Popular Culture Review Vol. 11, No. 1, February 2000 | Page 57
Anti-Corporatism in Professional Wrestling
49
against other individuals who are similar to them if there is little competition
(Rushton 1989; Simons and Taylor 1992; Wilson 1995; Stott and Reicher 1998).
The WWF/WCW’s political messages regarding ethnicity and gender are prima
rily intertwined by its goal to carefully cultivate unity among its homogeneous fan
base. In this sense, the wrestling leagues have encouraged the reification of white
male hypersexuality while sidestepping the murky issues of gender and race rela
tions. Moreover, the anti-corporatist messages promoted by the WCW and the
WWF have further reinforced the identities of its audience. However, my essay
suggests that although monothematic and simplistic political messages could fur
ther erode the quality of democratic discourse in America, professional wrestling
per se has successfully contained the message of violence among its audiences.
Although the characteristics of sociopathic behavior are present within profes
sional wrestling audiences, they have not translated into violence because the wres
tling leagues have manipulated key themes in its matches.
University of Chicago
Lawrence Saez
Works Cited
Birrell, Susan and Allan Turowetz. “Character Work-Up and Display: Collegiate Gymnas
tics and Professional Wrestling.” Urban Life 8 (July 1979): 219-246.
Campbell, Anne. “Sociopathy or Hyper-Masculinity?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18,
3 (1995): 548-49.
Cleckley, Hervey. The Mask o f Insanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the SoCalled Psychopathic Personality. St. Louis, MO.: Mosby, 1955.
Dunning, E. “The Social Roots of Football Hooliganism.” Ed. Richard Giulianotti, Norman
Bonney, and Mike Hepworth. Football, Violence and Social Identity. London:
Routledge, 1994.
Fagan, Thomas and Frank Lira. “The Primary and Secondary Sociopathic Personality: Dif
ferences in Frequency and Severity of Antisocial Behaviors.” Journal o f Abnormal
Psychology 89, 3 (1980): 493-96.
Gruneau, Richard. Class, Sports, and Social Development. Amherst, MA.: University of
Massachusetts Press, 1983.
Magid, K. and C.A. McKelvie. High Risk: Children Without a Conscience. New York:
Bantam Books, 1987.
Mealey, Linda. “The Sociobiology of Sociopathy: An Integrated Evolutionary Model.”
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18, 3 (1995): 523-99.
Moffitt, T.E. “Adolescent-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A De
velopmental Taxonomy.” Psychological Review 100, 4 (1993): 674-701.
Mondak, Jeffery. “The Politics of Professional Wrestling.” Journal o f Popular Culture 23,
2(1989): 139-49.