Self-Perceptions Toward Transformed Bodies

Bodies of Professional Women Wrestlers and Gender

Abstract

Studies about female bodybuilders and so-called “self-defensers” have shown us the possibilities of transgressing gender through the transformation of bodies and bodily skills. In Japan, professional women wrestlers transform their bodies as bodybuilders do, and like self-defensers, obtain bodily skills which can be used for fighting against violence. It is possible to explore whether such women wrestlers transgress the ideal female body or the normative femininity through considering women wrestlers' bodies and pro wrestling as work. As a first step, I considered whether women wrestlers' bodies transgress the ideal female body by focusing how women wrestlers perceive their wrestling bodies. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with 25 women wrestlers. Five perceptions were identified: “I accept my body as it is,” “I have a conflict about my body,” “I have the body of a wrestler,” “I have the body of an ordinary girl who can do pro wrestling,” and “I have the new ideal female body.” Particular attention should be paid to the last of these perceptions, as this view redefines the ideal feminine body from the normative “thin” body to a body which is strong and kakkoii (“cool”). Those who express this view regard their bodies as attractive both as wrestlers and as women. This is a view that transgresses the ideal female body, although it remains in the specific community as women's pro wrestling.