While I find the majority of women's matches, especially the gimmick ones, time to break the seal and refresh the beer, I don't get offended.
Here's why.
I compare working for the WWE to working for Hooters. When you apply there, you know what is expected. I don't buy the "but I didn't know they'd expect me to wrestle in a thong in a bowl of Butter Flavor Crisco!" line for a second.
From it's earliest days, wrestling has traditionally used women as eye candy. As society changes, the roles change. From Wendi Richter in a leotard, to Rena Mero with painted breasts, to Trish Stratus barking like a dog.
Women's wrestling styles have also changed. From slapping and snapmares to the Molly-Go-Round and Stratusfaction. The WWE has some impressive women performers, and some complete wastes of space with bad implants (Terri Runnels IS the CryptKeeper).
Personally, I'd like to see *serious* women's professional wrestling, like you find in Japan. Unfortunately, Tanya's right - all women are allowed to be in today's American pro wrestling is eye candy. Does that mean I don't mind when they have a "pillow fight" as the night's women's match? Not at all - but I also think that it's more symptomatic of a general lack of creativity in today's American pro wrestling.
Women's pro wrestling can be more than a competition to see which female wrestler can sport the biggest rack. All that's necessary are minds open enough to see the possibilities - and that may be the most difficult part.
Steph
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
I'd like to see some well-trained, talented women gymnasts (no, not frail 13-year-old girls) try a wrestling career. Gals like that could be a thrill in the ring. A small, muscular woman should be capable of some pretty high flying. Men have the advantage of greater muscle mass to body weight ratio, but women have greater agility and flexibility (or so I hear).
Now I might have just described Japanese women's wrestling, but since I've never seen any, there you go.
It doesn't offend me if pretty girls in scanty outfits are used to sell a product. I would have perished of righteous outrage by now if I took that kind of thing too seriously. I see it more as a male weakness than as degrading to the women, who after all must be assumed to be consenting adults. If I wear a push-up bra to work and some guy falls all over himself doing me favors, who's the fool? ;-)
It's nice to see women wrestle in some good technically sound matches from time to time. I'm ever impressed by the growth that Trish Stratus has shown during the time she's been in the WWE. But when you have only two or three women to carry a division, monotony insues and then you have THOSE kind of matches.
Do I like them? Not particularly. It's not so much the actual match, it's JERRY LAWLER. Ugh! Go back to that pillow fight on RAW... Although you expected to hear LAWLER masterbating under the announce table, but noooo.... you get to see LAWLER in the ring. Ugh!
Those kinds of matches = Pee Break for me.
Do I get offended by it? No. I'm not a female trying to break into the wrestling business. I would be offended if I had trained with Stu Hart or Killer Kowolski or even some other reknown trainer and then got hired by the WWE to wrestle in a gravy bowl match.
If you were trained by Kowalski, I don't think gravy matches are in your future anyway. I guess the only time I was truly offended was during the whole Trish Stratus/Vince affair. Especially when she was made to bark like a dog. I know it was just entertainment and all, but I was sexually harassed once, and when I see something like that, and the crowd is cheering, what does it say for the woman who couldn't even say "no"? I did say no, by the way. That was about it, but only because it touched a nerve, and worse, nobody came to save her, and she didn't say no. That was about it.
On the whole, no, it doesn't offend me. The WWF, er, WWE, can put on all the T&A spectacles they want, I'm not going to get offended. I might be annoyed (as I was Monday) that valuable tv time is devoted to crap like a Bra and Panties match because it frankly isn't entertaining. But it's not any different from the feeling I get when they show something completely unrelated to T&A that's not entertaining.
There was one time I was pretty offended by a segment featuring a woman, and it was back on Nitro a few years ago. Randy Savage was angry at his girlfriend Gorgeous George, and the last segment of the show featured him kicking and beating her pretty brutally in a hallway. It wasn't wrestling, it wasn't even sports entertainment, it was just creepy and disturbing. Now, violence against women in wrestling is nothing new, and it never offended me except that one time. I don't, of course, condone wife or girlfriend beating, but most of the time when a woman gets attacked on wrestling, it's within the context of a match, or an over the top storyline that doesn't come close to any realism. But Macho kicking George in the hallway seemed real. The portrayal was grim and dark, and it was not cool.
Actually, I think that's the only time wrestling has truly offended my morality. Now, as for my intelligence being offended, that's happened many times, but that's a completely different animal. :)
As soon as you're born you start dying, so you might as well have a good time.
I think Jerry Lawler has offended the entire population's intelligence.
You know I believe that female wrestlers know what they are getting into when they sign up as far as the silly and pointless booby matches go. But do you ever think that some of them get disturbed by Jerry, possibly to the point of being physically ill? I mean I know *I* feel ill when he starts talking about women somtimes and I don't have to be around him in person.
Honestly, I don't think the heterosexual male population of the world needs breasts and ass pointed out to them. They'll notice on their own without Jerry's help.
I'm just here for the sweaty mens... pay no attention.
I'm not offended by how women are portrayed, their characters aren't true to life but then neither are the male wrestlers. I do get bored with the T & A matches, but I suppose they must entertain some of the audience. Jerry Lawler,however, just makes me cringe. He gets hold of a subject either puppies, hymens or ass and just won't stop. If he mentioned it just once or twice I wouldn't mind but after being told the same thing 15 times I turn the sound off. Has he ever commentated on a Women's match even semi seriously?
Originally posted by RingmistressDon't laugh, I haven't heard that word in years -- What the hell is a hymen?
Ringmistress
From the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary:
Main Entry: hy·men Pronunciation: 'hI-m&n Function: noun Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek hymEn membrane Date: 1615 : a fold of mucous membrane partly closing the orifice of the vagina - hy·men·al /-m&-n&l/ adjective
It's supposed to be intact on a virgin. However, if you've done practically anything active (cheerleading, track, professional wrestling ) or used tampons, it's likely already gone. It's not the "guarantee of virginity" it once was supposed to be.
Steph (B.S.N.)
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
I would only mention Chyna in an article such as that as an example of a woman who did nothing to further the cause of other female wrestlers. For all of Joanie's "feminist" posturing, she wasn't interested in making women look good.