Teenager Inspires Bangladeshi Girls, Wins First Female Bodybuilding Competition

19-year-old Awhona Rahman, winner of Bangladesh’s first female bodybuilding competition, is inspiring the nation’s girls to follow in her footsteps. In a drive to promote fitness, Rahman says conservative social norms should not hold anyone back.

“It’s not that common for girls to bodybuild. Many girls want to go to the gym, but there is a hesitation because our society is conservative,” she tells the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Very few people take up bodybuilding as a profession. But now that there is a competition, I am sure girls will be more encouraged.”

The Bangladesh Bodybuilding Federation, with hopes to eventually send women to international tournaments, followed all the international rules, except the outfit: where the sport’s usual uniform is comprised of skimpy bikinis, the version held in Dhaka, Bangladesh required gymwear that covers most of the contestants’ bodies, in an effort to avoid any controversy in the conservative majority-Muslim nation.

“We expected 10 participants at most, but we got 30,” says Nurul Islam, head of the Federation’s Media Committee who was impressed at the outcome of the very first competition. “While it’s still not very common for women to go to gyms, that situation is changing gradually, at least in Dhaka. And that’s a good sign.”