is like doing running yoga, it calms your body and soul. It releases all tensions when you loudly say Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi . . . . It is awesome.’

The notion of strength and power related to Kabaddi might be the reason it is considered as a masculine sport. Additionally, the masculine connotation attached to Kabaddi might have influenced the participants’ consideration of Kabaddi being an empowering sport. We also found that Kho-Kho participants were more concerned about piousness, this again might be due to the opposite connotations attached to both sports (Kho-Kho, a feminine sport, and Kabaddi, a masculine sport). Hence, further research is needed to explore how different connotations attached to traditional sports can influence women’s participation and psychological outcomes.

Conclusion

In this study, we have tried to decipher the systematic marginalization faced by women traditional sports athletes of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. After that, we have tried to understand the participants’ motives to take part in traditional sports, despite living in a patriarchal system. Benn et al. (2011) argued that western scholars had made an erroneous assumption that Muslim women want to participate in sports in order to take part in mainstream sporting events (e.g. the Olympics). Further, Samie (2017) has highlighted that in the extant sport scholarship, Muslim women are researched through a Eurocentric essentialist view. In this study, we have tried to understand the lived experiences of Muslim women athletes from Southern Punjab, Pakistan, beyond the Eurocentric essentialist view of the Muslim world.

We add to the existing scholarship by illuminating that within the patriarchal system, Muslim women of Southern Punjab, Pakistan, find traditional sports a means to liberation. Our study elucidates that socio-cultural barriers to participation in mainstream sports might sometimes actually help women to be part of traditional sports. However, we strongly reiterate that Muslim women are not a homogenous entity and do not have homogenous views about sports. For instance, the participants had divergent views about western sports, as some considered them to be against their cultural values, whereas other participants highlighted that Pakistani men are reinforcing western sports. Likewise, our study results show that participants do not consider themselves even the same as Muslim women of Pakistan participating in western sports. The participants’ negative perception about mainstream western sports does not mean that western sport is all-masculine, homogenous and cannot provide Muslim women with any opportunity for resistance. Notably, in the past, numerous Pakistani women athletes (e.g. Maria Toorpakai Wazir and Kulsoom Hazara) from various vulnerable groups have used western sports to resist the patriarchal system. In this study, the participants’ opposing views about western sports only hint at the multiplicity and diversity within Muslim countries. Therefore, we call upon sport managers and local and international development organizations to understand Muslim women’s issues within a particular socio-cultural context (Toffoletti and Palmer, 2017). Lastly, we ask sport sociologists to critically explore how the western sporting paradigm can be a major barrier rather than an enabler for women’s sport participation (Ratna and Samie, 2017) in various scenarios in the Indian subcontinent. Further, critical scholars should evaluate the resistance traditional sport can offer against the western sporting paradigm for enhancing women’s sport participation.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Umer Hussain

George B Cunningham

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