Once there was resistance from some macho egos in Nicaragua, trying to protect their monopoly on bull riding, attitudes are slowly changing
Bull rider Eveling Perez performs during a traditional bull riding event during the celebration of a religious feast held in honour of the Candelaria Virgin in Teustepe, Nicaragua on February 5, 2023.
Image: Oswaldo Rivas / AFP
When Eveling Perez was a teenager, she became fascinated by bull riding but her brother told her it was only for men in Nicaragua, where machismo was and still is the norm.
She ignored him. Now the 33-year-old cook takes part in rodeo shows, riding a bucking bull.
Perez earns $200 every time she mounts one, her right hand gripping the animal's harness while her left arm is stretched out for balance.
Hundreds of spectators at a festival in Tipitapa, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the capital Managua, cheer and applaud as her body shudders with the violent bucking of a beast that weighs hundreds of kilograms and is desperate to shake her off.
The goal is to stay on the bull for at least eight seconds.