National Martial Arts champion Rebecca A. Rakow '01 described her vision of gender equality to about 20 people gathered for a speech at the Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel last night.

Rakow, who was named International Young Woman of the Year in Public Affairs by Zonta, an international service organization, stressed that women can equal men in physical strength, despite biological differences between the genders.

"Many will not agree with [the idea] that women can be as strong as men," Rakow said, arguing that this is the main reason women have less political and earning power. "People have accepted that [women] have the brain power, the motivation [to succeed], but there's still a concept of women as being victims...women have the capability to be equal to men."

Rakow, an engineering concentrator, recounted her experiences as a karate expert who often competed against boys before she was banned from participating in formal matches against males on the grounds, according to her, that "boys are walking away with broken egos."

Rakow also explained some of the trends in women's physical fitness today. These range from women at West Point find alternative methods of climbing walls--relying on their strong pelvic bones rather than upper body strength--to the fact that women are approaching the achievement levels of men in sports such as running.

"Women's upper bodies are not as strong as men's, but we have some serious hip action. I know many women who kick a bit harder than men," she said at one point.

Following her speech, the Quincy House resident fielded questions from the audience. Discussion included whether women in the military should be held to the same physical standards as men, and the ways in which men view physically strong women. Afterward, students said they were impressed by Rakow's presentation.

"[The speech] was great," said Michael A. Rosen '99. "[Physical strength] is one aspect of gender difference you don't get to hear about much. You usually hear about social differences. [The idea that all women can be as strong as men] is definitely an interesting argument."

Talya M. Weisbard '00, co-chair of the Hillel Women's group and one of the organizers of the event, said she found it interesting as well.

"One question is whether the goal for women should be to make themselves better for competing in a man's world or whether we should change the paradigm of the world-push forward areas where women are equally talented," Weisbard said. "This is one aspect of women's identity we hadn't considered before."