Malaysia’s Farah Ann Abdul Hadi competes in the artistic gymnastics vault women’s qualification event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Center in Tokyo on July 25. (AFP/Martin Bureau)
D
espite their equally impressive skills and achievements, most women athletes in Southeast Asia remain subject more biased and less substantive media coverage than their male peers.
“We are sometimes negatively talked about, whether it is our performance or our outfit or how we look, and that is what is shown in the media,” said Malaysian Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalist gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi.
“And I think those are some of the barriers that I’m trying to break, to bring a more positive light to women in sports.”
Farah shared her experience at a discussion hosted by the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
She is one of 10 women’s sports ambassadors appointed by the regional body to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region through sports.
Working alongside Farah are Princess Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah, a Bruneian polo player; Sokha Pov, a Cambodian traditional martial artist; Leani Ratri Oktila, an Indonesian para-badminton athlete; Soulamphone Kerdla, the head coach of Laos’ national swimming team; Soe Soe Myar, a Myanmar taekwondo athlete and referee; Hidilyn Diaz, a Filipino weightlifter; Amita Berthier, a Singaporean fencer; Panikpak Wongpattanakit, a Thai taekwondo athlete; and Tuyet Van Chau, a Vietnamese taekwondo athlete.
Jamshed M. Kazi, the United Nations Women country representative for Indonesia and liaison to ASEAN, responded to Farah’s comments, noting that inequality in the media coverage of female athletes was very prominent during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held the following year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.