Hey loves,

A strong woman shifts the energy of the room when she walks in. Not because she’s loud or abrasive.

Not because she’s trying to prove anything, it’s quite the opposite. This woman knows who she is and she doesn’t need permission to show it.

In a lot of places, that’s a problem. In some environments, her strength is seen as rebellion and this desperately needs to change.

We Weren’t Taught to Be Strong

If you grew up as a woman in the Middle East, chances are you weren’t told to get strong. You were told to be modest, careful and caring.

To be polite. To stay small and shrink. To smile. To keep your legs crossed. To lower your voice. To be less and dim your light.

You were told not to show too much skin or to look too sexy. Not to be too loud in the gym. Not to sweat too much nor to god forbid act like a man.

You were told to stick to yoga, maybe pilates, but not pick up a barbell or a dumbbell meant for the men.

You were told not to build muscle, but at the same time you should develop glutes lest you be skinny-shamed, do that without lifting weights please. You definitely cannot be seen doing pull-ups.

Strength, you were told, wasn’t for you. That message might not have been direct. But it was everywhere. In your school. In your home. On TV.

In how people looked at you. In how they judged your body. In what they praised and what they ignored.

You got the message.

And you started to believe it.

But here’s the thing: it was never true.

Strength Has Nothing to Do With Gender

Strength isn’t male. It’s not something men are born with and women are not. It’s not about testosterone. It’s not about muscles or ego or lifting the heaviest weight in the room.

I always say this: muscle isn’t gendered. It’s a socialized label. Its socialization is often used to provoke shame in women who have increased their strength fervently.

Strength is a mindset. Strength is resilience. Strength is choosing to keep showing up. Strength is claiming your body as your own.

It’s also physical. It’s building a body that can carry groceries. Carry a child. Carry itself. It’s picking up something heavy and realizing that you don’t need anyone else to do it for you. It’s looking in the mirror and seeing power instead of insecurity.

That changes things. That changes you.

Systems That Keep Us Small

The world isn’t set up for strong women. Not in the Middle East. Not anywhere.

There are systems that benefit from us being quiet. From us being dependent. From us waiting for approval before we speak, act, or move.

When a woman gets strong, she stops asking. She starts doing. And people notice. Some will be inspired. Some will feel threatened. Especially those who got comfortable with you being silent.

That’s not your problem.

It’s not your job to keep other people comfortable.

What Happens When Women Get Strong

When a woman lifts weights, she’s not just training her body. She’s sending a message.

She’s saying:

• I deserve to take up space.
• I deserve to be seen.
• I’m not afraid to be powerful.
• I don’t owe you softness.

Every time you train, every time you push yourself, you’re building something bigger than muscle. You’re building freedom. Autonomy. Self-respect.

You may find that you are simply choosing to pursue your health, your vitality or your youth via the modality of strength training.

It is still a very powerful medium with antiquated world views that surround it.

The energy of self-improvement spills into everything. You start saying no when you need to. You start walking away from people who drain you. You start holding your head higher.

You dress how you want. You move how you want. You live how you want.

And it shows.

People feel it even before you speak. That’s why they stare. That’s why they whisper. That’s why they ask, “Why are you doing this?”

Because you’re not supposed to.

But you are.

Strength Is a Form of Rebellion

In a world that wants to police our bodies, our voices and our choices, getting strong is rebellion.

Strength training is not just physical. It’s political. Cultural. Personal.

It says: “I don’t need to shrink to be accepted.”

It says: “My body is mine.”

It says: “I am not here to be palatable.”

That terrifies people who built their power on your silence. It scares systems that rely on women doubting themselves. Because if enough of us wake up and remember who we are? Those systems collapse.

That’s why strong women scare weak systems.

Strength Training Isn’t Just for Athletes

You don’t have to be a professional. You don’t need a six-pack. You don’t have to go to the gym five days a week. You don’t even need fancy equipment.

You just need to start.

Learn the basics. Lift something heavy safely. Work with your body, not against it. Train for life, not for looks.

And don’t apologize for wanting to be strong.

Don’t explain your goals. Don’t shrink them. Don’t worry if people say, “That’s too much.”

Too much for who?

Too much for the version of you that stayed silent? That accepted less than she deserved? That didn’t believe she was capable?

Let that version go.

To the Women Who Are Afraid to Start

If you’re scared, that’s okay. It’s normal to be scared of something new. Especially when the world told you your whole life that you don’t belong here.

Start anyway.

You don’t have to be confident. You just have to be curious. You just have to try. The confidence will come later. So will the strength.

And one day, without even noticing, you’ll look back and realize you don’t recognize the girl who was afraid to lift five kilos.

You’ll realize you became the woman who walks into the weight room like she owns it.

Because you do.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t just about fitness, the glutes or becoming more confident. This is a shift in consciousness. This is a generation of women in the Middle East standing up and saying: “We’re done playing small.”

We’re done being told how to move, what to wear, what to do, how to be. We’re done waiting.

We’re here to lift. To grow. To become stronger than anyone ever expected. And we’re not going back.

Because once you feel your own strength, you never forget it.

And that’s the real threat.

I hope that you enjoyed this blog post on Why Strong Women Scare Weak Systems: The Rise of Female Strength in the Middle East, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!