NWK2000 wrote: ↑Feb 13th, '19, 09:22
Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 12th, '19, 16:29
The big-boobed Barbie thing is definitely an issue, too. You can't be the agent of change that WWE wants and look the same as the prototypical "problem" women of the era you're trying to break away from
This is what's driving me crazy about the Charlotte hate. The "problem" women you're describing
couldn't wrestle and had to be in things like pillow fights and bra and panties matches to disguise that. And I'm not saying that she's the best worker of the Four Horsewomen. In fact she's probably the least effective. But that's like having the lowest IQ at the annual MENSA meeting. Even on the low end, you're still pretty great at what you do. I will not have Charlotte's skills compared to the "problem" women of the past, because it's not true.
And the fact that one of your arguing points is that she has implants is ridiculous. So what if she looks like a Barbie doll? That is something that women are free to aspire to be if they choose. They can also choose to follow their childhood desires into adulthood like Bailey, be big and beautiful like Nia, or someone who expresses themselves via wild colors and dance like Naomi , or someone who's brash like Becky. I could go on and on. The current women's roster is emblematic of the fact that women can kick ass while coming in all shapes and sizes both physically and personality wise, and "Barbie doll" just so happens to be a shape. And it isn't like big boobed blond models have ruled the roost either. Nia, Becky, and Ronda, and Asuka have been pushed prominently this year along with Charlotte.
I'm not arguing that this is the way it
should be. I'm arguing that in order for the messaging strategy that WWE has chosen to be successful with the general public, this is the way it has to be, because the general public doesn't understand workrate and aren't willing to put the time in to understand wrestling. All of us here know that these women are completely different personality-wise, but the general public will take one look at them and all they'll see is "big-boobed blonde." It didn't matter how great Trish Stratus got in the ring: every time someone from the general public outside of Canada took a look at her, they immediately lumped her in with far lesser workers like Torrie and Sable.
There is no bigger advocate of choice-feminism than me, but the appallingly sad truth is that choice-feminism has been almost completely pushed out of mainstream/progressive circles (which is who WWE is appealing to with their "we've changed our attitude on women" message) and replaced by a fascist wing of the movement that looks down on women for not making choice that
they don't approve of, not even realizing the irony that they are trying to assume the same dictatorial control over women's lives that so hate the patriarchy for trying to have.
The problem is the combination of WWE's obsession with branding and their obsession with being accepted by the "mainstream" while still trying to argue that they're not professional wrestling and thus shouldn't be looked down upon, which just causes the mainstream to say "but you
are professional wrestling, and thus, by your own definition, should be looked down upon, and you trying to fool us into thinking you're not just makes us look down on you even more."
As I said, the NXT model where you just push the women as athletes instead of giving giant speeches about how there is now a "revolution" and the era of objectification is over does a much better job of allowing for diverse body and personality types to all be stars than WWE's inherently sex-negative Divas'/Women's R/Evolution message. This problem is one unique to WWE because of the combination of their message and their desire to gain acceptance within the general population, as opposed to other promotions, who stick to trying to recruit people who "get" wrestling (which really just boils down to wrestling fans, MMA fighters, and performing artists, because the general public is unwilling to see past the "but it's fake!" issue, even though 95% of the stuff they watch on TV and enjoy is fake too).