Merely a Hobby?
The growing number of female fighters
—By Xu Jiang
When it comes to combat sports, the first image that comes to my mind is a masculine man knocking another man down with one heavy punch. I attribute my intuition to the social traditions that have fixed a code in our mind that men must participate in sports that show their aggression and power, while women should demonstrate their gentleness and grace. However, this traditional point of view is now being gradually undermined by an emerging group: women fighters.
One weekend, my best friend Nora Li and I went to a martial arts academy in Ann Arbor to learn kickboxing. To my surprise, almost half of the students in the class were women. Not only did they love kickboxing but they were also very devoted to this seemingly masculine sport. From their proficient techniques and good physical strength, I could tell that they had been practicing kickboxing for a while. Over the course of history, the ties between men and martial arts were deeply rooted in people’s opinions, as many action films and Wu-Xia novels (a genre of fiction concerning the adventure of martial artists in ancient China) focus on the heroic stories of men. However, Nora said,
“Generally, our class has more women than men.” This phenomenon is not limited to the scope of recreational kickboxers. According to the kickboxer demographics in the US, female fighters make up 53.2% of the whole kickboxing population. The number of female fighters shows us an indication that those traditional viewpoints amid gender disparity and sexism are potently challenged.
Why become a woman fighter?
Why do you want to be a female martial artist? In my interviews with three women, they had different answers to this question, but had one thing in common: yearning for strength. Nora Li, a martial arts enthusiast, said, “Practicing martial arts has been a dream since my childhood. Watching action movies from Wuxia to Kong-Fu and MMA games with my dad, I wished, one day, I could be so strong and stand on stage by myself. Thanks to the athletic atmosphere in Ann Arbor, I found an academy for martial arts near my apartment and gave it a try.”
She is by no means the only woman who is dedicated to fighting in Ann Arbor. There are many women in her class who also share her interests and wish to become stronger. Hailey Schroder, Nora’s friend in the academy, remarks, “My motivations for taking and training in martial arts are for camaraderie, improving my physical and mental strength, and bodily conditioning.” Iggy Ortiz shares similar ideas: a desire to develop skills, discipline, physical and mental strength. The stereotypes built in this society always tell people that women shouldn’t be masculine or similar to men. However, Nora and her friends have used their words and actions to break these stereotypes and tell everyone that strength is not something only men can pursue.
Causes
For individuals, passion can be a necessary and sufficient condition for a woman to become a kickboxer. However, when we consider these girls as a group and want to further analyze the roaring number of female fighters, a more comprehensive explanation is required. When it comes to women’s sports, it is inevitable to expand the range of athletic topics into the societal sphere. As said by James MacDonald in the article “Examining the Growth and Popularity of Women’s Mixed Martial Arts”, “It is uncontroversial to say that sport is a male-dominated enterprise at almost every level, from participation to consumption. Socially constructed gender differences mean that it has been difficult for women to become accepted in an arena that places an overwhelming emphasis on masculinity.” In other words, the ignorance and unequal treatment experienced by many female athletes are associated with the popular perception of women. As said by Hailey, “Many people hold the traditional belief that if a woman is in martial arts, she must be aggressive and like to fight. As a girl, I have publicly been heckled and berated for being in martial arts.” Hailey speaks of a critical cause that once prevented women from entering the martial arts field.
Through this social lens, it can be said that the increasing number of female fighters shows the fact that society is more open than before and more inclusive of women’s individual preferences. The converse is true as well: it is the more diverse social environment that increased the number of female fighters. In the interview, when being asked whether she had ever received any judgment from others, Nora commented, “I haven’t received any stereotypical talks yet. All my training partners are nice and respectful. Lucky me.” Meanwhile, Iggy confidently said, “I didn’t get those comments, and if I did I will let them roll.” Even though they may not represent the voices of all female fighters, their experience still demonstrates that the social environment for female fighters has been improved compared to ten years ago when Hailey was publicly reproached by people.
Another interesting thing is that while they stay together to pursue their passion for fighting, they form a small community in Ann Arbor and attract more female fighting lovers to join their community and gain a sense of belonging. In the interview, Hailey gave a sincere comment on martial arts, “As a child, it gave me confidence; as an adult, it provided me with community.” It is the community that attracts more women fighters, and it is the influx of new women fighters that enriches the community.
The second cause is due to the rising awareness of women themselves. In the traditional viewpoint, “traits associated with females include being dependent, emotional, passive, nurturing and submissive.” However, with the development of society, more and more women realize that they are independent and their personal preference matters. Many of them, who were once hesitant to participate in the male-dominated sports, become courageous enough to break the social traditions and pursue what they are passionate about. Nora said, “Before I went to college, my father thought I was a girl and he would send me home before dinner because I couldn’t protect myself from danger. However, there are a lot of interesting things to do at night. I started kickboxing because I didn’t want to stay home all night watching TV with my family. I wanted the strength to protect myself and be free to go wherever I wanted.”
The third cause is media dissemination. Any changing social attitude is somewhat shaped by the impact of media exposure. From a study conducted by the USC center for feminist research, “96 percent of sports news being dedicated to men, and women accounting for a mere 2 percent of network news and ESPN SportsCenter coverage.” However, in recent years, more and more women athletes are covered in the media and depicted as heroines for countless people, such as Amanda Nunes and Zhang Weili. Their positive image in the media has inspired many girls to pick martial arts as a hobby and chase their dream with determination.
The present and future of female fighters
Although the sport has become much more friendly for female fighters compared to the past, there are still many problems yet to be solved. Although women fighters account for more than half of the kickboxers in the US, the average wage of female fighters is only $45,771 per year (almost $10,000 lower than male income). The wage gap reflects the biases and gender inequalities in the athletic industry. As said by Hailey, “I don’t believe women are celebrated as much in martial arts as are men. They are underrated and underappreciated certainly by the general public and even the martial arts community.”
In terms of the media, Nora comments, “Even though the media has promoted more and more female fighters, they still don’t receive equal public exposure to their male counterparts. But honestly, it is a common phenomenon in the whole sport industry.” Moreover, even if the UFC female game became increasingly popular worldwide, an ironic fact is that many male audiences merely focus on those fighters’ body shapes rather than their techniques. In order to capture the male audiences’ eyeballs, many media focuses on the discussion of female’s bodies, such as 20 Hottest UFC Female Fighters. In the interview, Iggy said, “Media would do what they believe will benefit them and not the purpose of true journalism in politics and sports.” Therefore, although female fighters have overcome the restrictions of many social traditions, there is still a long way to go.
As a communication major, Nora commented on the current situation and the future for female fighters, “since female fights have less intensity compared to the male’s one, it is harder for female fighters to receive equal public exposure. However, there are a few exceptions. For example, UFC puts a mandatory requirement that at least one of the four main events must be [a] female fight. In the future, there should be more organizations promoting similar policies to help female fighters gain the exposure they deserve.” Meanwhile, she also provides a suggestion for the sexist or over-sexualization problems plaguing the current female fighters: “In this case, maybe promoting female fighters with their self-branding based on their personality can be considered a possible solution.”
Photo Credit: Photo by Jonathan Tomas on Unsplash