The first difference between the American style of wrestling and that of other national cultures can be associated with America’s emphasis on physical culture within wresting. In the late 1900s there was a huge interest among US men in physical culture that drew importance and celebrated men’s bodies as healthy, muscular and powerful (Glenday, 2017). Sociologist Gail Bederman argues that the reason for this was because, “men were especially concerned with manhood amidst perceived challenges from immigrant men and middle class women who increasingly questioned white middle-class male primacy” (Lindaman, 2000, pg. 789). Furthermore, this atmosphere emphasized the celebration of wrestling and the strength its participants exhibited (Lindaman,
However, Cohn still inevitably and obliviously throws in the towel in the fight of masculinity when Jake remarks that “being a very shy and thoroughly nice boy, he never fought except in the gym” (11). Cohn’s attempt at using the sport as a mechanism for practicing masculinity ultimately
The culture in Mexico is very fond of soccer as it’s the country’s most popular sport, where males of all ages play anywhere they can and leaving the national team as cult heroes. Even though soccer is the main sport, following behind it is boxing, where Mexico has produced many world boxing champions as boxing remains popular among all socioeconomic ...
Iowa Wrestling, a documentary directed by Michael Smith and narrated by Dylan McDermott, is produced by ESPN. It was televised in 2003 on ESPN The Season, a series that reveals the rigidity, torment, and triumph of the nation's highest demanding sport groups. The film primarily focuses on a story about the Hawkeye's Men of The Mat, an élite group of wrestlers from the University of Iowa under the leadership of Jim Zalesky, the head coach and the promising new successor of former legend, Dan Gable. In the story, the team faces multiple obstructions and challenges that continuously attempt to run them down their darkest fear: losing. As seen throughout the film, the team pushes beyond their physical and mental limits in order to avoid meeting that fear. By all means, how they train their minds and bodies are unthinkable. It is quite frightening. For the Hawkeyes, wrestling is not a sport, nor even an intense competitive activity; it is war. Iowa Wrestling is nominated as one of the greatest sport documentaries of all-time because of its insightfulness. It goes in deep depths to analyze truly how intense wrestling can be, especially in the University of Iowa. However, the film is also intentionally persuasive, using means of cinema verité, or persuasive filming, to convey the message efficiently. The film is no jubilant one; it is powerful yet poignant. It appeals to the viewers with ethos, logos, and pathos, and can be shown thro...
She argues that this is due to the female perception that “to have a penis means to have power”. This is a result of the Freudian idea that every relationship is powered by the fear of castration and the Oedipus complex. A man’s fear of castration coupled with an Oedipus complex essentially gives the man a simultaneous fear and love for women leading to the need to control them. Men having power is still seen even in the lives of Las Cholitas, a culture focused on women. Las Cholitas’ wrestling helps them be independent in a predominantly male powered society but everything around the sport is still controlled by men. Their training is handled by men and each competition is organized and announced by men. In addition, at the specific gym featured in “The Fighting Cholitas”, it was a man’s idea to invite the Cholitas to train in his facility and more or less exploit them so he could make money off hosting each match. Furthermore many families of the Cholitas don’t approve of their wrestling because it is dangerous and what is the family to do if the mother gets hurt? The whole house would fall apart if the housewife can’t fulfill her daily chores. But there is some hope as not all families are like this. A specific wrestler interviewed for the documentary mentions that her husband doesn’t want her to wrestle but supports her anyway because he can’t stop her from doing something she
The media has been a part of the daily life of the American people for the longest time, because of this fact, the media influences the decisions and views of how people should live. One big part of the media that tends to start to develop a sense of how the day-to-day American should live is Disney. Since kids are the main source of Disney’s billion dollar industry children have become an important dimension of the social theory (Giroux 1999: 65). “Within this context, television emerges as a consumer-oriented medium that reflects advertisers’ desire to reach a young, upscale, and primarily White audience” (Goodale1999; Henderson and Baldasty 2003: 100). As a result other races and ethnic groups other than white Americans are often put aside when it comes to the social media view of how Americans should live.
The traditional view of martial arts for most people comes from the movies, either featuring Bruce Lee or possibly the Karate Kid. With those classic references, the martial arts of today would seem quite alien. What was once obscure has now become the mainstream with millions of martial artists of one degree or another. The violence of this sport is far beyond what boxing, or football could ever accomplish; while those sports often cause concussions and the occasional broken bone, some of the martial arts expect their students to break the bones of their opponents if the fight goes out of control or simply by accident. This brutality usually shunned by civilized society, instead served to increase the sports reputation. The popularity of mixed martial arts soared over the last couple of years mainly due to the emergence of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as the fast growing sport in America. With this popularity of the sport mixed martial art gyms are emerging up all across the country. I visited a local gym to study the fighters, with the intention to understand the mentality that goes along with this profession.
Wrestling is more than just a sport; it is a way of life. And for those who enjoy its opportunities, it is something that takes the mind off of all of life’s troubling times, and puts one man against another to get their hand raised. Competition makes everything evolve, and there is no other sport that epitomizes what competition truly is. Wrestling spans the entire globe, and although it incorporates several different styles and many National and World events, remains overlooked by most.
Anderson, E. (2011). Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research. Journal Of Homosexuality, 58(5), 565-578. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.563652
Women have struggled for many years to create their own identity in the male dominant sport of wrestling. Wrestling began with the early Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations who depict wrestlers using most of the holds known to the present-day sport. In ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature. Wrestling competitions were and still are brutal in many aspects due to injuries caused during a bout. Around 1928 North Americans developed the collegiate-style wrestling which is practiced in high schools and universities today. In the 1980s women began to wrestle in increasing numbers, and the first women's world championship was held in 1987.
Boxing, wrestling, and fencing were used as practice for physical culture schools and were articulated in their own right. Key events in American history can be explained by sports, which also shows how society has dealt with racial, economic (gambling), ethnic, and regional differences in our nation. Heavyweight champion of the 1900’s, Jack Johnson illustrated a prime example of nationalization of white supremacy during the Jim Crow era. Individuals are shaped by our everyday society, in essence portraying is it not biological. Norms have grouped people in today's society by classifying a human by the color of their skin, their cultural standing, and by their socioeconomic standing. Through society setting norms of how you should be portrayed
The WWF is in a constant battle against time and the audience’s ever-changing wants and desires causing consistent reinvention. During early years of wrestling it was clear wrestling had no identity. Wrestlers would travel from region to region fighting in promoted venues, the sport slowly began to gain popularity but quickly lost steam during the Radio and TV age where popularity shifted to sports like boxing, baseball, and football. During this time Vince McMahon Sr. would begin the first of many reinventions of the sport.
Eisen, George, and Wiggins, David K. (1994). Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
In the prologue it appeared that Schlegal had already formed a great respect and understanding of the culture practices, especially with regard to illness. Although the Teduray believed that an encounter with spirits caused health ailments for their people and Schlegal had shared his culture’s belief that germs caused illness. The different value system of “spirits versus germs”, did not prevent the Teduray from accommodating the belief system opposite of their own. It seemed to me that the Teduray understood how important it was to Schlegal, therefore it was necessary or important for them to risk their lives in order to seek modern medical care for Schlegals son.
yet only light of possible success. Despite the feasibility of fame and wealth, middle and upper class men “don’t mind professional baseball and football, but to be labeled a ‘prizefighter’ is something they can’t quite. swallow”(237). In opposition to my current beliefs, Elliot J. Gorn, the author of The Manly Art, believes that “boxers are victims of racial and class discrimination”. discrimination, that the ring encourages violence, and that pugilism appeals.
Boxing is the most individualist sport there is. It's one on one, man versus man. Despite this, the indiviudal participants in boxing have often been labeled as represenatives for the masses of whatever faction they come from. Whether it is the phenoneom of Irish-Americans boxers wearing shamrocks and American flags on their trunks (____) or Jewish boxers taking up the sports to prove their strength in a culture that sought out to terrorize and weaken them (_____), boxers have always been associated with more than just themselves. They becomes representives of their people.