Wrestling with Manhood
Boys, Bullying & Battering
Wrestling with Manhood is the first educational program to pay attention to the enormous popularity of professional wrestling among male youth, addressing its relationship to real-life violence and probing the social values that sustain it as a powerful cultural force. Richly illustrating their analysis with numerous examples, Sut Jhally and Jackson Katz - the award-winning creators of the videos
Dreamworlds and
Tough Guise, respectively - offer a new way to think about the enduring problems of men's violence against women and bullying in our schools.
Drawing the connection between professional wrestling and the construction of contemporary masculinity, they show how so-called "entertainment" is related to homophobia, sexual assault and relationship violence. They further argue that to not engage with wrestling in a serious manner allows cynical promoters of violence and sexism an uncontested role in the process by which boys become "men."
Designed to engage the wrestling fan as well as the cultural analyst,
Wrestling with Manhood will provoke spirited debate about some of our most serious social problems.
The DVD includes two versions of
Wrestling with Manhood. Both contain violent physical and sexual imagery, and viewer discretion is strongly advised. The abridged version (45 min.) is edited for profanity, nudity, and length.
Sections: Taking Wrestling Seriously | Happy & Escalating Violence | Making Men: Glamorizing Bullying | Homophobia & Constructing Heterosexuality | Divas: Sex & Male Fantasy | Normalizing Gender Violence | It's Only Entertainment?
Filmmaker Info
Writer, Director: Sut Jhally
Producer: Ronit Ridberg
Editors: Ronit Ridberg, Sut Jhally
Camera and Colorist: Kelly Garner
Graphic Artist: Alisa Placas
Sound Design: Thom Monahan
Additional Camera: Kelly L. Riley
Script Consultants: Jackson Katz, Jeremy Earp
Production Manager: Kelly Garner
Production Assistants: Ann Hondrogen, Mike Bowen
Filmmaker's Bio
SUT JHALLY | Writer, Director & Editor
Sut Jhally is a professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and founder and executive director of the Media Education Foundation (MEF). He is one of the most popular teachers at the University of Massachusetts and is nationally known among college students for his videotape
Dreamworlds: Desire/Sex/Power in Music Video,which he created to present his critique of representations of women in popular culture and commercial images. The national attention, sparked by the threat of a lawsuit by MTV, and numerous requests for copies of the video led to the founding of the Media Education Foundation in 1991. Over the past fifteen years, Sut Jhally has been the executive producer of more than twenty videos produced and distributed by the Media Education Foundation.
Film Festivals
Awards
Press Reviews
Praise for the Film
"Katz and Jhally's unflinching critique forces back the curtain on professional wrestling to reveal the vicious sexism and virulent homophobia of the spectacle... Just harmless entertainment? Think again."
- Michael Kimmel | Author,
Manhood in America
"Wrestling is such a common point of reference among teen males that great conversation from this video is a guarantee. It is definitely my new favorite educational tool."
- Christopher Spicer | Responsible Males Program, Planned Parenthood-Buffalo
"A powerful and provocative look at how the professional wrestling industry has wrapped up inhumane, degrading, sexualized violence in a nice little package and sold it to the public as "entertainment."
Wrestling with Manhood unwraps that package, critically examines its contents, and exposes the dangers it presents to our culture. The film encourages viewers to engage in the critical thinking necessary to break down individual and societal beliefs, attitudes, and norms that perpetuate and encourage sexual violence."
- Heather Sturm | Coordinator, CU Rape & Gender Education Program
"I am in the unique position of not only being employed with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, but also serving as a School Board Director. This film has made a deep impact on both of those aspects of my life. I'm not sure what is more appalling - the scripted portrayal of bullying, sexual harassment, and gay bashing by the wrestlers/actors; or the horrific way the audience reacts to them...Every parent must watch this film before allowing their children to watch the WWE!�"
- Jennie Siegler | Director, Juaniata School Board | PA & Technical Assistance Coordinator, PCAR