Never stop dreaming despite patriarchy: Sportswomen

New Delhi: At the ‘We Women Want Festival and Awards’ organised by ITV Network at Hotel Taj Ambassador, in the national capital on Monday, top women achievers in sports shared their problems, including the pressure both from the family and society, and the patriarchal norms. They commonly believed that despite this women should not stop dreaming.
Renowned mountaineer Meenu Kaliraman, who has hoisted the National Flag on Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Kilimanjaro and others talked about her difficult journey and said that “Being from Haryana, I had to face a lot of discrimination and lack of support even from my family.” Also, due to pressure from relatives and neighbours “parents pressurises their daughters to get married at an early age which ultimately destroys their future.”
Simran Sharma who secured a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024 talked about the hardships a para-athlete has to face.
“Para-athletes face a lot of struggle because society does not let you move freely. But I’ve been lucky enough that my husband who is in the Army kept on supporting me. It’s ultimately your sacrifice, hardwork and discipline which makes you different from others”, she noted.
Similarly, Sweety Boora who’s a world champion in boxing and Judo Champion Poonam Chopra shared their experiences of hardships they had to face but highlighted that “one need to leave their comfort zone and should have self-belief in themselves.”
On the economic challenges women sportsperson face, Poonam Chopra said that “nobody can deny the fact that lack of economic backing does impact your morale but one should not think about that. In our times, federations didn’t have much money but these days, sportspersons are being given professional training and they get a lot of economic support from the government as well.”