When Doaa El Ghobashy dug her feet into the sand at Rio’s Summer Games fans and media perked up. She wasn’t surprised. But the expected wardrobe chatter quickly took a backseat because, well, Doaa can play.
It’s been a relief to read stories about her tenacity, her drive and her powerful effect on a new generation of athletes. Athletes that refuse to let any single piece of their identity define their potential.
The old “you can’t do this because you’re ___” is quickly losing words to fill in the blank. That’s because for every new stereotype lobbed up there’s a line of folks just like El Ghobashy waiting to spike it back down.
To sum it up we’re just gonna leave this little bit by Rawda Fawaz, a contributor with Bustle, right here:
“Our hijab, our clothes, our religion make up parts of our identities, but they do not define us. We are athletes, academics, writers, poets, activists, and scientists.”
