| Project/Area Number |
15510220
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Gender
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| Research Institution | Meiji Gakuin University |
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Principal Investigator |
AIBA Keiko Meiji Gakuin University, Faculty of International Studies, Associate Professor, 国際学部, 助教授 (50298056)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2004)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Keywords | Body / Gender / Women Pro-wrestling |
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| Research Abstract |
Few wrestlers recognize changes in their bodies after passing the professional test for wrestlers. This is because most wrestlers before and just after their debut do not have any psychological leisure to pay much attention to their bodies or their wrestling styles. Hierarchical relationship with senior wrestlers make their days busy and stressful. Their lives are taken up with chores regarding wrestling matches and fagging for senior wrestlers. It is not until their careers develop that they come to be conscious of their bodies.
Most wrestlers distinguish an attractive feminine body from an attractive wrestler's body. They put high priority to acquiring a better body as a wrestler and give up the aim of acquiring a feminine body. Renouncing a feminine body, however, does not arise from heroism of a "do-or-die" kind, because it is more important for them to be capable of wrestling rather than to have a feminine body.
Pro-wrestling bouts are built on a relation of trust where wrestlers at bouts receive each others' technique. Since fighting at pro-wrestling does not entail beating down the opponent by whatever means, wrestlers do not have conscious of being "strong."
The foundations of wrestlers' gender identities seem to be constructed before becoming wrestlers. Transforming their bodies as wrestlers does not strongly affect their gender identities. Also, it is not apparent that watching pro-wrestling affects fans' gender identities.
Many male fans distinguish an attractive feminine body from a woman wrestler's body. Many female fans have the body images of what they want to be, which are different from bodies of their favorite wrestlers.
Many fans perceive their favorite wrestlers as having femininity outside the ring. In contrast, they tend to perceive women wrestlers during bouts as being beyond gender distinctions.
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