The clip about the fighting Cholitas was quite a refreshing view on what I understood as a mostly male-dominated sport, as the image that comes to mind when I think of wrestling are usually the very commercial WWE events with mostly men performing, while media depictions of wrestling in the Latin American context are those of male luchadors.
What I found to be particularly significant was the pride with which the women performed and spoke about wrestling. There was definitely a sense that everything such as the style of their clothing being something very cultural to them as Bolivians as well as the wrestling being very connected to their identity. In many ways, it seems that they see the wrestling of the good vs bad as symbolizing some of the challenges that they have faced in their own lives.
There also seems to be fighting back against the cultural norms that have existed as obstacles to them expressing themselves as wrestlers and performers. I also thought the makers of the documentary did a good job in showing the women as more than just wrestlers and interviewing them to find out their entire identities, rather than just by their relationships or professions.
A question that comes to mind is how big a part does sports play in your own life and the cultures that you grew up with?
Hi!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think sports and culture are very intertwined – you kept pointing that out too. I’m not that sporty so I can’t say that sports had a massive impact on me as an individual. On the other hand, whenever I tell people I’m Brazilian the first thing they ask me is about football. Unfortunately, I’m not the biggest football fan, but that doesn’t mean I could escape from family debates about the best team. I definitely believe that sports can unify a country as big as Brazil, however, now that Bolsonaro is president, the iconic yellow jersey has become a lot more political. Here’s an article if you’d like to read more about it: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/football/bolsonaro-brazil-foootball-yellow-shirt-cmd-spt-intl/index.html