This document describes an interactive experience called "Inside the Ring" that examines how women around the world struggle for empowerment against cultural norms. It is inspired by the stories of three female boxers fighting gender stereotypes. The experience uses boxing as a metaphor for how women are perpetually struggling between proving themselves and complying with expectations of femininity. It aims to start a dialogue about how cultural ideologies of femininity can be oppressive to women in both developing and developed countries. Prototypes include narratives capturing the struggles and transformations of female characters from different cultures who use boxing for empowerment.

1. INSIDE THE RINGIN OUR CULTURE, A WOMAN IS IN A PERPETUAL STRUGGLE.
SHALINI SARDANA
MFA DESIGN THESIS 2014
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

2. INSIDE THE RING
This is an interactive and participatory experience about how women struggle for empowerment
across the world against a backdrop of varied and ineluctable cultural norms. It is inspired by the
lives of three unlikely female boxers – women fighting more than gender stereotypes.
Women around the world face oppression. For some it is a fight for survival. For others it is a
fight to claim their identity. Boxing, the most quintessential image of masculinity is also the
perfect metaphor for our culture where a woman finds herself perpetually struggling between
proving herself as a contender while complying with an imposed performance of womanhood.
Inside the Ring interrogates the question:
Are women around the world more segregated by social, economic and cultural differences or
are they more unified through their struggles created by a culturally imposed ideology of
femininity?
“At its moments of greatest intensity it (boxing) seems to contain so complete and so powerful an
image of life – life’s beauty, vulnerability, despair, incalculable and often self-destructive courage
– that boxing is life, and hardly a mere game.”
- Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing

3. Inspiration for this project came from a documentary, Burqa Boxers created by a filmmaker,
friend and fellow immigrant from India, Alka Raghuram. The film explores the struggles, hopes,
dreams and resilience of a group of slum-dwelling Muslim women in Kolkata, India, who have
found boxing to be a vehicle for personal emancipation despite relentless and systematic cul-
tural and social domination. Through my research I found this to be a growing phenomenon in
many parts of the world particularly where women face systematic oppression.
Through my project I hope to shift the perspective of the western world towards these women
in developing countries. Instead of labeling them as a homogenous group of powerless, com-
plicit victims with no hope out of poverty and social oppression, I want to reveal their resilient
human spirit, despite their circumstances. This shift in perspective is essential to creating a
deeper, more meaningful connection between ‘us’ and ‘them.’
I also hope to instigate a dialogue for women in the west to reflect beyond their progressive and
liberated lifestyles about how culturally conditioned ideologies of femininity create oppression
in their own lives.
Thank you.

4. B u r q a B o x e r sa film by ALKA RAGHURAM

5. AFGHANISTAN
UGANDA

6. PROBE #1 :RESILIENCE
“What does resilience mean to you?”
INSPIRATION
Inspired by Project One Million Bones’ impact and purpose of combining education and art
making for its participants, I attempted to translate empathy into a hands-on activity. Each par-
ticipant would wrap their hands in a boxer’s wrap to feel a personal fight inspired by these
women. They would then personalize the wrap in their own words.
INTENT
The process of engaging in making a piece of art helps the maker connect with the cause in a
more meaningful and personal way. It also helps in not feeling paralyzed and overwhelmed with
the information. The wraps would carry stories of each participant thereby connecting them to
the stories of these women. Art has the ability to inspire people to action, to imagine and to
dream that a different reality is possible.
My goal was to engage the American audience in a way that could help them relate to the
struggles of women from Burqa Boxers beyond the barriers of religious, social, cultural and
economic context.
“When you make something with your hands,
it changes the way you feel,
which changes the way you think,
which further changes the way you act.”
- Carl Wilkens

8. PROBE #2 :JUNOON
Alternate Reality Game
Content co-creation allows audiences’ beliefs and contexts, aspirations and behaviors, biases and
prejudices to emerge in a spontaneous and genuine way. Transmedia activists use these insights to
build content and context around systemic issues to raise awareness and influence action.
INSPIRATION
Games for Change is an organization that has been making games geared towards social change. It
catalyzes social impact through digital games, leveraging entertainment and engagement for social
good.
INTENT
Inspired by the Games for Change approach, I created an alternate reality game that provides a
glimpse into the world of Burqa Boxers: a chance to walk in her shoes, take part in her struggles,
share her dreams, feel her strength and experience her resilience. It would require the participants
to ask the right questions, do research, post-daily updates, and strategize and spend money
towards the assigned task. My intent was that it would enable participants to immerse themselves
in the culture, and understand the social and cultural challenges faced by these women as well as
the people who want to help them, thereby creating a deeper personal understanding of the
situation.

9. MISSION
To setup a new
boxing club for girls
in the neighborhood
FRAMEWORK
Collaboration with
other players. It
merges real
and online worlds.
PROCESS
Four scenarios that lead
participants to collabora-
tively solve puzzles and
accomplish activities.
JUNOON: alternate reality game
A tool that provides a glimpse into the
world of Burqa Boxers. A chance to walk
in her shoes, take part in her struggles,
share her dreams, feel her strength and
experience her resilience.

10. Scenario 3: Burqa Boxer and
her trainer
GOAL: To keep her training at the
boxing club
1. What is the trainer’s biggest challenge?
2. What is her relationship to these women?
3. How can the trainer create opportunities
to change their lives?
Scenario 1: Burqa Boxer’s
dreamworld
GOAL: To understand one
Burqa Boxer character
1. What is her biggest ‘dream’?
2. What is her deepest ‘fear’?
3. What is her biggest ‘obstacle’?
4. Give her a ‘super power’ that builds
her resilience.
5. Submit a pencil sketch of her.
Scenario 2: Burqa Boxer and
her family
GOAL: To convince her father to
enroll her in your boxing club
1. What are his obstacles or fears?
2. What is holding him back?
3. What is his deepest ‘fear’ for her
daughter?
4. How can you help him overcome it?

11. What do you think I look like?
Send me a sketch or photo of how you
imagine me to be.
Do I remind you of someone?
(draw on paper provided)

12. The experience has three levels of depth and engagement.
The FIRST level is a short video narrative capturing the essence of the character’s struggle and
transformation.
The SECOND level is a written narrative by the character that expands on the previous engage-
ment but is limited to a ‘slice of their life’ almost like a diary entry. This gives the audience a little
more context about the character and her story.
The THIRD level reveals the character’s inspiration either from the documentary, Burqa Boxers,
or the other research material. It may include interviews with the filmmaker, the real life person
who inspired the character or the article/book that was researched.
PROTOTYPE #1: INSIDE THE RING
Immersive interactive experience

18. PROTOTYPE #2
I came across interesting footage, documentaries, news articles and video clips, about women in
other parts of the world who had taken up boxing for the same reasons as Burqa Boxers. It seemed
to be a developing phenomenon especially in places where oppression was apparent. I felt com-
pelled to include this in my prototype.
I created characters inspired by four different cultures – India, Afghanistan, Uganda and the United
States to show the oppression and the empowerment that these women experience. The reason to
include the United States was to show that even though there were no apparent signs of oppres-
sion, the liberated modern woman was oppressed by the idea of ‘womanhood’ that culture
imposes.
The idea of engagement at three levels continued except that I focused on the type of oppression
in each culture. At the FIRST level, the audience would get a glimpse into the character’s struggle.
At the SECOND level, this struggle would dive deeper into her environment and at the THIRD level,
the audience would get a statistical reference of the problem. Engagement with all three levels
would give the audience a clear idea about the issue at hand.

27. MID SEMESTER THESIS REVIEWS
(OPEN TO PUBLIC)

31. THESIS POPUP EVENT
Taking thesis concept into real world
Location: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Date: March 20th, 2014
Event: ConVerge: Artist Talks
I wanted to focus on the interaction of the audience. The participatory component of my project,
created by and for the community was intended to spark a self-reflective dialogue for the women
in America (the United States?) about how culturally imposed ideologies of femininity oppress them
beyond the obvious, and a chance to reflect on their ‘progressive’ lifestyles and choices that cam-
ouflage this invisible oppression.
Process
I wanted to engage the audience in this conversation through the action of wrapping their hands in
a boxer’s wrap, which is symbolic of a fight/struggle.