Going it alone and strong: Athletic Indo-Fijian women and everyday resistance

Indo-Fijian women are among the most invisible and marginalised in Fiji’s sporting and athletic scenes. Given the country’s postcolonial political trajectory, in which hierarchies of “race” and gender have rested heavily on the exercise (and threat) of physical power, Indo-Fijian women who seek athleticism encounter multiple barriers, whereby physical power is asserted as overwhelmingly indigenous and masculine. This chapter sheds light on the sporting/athletic pursuits and challenges of eight young Indo-Fijian women, focusing on the ways in which they negotiate the racialised and gendered sport discourse, and explores the oppositional meanings and transformative potentials of their practices by examining them as instances of “everyday resistance.