Before I moved to sabre, I discovered this particular athlete from
google images. At first I was quite ecstatic about my new discovery. This
lady has a rather 'peculiar' way of dressing but it seems that coincidentally,
fencing is actually accommodating her needs in terms of dressing.
Yep, Ibtihaj Muhammad lately has been gaining reputation as the
first Muslim woman to represent the US in fencing. Her headscarf makes her
noticeable among her comrades. They are none other than the 2008 olympics
medalist, Mariel Zagunis, and Dagmara Wozniak.
Ibtihaj Muhammad began to fence as a cadet, based on several
articles that I read about her, Ibti's mum managed to get her daughter to take
a glimpse at fencing as she said "I don't know what that is, but when you
get to high school, you're doing it." Also, she managed to went through
some sort of a rather awkward demo fencing session after her coach asked for
her father's permission "if he could touch her" in order to correct
her.
Ibti would gradually become a trigger for Muslim women to achieve
what they want without letting their faith to compromise them. I, for one, am
really motivated by her and she became my rolemodel instantly after I
discovered her.
I think Ibti should really come to Indonesia one day and see
how many girls who have the same 'appearance' as she is. Seeing that the
numbers of hijabi fencers are gradually increasing too in Indonesia. It's just
that I think she is a little bit underestimated by the world, because I
personally think that our fencing seedlings are still in need of influential
individuals like Ibti.
Diversity is the thing that makes us stronger, we may be a bunch
of individualists on the piste but in reality we are one big family because we
have the same passion. If we managed to overcome that particular barrier,
then our bonds will just become even stronger than ever.
Pictures don't belong to me, they belong to their respective owners.
Dadah,
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