It’s a tale as old as time- sorry, a discourse as old as time. Women. Women in wrestling, women in sports, women in any sort of previously male-dominated space- it seems to really piss people (mostly men) off. No one does discourse like Wrestling Twitter and the topic of women in wrestling media and women in wrestling in general, has been tirelessly discussed for several, several years.
Wrestling media is a journalistic type practice involving writing, interviewing, podcasting, and reporting on the news and happenings in the professional wrestling realm. Some of the most prominent names in wrestling media and journalism are women. Wrestling is a sport for everyone(or at least it’s supposed to be), so it would make sense for wrestling media to be an outlet for everyone. But it’s not, not really anyways.
Like the sport it follows, wrestling media isn’t always a great place for women or people who aren’t cisgendered white males. A while back, there was a comment made by someone who apparently covers wrestling. He mentioned his thoughts about pretending to be a woman- also called catfishing- because he feels woman get more opportunities in the wrestling media world as a direct result of how they look. This person implied that the hard work and dedication women in wrestling media put in to hone their craft is neglectable, and their appearance is the sole reason they book interviews and their content is successful. Women are already criticized heavily over their looks. They’re too skinny, not skinny enough, fat, “fake”, too pretty, not pretty enough, the list goes on. For this person to directly state that women only see success in the wrestling media world because of their looks is completely off base when often, the comments about their looks are hate-filled, judgmental, and overly sexual. Popular and well-known wrestling journalist, Xenia (Xenia Did That), says she constantly gets comments about her looks. She says, “The comments directed at me and messages I get in my dms are not limited to criticizing my looks, of course, but also somehow always influenced by it.” People pay more attention to her appearance rather than the wrestling content she puts out. She said’ “I always go to say ‘it comes with the gig’ when it shouldn’t.” It should not come with the gig. Women in wrestling media and sports journalism is general, should not have to deal with comments on their looks, they should not have to face overly sexual interactions with male fans. Xenia also mentioned how, despite her formal journalism training, people love to tell her she’s not a real journalist. Awhile ago, former football coach, Jerry Sullivan said, “The worst fans are really the women. They don’t get critical journalism. They’re all wannabe cheerleaders.” The thing that stuck out the most to me was him saying women “don’t get critical journalism.” What about those women who are trained in and went to school for journalism? What makes them less qualified than men who are formally trained journalists as well? Very rarely are men ever questioned over something they say, but for women, one comment can spark a whole discussion on their “credibility.”
Another battle women in the wrestling space face is getting people to take them seriously.
Haley Anne (Tag Talk, Bodyslam, Nerds & Beyond, The Wrestling Muse) said the hardest thing for her was getting people to take her seriously as a wrestling journalist, because she comes from an entertainment background (and isn’t wrestling entertainment to a certain degree anyways?). She said, “As a younger woman in wrestling media, I feel like I had and have to fight twice as hard to be taken seriously. When I was getting started, a lot of companies turned me away because I came from entertainment media — not too far off from wrestling, but I definitely didn’t have the credibility I have now, then.” Today, Haley writes for Bodyslam Net, Nerds & Beyond, and The Wrestling Muse, a substack she created all by herself, as well as hosts Tag Talk with Kiley Fuller (another wonderful woman in wrestling media). Haley was even able to bring wrestling into Nerds & Beyond, something she called a risky move as they are not a sports publication. Haley has seen a tremendous amount of success thanks to the opportunities she has been afforded due to her talent and work, and the extraordinary amount of work she has put in.
I know what you’re going to say , “not all men are bad,” so let me cut you off right there. If all you can come up with when a man does something horrible and degrading towards a woman is a lousy “not all men are bad” then you probably aren’t the great guy you think you are. Of course there are men out there who respect women and don’t view them as property or a toy or someone less-than. But historically speaking the male species has always been terrible towards their women and non-male counterparts. Women in wrestling media are not here to be competition for the men working in wrestling media. They’re here to work and produce content on the sport they love. The women who are in this space are in it because they love the sport of professional wrestling, and if they love it so much that they continue to bust their asses and go through all they go through to be able to make even the tiniest mark on the wrestling media world, then they should be celebrated and cherished.
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