Boxer

Sport has always been part of my life.

I started gymnastics when I was seven and played table tennis from around the age of ten. Later, at 24, I became very serious about fitness and began preparing to participate in a Miss Bikini competition.

Somayeh seated in the shadows of a boxing ring, in a black sports bra, wearing a black and pink boxing glove

Unfortunately, I injured my leg and couldn’t compete.

Boxing came into my life completely by accident.

One day, I was training at a gym near Saint-Lazare in Paris when I saw a coach giving an English boxing class. He invited me to try.

I remember thinking, “I’m too feminine to box.”

Somayeh in black and white, leaning against a punch bag, wearing boxing gloves

But I tried one session.

And I loved it.

I continued with English boxing and later started training in Muay Thai as well.

Boxing changed the way I thought about femininity and strength. I realised that I didn’t have to choose between the two. Being strong didn’t make me less feminine, and being feminine didn’t prevent me from being strong.

Somayeh in black and white, hood up and a towel over her shoulders, her gloved fist stretched toward the camera

For me, boxing is physical, but it is also mental. It teaches me discipline, concentration, resilience and control.

It has become part of who I am.

Femininity with force.