"I wear lipstick when I play rugby"- Ilona Maher opens up on fighting stereotypes against female athletes

Ilona Maher spoke about not compromising her femininity for playing a masculine sport, revealing that she had worn lipstick during her rugby matches. Maher competed at this year's Paris Olympics and won bronze, representing the US women's rugby sevens team.

Maher has won hearts for promoting body positivity through her social media posts. Besides playing rugby, she has inspired women to embrace their natural body type. Her messages have constantly struck a chord with her fans, making her the most followed rugby player on Instagram.

Her journey started at the Tokyo Olympics when she utilized her social platform to document the living conditions of the Olympic Village. She continued her momentum at the Paris Olympics, engaging her audience with humorous sketches and then onto the Dancing With the Stars stage, where she and her dance partner Alan Bersten clinched the runners-up position behind Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson.

In a recent Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Ilona Maher highlighted that athletes associated with masculine sports are often put in a box and expected to represent themselves in a certain way. However, Maher fights against the stereotype and wears lipstick during her matches.

"They put athletes in a box. They think 'Oh, you're a rugby player you're a softball player. You have to be masculine or broad or do something like, you can't be that you can't want to get dressed up and put on makeup or do this thing.' The thing is, athletes and women are so versatile, you can be beautiful and wear lipstick. I wear lipstick when I play rugby because I just feel like I don't have to sacrifice one or the other like I can be a beast on the field, but also feel beautiful and wear lipstick." (15:00 onwards)

She also left a motivational note for girls and women, saying:

"I think for those girls out there. It's it's up to you to define your own femininity or whatever it is."

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Ilona Maher talked about the difficulty of returning to rugby after Dancing With the Stars

Ilona Maher looks on during her match at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: (Source: Getty)

After her Paris Olympic and DWTS access, Maher joined the Premiership Womens Rugby team Bristol Bears on a three-month contract for the remaining PWR 2024/25 season. After her first training session, Maher said she was sore, having transitioned from the dancing stage to the rugby field.

"They are sore, yesterday was a lot of walking, there were a couple of stairs we had to take. That really scared me but they are definitely sore, it's a totally different thing going from dancing to rugby." she said in the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.(1:30)

Maher was also part of the National team at the Tokyo Olympics but didn't win a podium. Notably, she has secured many lucrative brand deals, including Lo'Real, Secret Deodorant, New Era hardware, and others.