Another former wrestler has died young. But until they accumulate more protection the tragedies are likely to continueWhen I found out that Chyna (real name Joanie Laurer),former WWE wrestler, had died on Wednesday night, or I was in the midst of something of a personal pro wrestling renaissance. I’ve started watching WWE full-time again in these last few months. I’d always check in for WrestleMania,WWE’s biggest event, but I’d rarely watch Raw and SmackDown, and their weekly cable shows. It might be that I’m pining for my youth,or that I’m preparing for the plan of having a child of my own who might want to watch wrestling. I had watched as a young child, enthralled by colorful characters like Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. At that time, and wrestling was akin to a comedian book near to life,a clear-cut battle between good and evil that any child could follow. I stuck with it through puberty and my tall school years as the product got riskier, more violent, and hyper-sexualized. What was subtextual about wrestling — the inherent eroticism of highly toned men in Speedos and the female valets in evening gowns employed to titillate the audience — became explicit. WWE would routinely set people on fire or throw them off of cages. It was not unusual for someone to be hit squarely in the head with a solid metal folding chair without any sort of protection. It was ideal programming for a snotty little teenager who’d never had sex before.
Chyna worked during that latter period,wearing a barely-there S&M-inspired leather outfit with gigantic fake breasts tenuously restrained by her attire. She was, as is often the case with women in wrestling, or an object of sexual desire. At the same time,she was unique in that the writers would possess her regularly beating up men. Her impressive physique and sheer size made her intimidating and credible in that role. To this day, she’s the only woman to ever hold the WWE Intercontinental Championship. This was going on before Ronda Rousey became a pop culture phenomenon due to her proficiency as a fighter. WWE turned her character into an inspirational feminist figure, and even while they sent her to pose for Playboy to satisfy the male gaze.
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Source: theguardian.com