But sports coverage in the Turkish media focuses on men's soccer and basketball with only occasional stories about women athletes. And one rarely sees women playing competitive sports on İstanbul's ball fields.

It is remarkable, therefore, to happen upon an art gallery displaying paintings of girls involved in physical competition. As it happens the gallery is in the Hamra district of Beirut, Lebanon. Currently on exhibit at Agial Gallery through Dec. 27, Tamara Al Samerraei's paintings show girls in activities typically associated with boys. These girls play with toy guns, play soccer and ride horses, bicycles and motorcycles. Mixing feminine and masculine qualities, the story in each picture is ambiguous. The scene is at once playful and serious, caring and aggressive.

The characters in these paintings are girlish (with red lips, long hair and pink shirts). They are also strong, vigilant and ready to fight. Each painting presents central conflict, a rivalry. In some cases, the contest is between two figures within the frame. In others, the girl looks beyond the frame, drawing the viewer into the conflict.

In "Bows and Arrows," the rivalry is contained within the frame. Two girls face off diagonally, aiming arrows at one another. Viewed from a distance, the geometrically balanced scene appears staged, as if the girls are playing. On closer examination, the girls' faces are dead serious. The eyes are intense and focused; the attack is more martial than sportive. Al Samerraei notes that the element of war is stronger here than in her other works.

In "Fist," the rivalry is between the girl and the viewer. The girl turns back, watching for the assailant who has lodged a dart in the flank of her horse. Al Samerraei says the girl could be getting ready to defend herself or to protect the horse. "It's a very feminine instinct," she adds. Taking care of a charge may require violence.

Eyes are central to the ambivalence in these paintings. Despite the simplicity of composition there is psychological depth in these black circles. In "Fist," for example, the eyes are paradoxically alert and nonchalant. "It's a serious look, yet soft," says the artist. The girl's expression is firm, calm and confident, but she is relaxed. Her right sandal dangles carelessly from her foot next the belly of horse, which is also relaxed, its head lowered as if to graze. Riding bareback, this girl controls the horse and the situation, one hand on the mane, the other raised in a clinched fist.

Al Samerraei notes that the weapon in this case is a dart, not an arrow. "It's a more of a pinch," she explains, adding that she chose weapons that could also be viewed as toys. She leaves the viewer to question whether the rivalry is a serious conflict or just girls pretending to fight. "I don't necessarily want to hurt anyone," says Al Samerraei, laughing. She pauses. "But I could." Violence is part of life: We may kill to protect our young; we kill to eat. The ambiguity in these paintings is a reminder that there is a bit of sport in war and something of war in sports.

Al Samerraei takes issue with the word "violence." "The issue is not violence, but fighting," she says. It seems disingenuous, however, to claim there is no violence in her paintings. While the artist's stated intention is to explore notions of rivalry and fighting, arrows can be sharpened to kill, either animals or an enemy. The tool is a metaphor for violence.

Violence, or at least "brute force," is part of many team sports, and in many cultures media coverage of contact sports like soccer and American football emphasizes the physical impact in the clash of opposing sides. There is something primal in athletic competition. Athletic games satisfy a need, an impulse to fight. They sublimate the human drive to conquer, to defeat the other. Games allow people to "attack" one another with measured physical violence.

Athletic competition has evolved a long way from deadly gladiator contests, and the modern-day diversity of sports (from table tennis to skateboarding) gives us the chance to compete -- either with others or with ourselves -- with little thought of the relationship between martial and athletic rivalry. But the recent invention of sports like korfball (specifically designed to eliminate brute force by prohibiting physical contact and emphasizing speed and agility) is an expression of society's increasing discomfort with violence. The motivation to create a new sport explicitly emphasizing non-violent cooperation suggests that, for some, the martial element of sports remains too close to the surface.

Regardless of the degree of (metaphorical) violence in Al Samerraei's paintings, the exhibit in Beirut is a testament to a girl's desire to fight, to engage in a physical contest. Indeed, Al Samerraei comments that it was a friend's dream to establish a women's national soccer team in Kuwait that inspired her painting "Soccer." Without these and other images of girls playing sports, it is difficult for anyone (girls, boys, parents, teachers, etc.) to become accustomed to the idea that athletics is just as appropriate and beneficial for females as it is for males.

Photographs of Al Samerraei's paintings can be viewed at www.agialart.com.