Indian Girl Lifts - It just sounded better than "a south asian woman lifts weights".
#IndianGirlLifts
Hash tag Indian girl lifts is a tag that I started to use on social media after being told “Indian girls don’t/shouldn’t lift”. You know it’s not lady like, you’ll expose yourself too much, why are you going to a gym full of men? And you’ll never settle down and get married if you’re going to the gym all of the time.
Not all of my family is as westernized as my immediate/close family and other relatives have said that what I do is not “lady like". Why have I got to be a lady anyway I dealt with it by just carrying on.
It got to me a bit but it also spurred me on!
If I rewind at that time in my life I was only competing in strongwoman I hadn’t started my coaching Qualifications yet. My close family supported my decision to become a PT and Coach though as it was pretty clear I had found something that I love doing! They defended my choice too which is lovely and it’s brought us all even closer. I went on to win one strong(wo)man competition, came 2ndin another, pulled a 10 tone HGV truck, became a PT, then went on to become a BWL weightlifting coach.
Awwwwh see that was a nice story when you ignore the ignorant comments. I’ll tell you what wasn’t nice though - being told by a stranger! A man in a bar who I’d never met! That my hands were “disgusting”.
Rewind <<< he grabbed my hand trying to dance with me and then went on to tell me how appalling my hands were and how I was not feminine. He told me I should be more feminine, that dry calloused hands are not attractive and I should wear lifting gloves?!
I’m not here to be Feminine for anybody and I’m not here to just look attractive for anyone. I told him that my partner likes that I lift and we compare calluses Haha. He left me alone after that but my goodness how rude. I feel like I am constantly being told to be more ladylike and feminine but I can’t be anyone other than me; I quite like being me!
The relentless commentary on our appearance and how we should act is annoying. It’s frustrating and I don’t know why it is normalized in our culture. For instance near my wedding I was told to make more of an effort with my appearance, to get my bridal make up done professionally and to look like someone that really didn’t feel like me. I put my foot down! It was my wedding (our wedding mine and my partners) and we’d have it the way we wanted it. Well to the extent that a big Indian wedding can be tailored haha! I finally felt heard and with the support of my other half I wore what I liked, I brushed off comments to do with my shoulders being too big from lifting weights and got pretty tipsy at the wedding reception. It was a real turning point!
After standing up for myself once then I haven’t been able to stop it! I’ve carried on using the Indian Girl LIfts hash tag to encourage other south Asian ladies to feel like they won’t be judged for lifting weights. Recently with an amazing photographer (the wizard he is a wizard) we have had an Indian girl lifts photo shoot! We had “wonder woman” influences and I wore an outfit that my cousin had made for me because she is a legend too! I’m feeling more empowered than ever and owning this Indian girl lifts movement! I’ve found similar movements too which you should totally check out: Brown Girls Lifting, South Asian Strong, Breaking Brown, See My Strong and many more! Shout out to these pages and movements for encouraging other south Asian lasses to get smashing taboos! And a massive shout out to Rennison Rae Photography for being an actual magical wizard! I will be sharing more of his wizardry on my platforms so keep an eye!
From a Brown girl who lifts.
Happie
Happielifts, PT, BWL L2 + Coach