New expressions of gender equality (muslim)

[Djamila]

Please share some of the newer expressions of gender equality in your country!

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is perhaps nothing more foreign than body building. For a woman to have physical strength equal to, or in many cases greater than, her male compatriots is quite a new phenomenon and goes against every Bosnian ideal - even affectionate, positive ones - for women.

But it's catching on. Not only in Sarajevo, but in rural Bosnia as well. Towns in the largely rural north, like Bihac, have been hosting body building competitions for women for the past several years.

The most famous of this new generation of women is Inela Mehinovic, a young Bosnian Muslim woman from Tuzla. She's won several European competitions and has become an unlikely role model for Bosnian Muslim women.

She's also one of the most popular female body builders among male fans throughout Europe, largely because - as she says herself - "I may be butch, but I'm still Bosnian."

So that's new.