Arab woman storms male bodybuilding bastion

By Sonia Ounissi

TUNIS (Reuters Life!) - Female Arab bodybuilder Dorra Zaier is breaking gender taboos in her native Tunisia as much thanks to her independence of mind as her muscles.

The 28-year-old thinks women in her country should follow her example by getting off their sofas and pumping iron, not only for their health but also to tackle gender inequality.

"I hate the image of a woman as a modeling clay doll that has to look after her children and make herself beautiful for her husband," the aerobics instructor said.

"Why don't women have a mixed image of beauty and strength?"

For Zaier, bodybuilding generates physical and mental well-being and fights stress, benefits she says are much needed in her own country, the most Westernized nation in north Africa.

It also boosts women's control over their own lives.

"A woman has to be independent and she doesn't need to ask a man to give her a hand with every single thing she does," she said. "We (men and women) are equal and we complement one another, and we (women) are not supposed to be totally submissive to men's wishes and orders."

Female bodybuilding is not about becoming masculine.