"We want to show off our muscles freely in a society that does not look at us as a mere sex symbol" says Iraqi Kurdish body-builder Shylan Kamal as she exercises at a gym in Arbil in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region. For her fellow body-builder Ranjbar Ali, "If people think this is shameful for women because they show off their bodies, then this must apply to men as well," referring to Iraq's conservative and patriarchal society.

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