Wrestling In American Culture Analysis

On Monday April 11th Ethan Ingram came to give a lecture about the concept of wrestling in American culture and the symbolism that is behind in the world of this sport. Ethan introduced this topic with a quote from one of the readings we did for the class that explained “beautifully” in his terms how wrestling is a perfect example in how certain sports can displays different realms of culture. I honestly have never been involved in the world of wrestling and this presentation taught me a lot about how wrestling meshes a world of fiction with sports to paint a picture of a culture. Ethan studies small scale wrestling in both the outskirts of Central Illinois and in Champagne-Urbana. The first concept that Ethan made aware to the class was that
One example that Ethan incorporated in the presentation was Hulk Hogan; Hulk represented the strong will of the country, justice and integrity. On the counterpart of the protagonist, the antagonist is the man or woman in the ring the represents the rivals or hate that is present. Throughout history in American wrestling there has been characters that have represented the communists (Russia), Middle-Easters and other characters that typically have a racial stigma associated with them. What is interesting in regards to wrestling is that the audience is a key component of the act; its essential for the crowd to interact with the protagonist and antagonist in ways which it motivates them through cheering, booing or chanting. Without the work of the audience the characters to not have any motivation to keep up the act in the
In American wrestling there seems to still be a heavy emphasis on the man being dominant in the ring while the women still act like the weaker force in the ring. In Latino and Japanese wrestling there is much more coed wrestling, Japanese wrestling is much more aggressive and in Lucha Libre there is also a more aggressive tone to the “sport”. What I found most interesting about this presentation was Ethan ability to help me understand the basis of wrestling and the story that it is able to narrate to the audience who is watching it whether it is at home or on the television through their cable network. Ethan’s presentation was fantastic and I look forward to being able to incorporate it into my sociology studies and to utilize this information in an anthropological perspective as