Month: September 2019

Excerpt from “Wrestling with Masculinity” Message 6: Men are winners

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Below, some notes about gender in wrestling, from “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere Message 6: Men are winners Winning and achievement are part of being a man. This was very apparent even in the contrived world of professional wrestling. Male performers who held the championship title were described … Read more Excerpt from “Wrestling with Masculinity” Message 6: Men are winners

International Association for Communication and Sport

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Earlier this week, Karen Hartman, Executive Director of the International Association for Communication and Sport, contacted us regarding their upcoming 2020 conference. They will host this conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, this April, during WrestleMania weekend. They are even hoping to have someone from WWE speak at their conference. Now, we are planning our first … Read more International Association for Communication and Sport

Nylons and Midriffs: There’s a Storm Coming (September 24, 2019)

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Although many associate the cliched film line “there’s a storm coming” as a bad omen, in the context of the wrestling world at the moment, the storm in question could be stirring positive changes for women’s competition. The women’s matches at Clash of Champions were for the most part good, and NXT made its debut … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: There’s a Storm Coming (September 24, 2019)

Excerpts from Mazer, “The Doggie Doggie World of Professional Wrestling”

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  At its worst, a wrestling performance is an oversimplistic display of male bravado and vulgar social clichés. But at its best, wrestling is a sophisticated theatricalized representation of the violent urges repressed by the social code, of the transgressive impulses present in the most civilized of people. Most of all, wrestling activates its audience … Read more Excerpts from Mazer, “The Doggie Doggie World of Professional Wrestling”

Is It Terrible or Terrific? We Needs a Better Way to Talk About Professional Wrestling

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 I gave it four stars.  You gave it two and a half stars.  Fair enough.  It’s just our opinion, right?  Well…sort of.  While it is true that match rating is a subjective process, that does not mean we cannot understand it.  Too often, subjective behavior (especially as related to art) is either reduced to its … Read more Is It Terrible or Terrific? We Needs a Better Way to Talk About Professional Wrestling

“Why America’s Hooked on Wrestling”

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Passages from “The operational aesthetic in the performance of professional wrestling” by William P. Lipscomb III In “Why America’s Hooked on Wrestling,” Leland observes that the popularity of wrestling extends beyond the live and televised events to consumer merchandise:   The WWF’s home videos routinely rank No.1 in sports, its action figures outsell Pokemon’s and … Read more “Why America’s Hooked on Wrestling”

Nylons and Midriffs: Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse (September 9, 2019)

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Well, well, well. The more some things change, the more they stay the same. The Four Horsewomen are finally clashing all at once on WWE TV, and I, like many fans, feel like a kid in a candy store. The four most beloved and polarizing women in the company will be facing off in pairs … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse (September 9, 2019)

Excerpt from “Wrestling with Masculinity” Message 5: Men are not whiners

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Below, some notes about gender in wrestling, from “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere Message 5: Men are not whiners As the classic adage “real men don’t cry” suggests, men are expected to exercise emotional restraint, to keep their emotions in check, and to avoid displaying any public show … Read more Excerpt from “Wrestling with Masculinity” Message 5: Men are not whiners

Wrestling and Disability: David “Silento” Rodriguez

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Professional wrestling studies has yet to fully engage the turn toward disability studies in the humanities and social sciences.  Publications like Disability Studies Quarterly and professional organizations like the Society for Disability Studies do broad-based research in disability studies.  Many disciplines engage subcommunities of scholars who do research in disability studies — for example, colleagues of … Read more Wrestling and Disability: David “Silento” Rodriguez