Turkish national team player Esra Erol also reports that she was allowed to play football as a child, but that she faced greater scrutiny for her athletic pursuits as she reached adolescence and adulthood. At the same time, sociologist Kay Tess observed that some Muslim families view sports as an unnecessary distraction from education, which they see as highly important. Cultural barriers to sports participation are by no means unique to Muslim societies. In a wide variety of contexts, researchers have found gender differences in people's belief in their own athletic abilities. On average, men and boys perceive themselves as more athletically competent than women and girls, which may increase their propensity to participate in sports. In adolescence, girls tend to have lower sports participation rates, and this discrepancy increases with age. Additionally, women who participate in competitive sports are often negatively stigmatized as being lesbians, regardless of their actual sexuality. Muslim women sometimes face cultural barriers to sports participation that are common across societies in addition to those specific to their communities. Muslim women's participation in sports is often seen as an indication that they are becoming more liberated and Western. For example, when Afghan sprinter Robina Muqimyar competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, Western media sources praised her for exchanging the burqa, which they saw as inherently oppressive, for sports attire. Mahfoud Amara labels this type of coverage as "orientalist" and "culturally imperialistic", as it measures Muslim women's freedom and wellbeing by whether or not they conform to Western athletic norms and expectations. On the other hand, Muslim female athletes often face criticism and scrutiny when they do not conform to Western athletic ideals. Hijabi athletes were excluded from the Olympic Games until 1996, and debate continues about whether or not head covering is a religious symbol that is out of place in secular athletic spheres. Samie and Sehlikoglu report that media coverage of hijabi athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics portrayed them as "strange, incompetent, and out-of-place". Disproportionate attention was given to Muslim nations with a low female-to-male athlete ratio, as well as veiling and Ramadan fasting. Reporters also frequently alluded to exotic sexuality of Muslim female athletes, fetishizing both their covering and their bodies. Some Muslim female athletes have expressed concern that media sources focus on their clothing choices to the exclusion of their athletic achievements. For example, Turkish taekwondo athlete Kübra Dağlı wrote on social media, "They don't speak of my success, but of my headscarf.