Female athletes in Pakistan face a lot of criticism. This is primarily because of their choice of outfit. People tend to criticise women for not covering up their bodies properly while performing and their main focus is on their attire rather than their performance.
Maryam Nasim is a famous Pakistani weightlifter, who has several titles to her name
Maryam Nasim is a Melbourne-based weightlifter who was born in Peshawar. She left for Melbourne to pursue her studies & began weightlifting as a means to lose weight. However, she soon fell in love with it & decided to pursue it professionally. https://t.co/zeQ4vMsKnR pic.twitter.com/peQKPg64dL
— MangoBaaz (@mangobaaz) December 12, 2017
She has also been a victim of the hate of Pakistani people due to her attire during championships
Her body suit, to be precise, which shows her legs is the problem, according to her critics. But of course, every one has their threshold of putting up with such negativity. This is especially true, when you are out their representing your country and doing exceptionally well but all your countrymen can do is, focus on your outfit.
Maryam Nasim took to snapchat to address this issue and posted, what she said are some very “haram” pictures
There was a trigger warning as well before you viewed her snapchat.
What comes next is quite mind boggling because people couldn’t handle these pictures
Still not haram enough? Try this
She then had a very meaningful message for all those following her, especially those who, despite the warning, decided to view the next snaps and expressed their opinions to her
Next comes a step by step tutorial on what do with the opinion that you have formed based on the pictures you viewed, and trust me; it is very helpful
To put it simply, she just shut down all the haters who frequently comment on her attire and gave them an idea on what to do with the opinion that they have formed
To put it in nice decent words, the opinion needs to go up the bum!
We got in touch with Maryam and asked her what made her raise her voice against such criticism
“I did that all in good humor to show how some people are openly hypocrites. I warned them not to see the next photo as it’s not halal(lol) and they need to protect their Iman since they’re so concerned. But even after I warned them, they still went ahead and watched it. It was a funny sarcastic post to show how ppl are so concerned about others level of Iman but when it comes to them, have no respect for the same religion”, said Maryam.
The response to the snaps, Maryam said, was mostly very understanding and people readily accepted what she was trying to point out
It is important for athletes to raise their voices in this regard and push people to see beyond such petty matters. Pakistan rarely has female athletes coming forward and if people are going to be fixated on clothes only, then the trend is not changing any time soon. We need to stand in support for these women, encourage them and accept them wholeheartedly. Otherwise, you know what to do with your opinion.
Bringing people down should not be our favorite thing to do. We, as a nation, need to be more understanding and open.
