{"id":7831,"date":"2020-09-27T20:18:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-27T13:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/?p=7831"},"modified":"2020-09-27T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-27T13:21:18","slug":"manashi-joshi-shining-a-light-on-gender-and-disability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/whats-new\/manashi-joshi-shining-a-light-on-gender-and-disability","title":{"rendered":"Manashi Joshi: Shining a Light on Gender and Disability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manashi Joshi is India\u2019s current Para badminton world champion and BBC India\u2019s Sportswoman of the year. She claimed the World Championships gold in Basel last year and is set on the road to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020 (postponed to 2021).<\/p>\n

Joshi features on the podcast \u2018Flame Bearers \u2013 The Women Athletes Carrying Tokyo\u2019s Torch\u2019 this month to shine a light on gender and disability in badminton.<\/p>\n

Listen to the episode of \u2018Flame Bearers \u2013 The Women Athletes Carrying Tokyo\u2019s Torch<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2011, Joshi, a recent graduate, had begun her first job as a software engineer in the Indian city of Mumbai. Scarcely 10 minutes into her journey, disaster struck \u2013 as she took a U-turn under a flyover, a lorry travelling in the wrong direction hit her car, severely injuring her leg. Joshi was to lose the leg in hospital, devastating her. Fast forward to 2019 and it\u2019s a very different Manasi we see before us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turning point of my life was the accident, which led to the amputation of my leg. After the accident, I had to relearn everything \u2013 from walking to conducting daily chores and activities on my own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Badminton is one of the few sports that offers a level playing field for participants irrespective of gender and abilities.[vc_single_image image=”7822″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]BWF\u2019s Focus on Para badminton<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to equality, we have to give every child a chance to play badminton for life,\u201d said BWF Senior Education Manager Sharon Springer on the podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see these athletes on the courts going corner-to-corner and realise that these women are incredibly fast and flexible. Badminton has a lot of equality. The courts are the same, equipment is the same and the point system is the same \u2013 whereas in other sports there may be different resources,\u201d Springer said.<\/p>\n

Notably, the prize money is equal for both genders too.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”7824″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Joshi has been playing badminton since an early age and some of her earliest memories centre around playing badminton with her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was about six and we just had one racket in my house. My father would throw the shuttlecock to me and I\u2019d try to hit it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Badminton Helped in Recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Badminton helped Joshi on her road to recovery following the accident and improve her hand-eye coordination, vital to physical rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

During her physiotherapy sessions, Joshi stayed focused on getting back. \u201cI would say I want to get back on to court as soon as possible,\u201d Joshi said.<\/p>\n

She played badminton with her brother, also a keen badminton player.<\/p>\n

Joshi securing her spot at next year\u2019s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to her tremendous courage and determination.<\/p>\n

With Para badminton making its debut at the Paralympics, Joshi can\u2019t contain her excitement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”7823″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Working to Clear Misconceptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u2018Flame Bearers\u2019 podcast highlights Joshi\u2019s work as an advocator of disability rights in India. Those with disability are treated with pity, or with certain stereotypes in mind, and that fundamentally is an area in need of change.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to work hard to change these stereotypes. Places like stations need to become more accessible,\u201d says Joshi.<\/p>\n

Clearly the fight for equal rights remain an uphill battle but Joshi is positive on change happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we talk about women\u2019s rights, we should also be talking about disability rights,\u201d added Joshi.<\/p>\n

India has stipulated a tax on disability resources such as prosthetic legs and braille printing. Joshi is vocal about this issue on Twitter. \u201cWhy should we pay taxes to walk? It is a basic birth right. I think if we can all come together, we can go back to a time where we don\u2019t have to pay taxes on this,\u201d she states.<\/p>\n

One in every four adults has a disability in the United States, according to Ariella Barker, an attorney and policy advisor in the US. \u201cIt begins with government policy. The important thing is to make sure the community calls them out on that. Why are they not talking about the biggest minority group in this country?\u201d asks Barker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manashi Joshi is India\u2019s current Para badminton world champion and BBC India\u2019s Sportswoman of the year. She claimed the World Championships gold in Basel last year and is set on the road to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020 (postponed to 2021).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2630,"featured_media":7823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-new","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2630"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7831"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7838,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions\/7838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.bwfbadminton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}