Lucha libre is a specifically Latin American form of wrestling, popular above all in Mexico. It is both a sport and a form of performance, even theater, whose protagonists act out parts in what amounts to an ongoing morality play that pits good against evil, strength against cunning, corruption against loyalty. Mexican lucha libre is particularly noted for the masks worn by competitors, through which fighters come to incarnate and dramatize broader social roles and tensions.
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- Orellana, Margarita de, ed. “Lucha libre: Stories with no Time Limit”
- Jobrani, Mariam, dir. The Fighting Cholitas
Cholitas
A few more resources on cholitas…
- The rise of Bolivia’s indigenous ‘cholitas’ – in pictures, a series of images from the Guardian (February 22, 2018)
- Cholita YouTube channels: Cholita Julia; Cholita Mamila; Cocina con Mamila; Cholia Isabel
- Babel, Anna M. “Cholita or Señorita? Gender Expression and Styles of Dress”. Between the Andes and the Amazon: Language and Social Meaning in Bolivia. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2018. 176–196.
- Bieri, Elizabeth. Staged Ethnicity and Touristic Consumption in Postcolonial Latin America: The Case of Cholita Wrestling. MA Thesis. Department of Communication, University of Washington, 2012.
Cholitas: The Women Transforming Bolivia:
The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia Scale Mountains in Skirts:
Cortometraje Imillaskate Cochabamba:
Redefining Fashion & Architecture in Bolivia: Cholitas y Cholets:
Cholita Wrestling | The Bolivian Female Wrestling that is growing in popularity | Trans World Sport:
Lucha libre videos
La historia de la lucha libre mexicana… ( Documental Completo):
DOCUMENTAL LUCHA LIBRE MEXICANA:
Loco fighters:
How a Gay Pro Wrestler Became Mexico’s ‘Liberace of Lucha Libre’:
DOCUMENTAL – Esto es Lucha Chilena – Fanáticos Lucha Libre Chile:
The Fighting Cholitas
- Barthes, Roland. "The World of Wrestling". Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972. 15-25.
- Bieri, Elizabeth. Staged Ethnicity and Touristic Consumption in Postcolonial Latin America: The Case of Cholita Wrestling. MA Thesis. Department of Communication, University of Washington, 2012.
- Haynes, Neil. "Global Cholas: Reworking Tradition and Modernity in Bolivian Lucha Libre". The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 18.3 (November 2013): 432–446.
- Levi, Heather. "Sport and Melodrama: The Case of Mexican Professional Wrestling". Social Text 50, The Politics of Sport (Spring, 1997): 57-68.
- Levi, Heather. The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008
Cholitas
A few more resources on cholitas…
- The rise of Bolivia’s indigenous ‘cholitas’ – in pictures, a series of images from the Guardian (February 22, 2018)
- Cholita YouTube channels: Cholita Julia; Cholita Mamila; Cocina con Mamila; Cholia Isabel
- Babel, Anna M. “Cholita or Señorita? Gender Expression and Styles of Dress”. Between the Andes and the Amazon: Language and Social Meaning in Bolivia. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2018. 176–196.
- Bieri, Elizabeth. Staged Ethnicity and Touristic Consumption in Postcolonial Latin America: The Case of Cholita Wrestling. MA Thesis. Department of Communication, University of Washington, 2012.
Cholitas: The Women Transforming Bolivia:
The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia Scale Mountains in Skirts:
Cortometraje Imillaskate Cochabamba:
Redefining Fashion & Architecture in Bolivia: Cholitas y Cholets:
Cholita Wrestling | The Bolivian Female Wrestling that is growing in popularity | Trans World Sport:
- How does lucha libre differ from other sports? What does it have in common?
- What is the nature of lucha libre as performance? What might it tell us about performance more generally?
- What is involved in watching a sport such as lucha libre? How and why do people become fans?
- To what extent do you agree that "Day by day, in wrestling arenas around Mexico, the country's less privileged folk are constructing a world of their own, a counter-world to the one taken over by the upper echelons of society" (Möbius, "Wrestling for Their Lives" 72)?
- What do you think is the significance and/or function of the mask in Mexican lucha libre? Why does it not seem to feature among the "fighting cholitas" of Bolivia?
- How might the spectacle of the "fighting cholitas," seen at least from the outside, fit within as well as challenge an exoticizing Western gaze?
Lucha libre questions
What devices are available to us to liberate ourselves within our society? How does culture impact our ability to liberate ourselves?
what do you think it means to frequent spectators that the cholitas wear their skirts?
Do you think that these fighting Cholitas present the appropriate representation of other Cholitas?
Do you have any experiences when you were part of the population whom were discriminated against, but through certain activities, you have gained respect?
Do you think we have become desensitized to men committing acts of violence against each other? How could the glorification of violence be harmful to different populations in Latin America?
What do the Fighting Cholitas represent for you?
What imagery and symbols do you notice in the documentary and what consequences (positive or negative) come with them?
what are your thoughts on the role the Fighting Cholitas play in redefining notions of femininity? Do they? What cultural significance does this have within the context of lucha libre?
Do you think that with the aspect of wrestling this cancels out the cholitas being more old fashioned? As they are participating in a male dominated sport?
Why do you think wrestling was the sport of choice for the cholita fighters? Was it just an opportunity or might there be another reason for the choice?
Why do you think people enjoy fighting and watching other people fight?
What are some benefits and drawbacks, for individual Cholitas as well Cholitas as a whole, in relation to their involvement in lucha libre?
Did you ever feel tired of fighting the patriarchy? (discussing with misogynist people, being undervalued and unheard…) How do you find the strength to keep trying and not simply believe some things might never change? Does some feature of popular culture encourage you?
how big a part does sports play in your own life and the cultures that you grew up with?
How can we use our appearances to project our political values? How do we use clothes and symbols to express ourselves? Do you tend to wear more cultural clothes to show your pride?
How does the fact that these fighters are cholitas, as opposed to “señoritas”, affect the way these fights are criticized?
What were your thoughts on the video? Did you know about the fighting Cholitas in Bolivia?
Notes from class discussion (March 10, 2021)
