ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE SEX INDUSTRY

Abstract

Unarmed combat—notably boxing and wrestling—has played an important role in premodern and modern societies, mostly in the form of play, sport, or preparation for war. It has almost always been a male preserve. We focus on a small empirical study of women who wrestle in Britain and the United States in the essentially private arena of combat clubs, magazines, and videos—“on the periphery of the sex industry.” Drawing on interviews with women and others, a distinction is drawn between wrestlers who are enthusiasts and those who are opportunists. The interview material is further analyzed to explore women's own experiences and attitudes toward combat, male punters, and feminist arguments about violence and sexuality. It is suggested that it is inappropriate to stereotype these women as “bad girls” and that they should be presumed to be active and reflexive agents on their own behalf in the absence of evidence to the contrary.