Popaganda

Pro wrestling hasn’t been the kindest entertainment industry for women. Relegated to Playboy-sponsored pillow fight matches or mud wrestling, women wrestlers didn’t get to shine for their athleticism or fighting prowess very often until Chyna came around in the late 90s. Her storylines were pretty meta, with male wrestlers and announcers who questioned her qualifications being on the receiving end of her feminist rage. But even then, women wrestlers like her had to constantly endure being sexually objectified and called “yapping female dogs” by the commentators. Yet pro wrestling is still very much a part of American pop culture, with folks making connections between it and other forms of expression, as an art form. So what’s the draw? Why does pro wrestling affect people so much, to the point of emotional catharsis? And… is it art? Today’s guests are two people who’ve shown me just how cool wrestling can be. First, I talk to Julian Burrell, producer of a really great podcast called Tights and Fights, about a