Rodeo to fight machismo.
About thirty kilometers from Managua, in Tipitapa, Eveling Perez is shaken by the kicks of a bull to defy the tradition of Nicaraguan bullfighting.
The animal, furious, runs through the arena trying to get rid of its rider, who holds it firmly by the collar, in front of hundreds of spectators who applaud and shout.
The goal: stay more than eight seconds on the raging mount.
Eveling Perez, a 33-year-old cook, decided as a teenager that she wanted to ride bulls despite the objections of her brother, who said the sport was "for men only".
“If men do it, we can do it
too,” replies Eveling Perez, from the height of his meter sixty.
Now dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and wearing a pink helmet, this mother-of-two earns $200 every time she rides a bull.
The passion for rodeos, animated by brass bands, attracts spectators throughout Nicaragua who do not hesitate to throw themselves into the arena or into the streets where the bulls are let loose.
Hematomas and fractures
To meet the challenge, in addition to her work as a cook, Eveling Perez trains by running two kilometers every day... when she is not injured.
His passion has already earned him bruises and fractures.
Of course,
"the difference between a man and a woman is that a woman can never hug the bull more tightly than a man, or be as flexible, but we women try to do that, because if It's not usual to see a woman riding a bull, it's possible”
, explains Eveling Perez who would like more women to imitate her.
"Of course it's more difficult for a woman
," concedes Carlos Conde, one of his teammates.
But he does
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For Marvin Bolanos, of the association of bull riders, women should participate more and more in rodeos, in the same way that they now do jobs that were once reserved for men.
"Today (...) women are present in all sectors and we, as spouses, as husbands, if they want to go up, we give them preference, because it is always the woman who commands"
, comments he.
“You shouldn't be macho, you have to let women (ride bulls) because there are women who have courage
,” adds Francisco Orozco, owner of a dozen rodeo bulls.
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