The year 2016 saw the resurgence of women’s wrestling in the WWE. The WWE Divas Championship was cast aside in favor of the prestigious WWE Women’s Championship, and although this championship doesn’t share the same (mostly) outstanding lineage as the one that preceded it, it marked a massive change in the way that women were presented in the ring by the WWE.
Before the female wrestlers of the WWE started being referred to as Superstars, just as the men are, they had their own brand (known as the WWE Divas). The term ‘Diva’ could be considered quite sexist when looking back, but it allowed the WWE marketing machine to try and appeal to the of 20 to 30-year-old male demographic. It was more about the talent’s look and sex appeal than their
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The tournament drew a lot of attention and was helped along by established Divas on the roster, such as Tamina Snuka. The fact that the women were now more respected in the developmental territories than they were on the main roster’s weekly broadcasts of Raw and SmackDown, was beginning to create a buzz among the general audience. And, as NXT continued to build a talented roster with the likes of Emma, Sasha Banks and others, the Divas division of the main roster was being led by AJ Lee.
AJ Lee was the absolute pinnacle of female representation before the beginning of the revolution in 2015. When she first came to prominence, she was involved in a romantic storyline with Daniel Bryan and ended up costing him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 28. Despite this relationship not lasting long, AJ Lee wasn’t out of the spotlight. She aligned herself with many Superstars, including names such as CM Punk, John Cena and Kane. Her segments were quickly becoming the most entertaining parts of the weekly broadcast. She became the Raw General Manager during this time, which only increased her airtime and allowed her to develop her character into a ‘crazy’ woman who used mind games to get what she wanted.
It was the first time in a while that a woman was able to use the time she had on TV to create a character that the audience could become invested in. WWE
Continuing to brain wash the young men today with the “sports is a mans world” mentality only helps to repeat the cycle of nearly oppressing women in the industry. It keeps men feeling secure when it comes to their masculinity, yet making a woman’s fight for respect a never ending struggle.
Vince McMahon is the chairman of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), which he is representing the third generation of McMahons in the business. Vince’s father died in 1984, leaving his son behind to carry on his father’s pro wrestling legacy. After his father died and left Vince with the company the first thing he decided to do with the company was get away from the National Wrestling Alliance. But even with his new vision he realized that it was incompatible since their old-school promoting viewpoint was so durable. Vince McMahon inherited this company from his father, Vince McMahon Sr. After inheriting it. Vince transformed WWE from being just a normally ran business into bringing wrestling into the mainstream and setting venue records. He has even set groundbreaking use of pay-per-views during the entire process. Vince McMahon managed to do all of this during the ‘80s. Now during the ‘90s, he managed to launch the most popular Attitude Era which was emphasized by his rivalry with “Stone Cole” Steve Austin. In the year 2001, Vince was able to purchase the rival WCW, and ever since that decision he has been able to entertain billions of WWE Universe fans in more ways than anyone could have
While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.
Beginning with the most prevalent controversy, the obvious physical advantage males have over females. “Weight, shape, size, and anatomy are not political opinions but rather tangible and easily measured.” (Connor) This is a strictly a fact, that men have natural, biological, and evolutionary advantages in many aspects of physical exertion, however, it wouldn’t be fair to say that woman have no hope in physical dominance over any man in the 21st century. Females in male sports aren’t just sitting ducks waiting to be beaten, they have a similar polar edge including speed, flexibility, and quick thinking. Looking at an example of this, Massachusetts high school wrestler, Danielle
Since its creation in 1980, World Wrestling Entertainment has been determined to shine a spotlight on the sport of professional wrestling. Delivering up to eight hours of weekly programing and their own subscription-based online library, consumers are able to receive as much content as they please. Although the WWE product as a whole is immensely popular, it does not go without fault. While other professional sports have succeeded in showcasing all genders and races in a positive light, the same can not always be said about WWE. What separates the WWE from other professional sports in a negative manner is the constant use of racial stereotypes, depiction of women in a degrading fashion, and mediocre storytelling.
So from our perspective it is clear that the media has constructed a view that the amateur female athlete must be ‘sexy’ in order to be able to succeed, we don’t read in magazines or see photographs of less attractive female athletes, they have excluded them for what in their mind is good reason, sex sells. However it is creating an unrealistic image of the perfect female athlete, they are not judged by how good they are at hitting, catching, shooting, running or jumping, but by how much they can get paid for taking their clothes off.
Next, Alyssa Lampe, a senior last year who wrestled at 103 in Division Two.# Alyssa had a season record of 45 wins and 5 losses, of those fifty wins approximately five were girls. She proves that a girl can be better than a guy. Alyssa started wrestling when she was six so her older brother, Anthony would have a partner, who had the state title at the 112 weight class. Even through all the rude statements about how girls shouldn't wrestle and that they should do more girly things she didn't give up. It really paid off, Alyssa took second last year at state ending her high school career being the first girl to qualify and compete in a WIAA Individual State tournament in a 61 year history, the first girl not only to place but to reach the championship.
Despite the gains made by successful female athletes in the era, women were forced into two categories; hot or not, no matter their talents. WNBA was ignored because of the sex appeal, as well as in tennis and soccer. A soccer player, Brandi Chastain changed the way people watched after a game when she took off her shirt after winning her World Cup goal over China in penalty kicks on July 10, 1999. She did this because she was just celebrating and it just happened, she didn’t mean anything by it. The crowd remembered her boring black sports bra instead of them winning the championship, because it was more
You know it, it's the one and only wrestling! You are probably living in a cave plus not be living your life's full potential if you don't know what wrestling is! Wrestling involves many things like its diet, its history, plus its rules!
Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is a seductive novel which chronicles an unnamed narrator’s ability to cope with an emasculated, self-centered, materialistic society by creating an alter ego. Throughout the text, the theme of the emasculated modern man is presented both in the life of the narrator, and in the lives of the male characters he surrounds himself with. Through notions of absent fathers, consumerism and an innocuous/aimless existence, Palahniuk presents how men in modern society have lost their masculine identity and the extreme actions they go to in order to obtain it again.
Mike Tyson Mike Tyson, the youngest ever heavyweight boxing champion of the world was born in a ghetto in the state of New York. His Father departed the family home two years after his birth, leaving his Mother to raise three children with very limited financial means. Subsequently, his Mother found a new partner who was abusive and violent. She then turned to alcohol in an attempt to escape from her existence. Michael, now aged five years, felt neglected and unloved by her
How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.
Edmund Spenser in his epic romance, The Faerie Queene, invents and depicts a wide array of female figures. Some of these women, such as Una and Caelia, are generally shown as faithful, virtuous and overall lovely creatures. Other feminine characters, such as Errour, Pride, and Duessa are false, lecherous and evil. This might seem to be the end of Spenser's categorization of women; that they are either good or bad. Yet upon closer examination one finds that Spenser seems to be struggling to portray women more honestly, to depict the "complex reality of woman" (Berger, 92). Spenser does not simply "idealize women or the feminine viewpoint" as he could easily do
During this century women have been able to break out of the traditional female mold. Women have broken the chains that bond them to the home and have emerged into all sorts of male dominated arenas, including sports. Women have become athletes in their own right. In the last ten years there has been validation for the female athlete. The WNBA was created giving women a professional league in a mainstream traditionally male sport for the first time since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League went out of existence in the 1950s. And recently a woman made the cut and participated on the professional golf circuit with the men. Today, we see women athletes in the media regularly. Women's college basketball is given airtime on weekends just as men's is.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects. WWF is a foundation, in 2010 deriving 57% of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, USAID) and 11% from corporations.