leveling the playing field
Boxer
Esther Phiri is a role model to Zambian girls. Not because she's lithe and blonde and poses in a bikini and
shills for Lycos, but because Esther (the slugger on the left) actually kicks major ass. She's a former street vendor with almost zero education who is currently the
Global Boxing Union super featherweight champion. Esther is also a familiar face to most Zambians: she appears on billboards all over the capital city, Lusaka, and her fights are carried on the government run TV channel. According to the
Christian Science Monitor, Esther even talks to young Zambian women about "the importance of sports as a way to boost confidence... and help them avoid the pitfalls of sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy." You know what playing sports also helps with?
Body image!
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