For Kunnath, who was born in Calicut, these women’s stories were immediately interesting—as they would be for any other woman who has lived and grown up in India. Kunnath explains how, in India’s cultural landscape, a confident, strong, muscular woman is a rarity, and how despite the fact women may take up roles as doctors or teachers, a female bodybuilder is unprecedented in the country. It’s true—in India, even today, the idea of a muscular woman could be startling to many. For generations, conventional standards of feminine beauty have been regarded highly in the country, often entrenched in patriarchal notions of how an “ideal” woman should look and behave, in order to be marriageable and find the best groom.
