2008 Woodie Awards
Act against sexualized violence
Jimmy Astacio
Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: Opinion
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I am a student currently enrolled in Sociology 494, "Act to End Sexualized Violence." During the first class meeting, I participated in a discussion with a group of male students. As part of that discussion, we watched a small segment of a video titled "Wrestling With Manhood." The segment dealt with a genre of professional wrestling that depicts women as sexual objects willing to be abused by men.
Our group watched women being beaten with chairs, stomped on by male wrestlers, and undressed by referees. The most disturbing aspect of the video wasn't the actual violence against women, although that was certainly bad enough. The worst part was the cheering crowd of young men-and women-applauding for their heroes as they subjected women to the most extreme kind of physical abuse. When the segment was over, there was a quiet moment as we struggled to understand what we had just witnessed.
When we discussed the video, some of us agreed that this was demeaning and injurious to women, and others argued that it was only entertainment, and that the female performers, after all, had been paid to act in the show. But no matter what our individual opinions may have been, the quiet moment we shared when the video ended proved that we were disturbed by the visual depiction of violence we had seen. After experiencing this small part of the video, I decided to go to the Humboldt State library and watch the rest of it.
What I saw was even more disturbing than I imagined, because the images flashing across me on the T.V. screen depicted psychological abuse. One young woman was forced to strip down to her bra and panties. When she stood practically naked in the middle of the ring, she was told to get down on her hands and knees and walk around like a dog. After she took a few steps on all fours, she was told to bark like a dog into the microphone, so that the wildly cheering audience could hear her.
This woman was paid to perform. The WWF is entertainment. Many people, young and old, female and male, watch WWF wrestling and do not abuse their friends, wives or girlfriends. But there is a bigger issue to consider, and this is addressed in the video. What does it mean when thousands of people think that it's entertaining to watch women get beat up, abused and humiliated? The answer is that our society becomes passive and unable to act. Young boys and men may watch these shows and have no desire to hit their wives, or beat up a gay man. And yet, will these same young men ever take any action to stop sexualized violence and homophobia? The video answers this question as well: It's difficult, if not impossible, to end homophobia when we laugh at it. And it's hard to stop violence against women when we find violence entertaining.
Our group watched women being beaten with chairs, stomped on by male wrestlers, and undressed by referees. The most disturbing aspect of the video wasn't the actual violence against women, although that was certainly bad enough. The worst part was the cheering crowd of young men-and women-applauding for their heroes as they subjected women to the most extreme kind of physical abuse. When the segment was over, there was a quiet moment as we struggled to understand what we had just witnessed.
When we discussed the video, some of us agreed that this was demeaning and injurious to women, and others argued that it was only entertainment, and that the female performers, after all, had been paid to act in the show. But no matter what our individual opinions may have been, the quiet moment we shared when the video ended proved that we were disturbed by the visual depiction of violence we had seen. After experiencing this small part of the video, I decided to go to the Humboldt State library and watch the rest of it.
What I saw was even more disturbing than I imagined, because the images flashing across me on the T.V. screen depicted psychological abuse. One young woman was forced to strip down to her bra and panties. When she stood practically naked in the middle of the ring, she was told to get down on her hands and knees and walk around like a dog. After she took a few steps on all fours, she was told to bark like a dog into the microphone, so that the wildly cheering audience could hear her.
This woman was paid to perform. The WWF is entertainment. Many people, young and old, female and male, watch WWF wrestling and do not abuse their friends, wives or girlfriends. But there is a bigger issue to consider, and this is addressed in the video. What does it mean when thousands of people think that it's entertaining to watch women get beat up, abused and humiliated? The answer is that our society becomes passive and unable to act. Young boys and men may watch these shows and have no desire to hit their wives, or beat up a gay man. And yet, will these same young men ever take any action to stop sexualized violence and homophobia? The video answers this question as well: It's difficult, if not impossible, to end homophobia when we laugh at it. And it's hard to stop violence against women when we find violence entertaining.
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