Kicking ass and taking notes - what it's like to be a woman in the ring. Alison Dean teaches English literature. She also punches people. But despite several amateur fights under her belt, she knows she will never be taken as seriously as a male boxer. 'You punch like a girl' still isn't a compliment - women aren't supposed to perpetrate violence. With wit and insight, Dean delves into the ways combat sports can change a person's - and particularly a woman's - relationship to their body and to the world around them, considering at the same time how women might revolutionize martial arts.