The History and Future of Pro Women’s Wrestling with Scarlett Harris

Pop Literacy

“To be a women’s wrestling fan, particularly one who patronizes WWE … is to be constantly disappointed,” Scarlett Harris writes in her book-length critical essay A Diva Was a Female Version of a Wrestler: An Abbreviated Herstory of World Wrestling Entertainment.

In this episode, Harris walks us through some of that harrowingly sexist history—God help us, “bra and panty matches”!—which is also full of women whose determination, ambition, and athletic prowess have inspired generations of girls and women (and a few real-life female villains, to be sure). She also shares the heartbreak of being a fan despite the constant disappointment, her take on the women’s evolution from sexy sideshow to serious (if not quite on par with the men’s) main event, her thoughts on GLOW, and why she has hope for the future of women’s wrestling.

Read more about it:

• A Diva Was a Female Version of a Wrestler: An Abbreviated Herstory of World Wrestling Entertainment by Scarlett Harris

Other great books about women in male-dominated arenas:

• Whole New Ballgame by Sue Macy
• The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Anika Orrock
• When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
• Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus